Oshmyany

In 1340 the small town Oshmyany turned from a settlement in the Vilno Principality to a fortress of the Great Dukes of Lithuania. The residency first belonged to Gedimin, and in time passed on as inheritance to his sons Yavnut and then Olgerd. From 1382 Oshmyany became the personal domain of Duke Yagailo. The town weathered two offences from the Crusaders, in 1384 – 1385 and in 1402. Oshmyany remained as one of the residencies of the Great Dukes of Lithuania until the middle of the 15^th century. On the night of September 1 1432 Duke Zhigimont Keistutovich organized in Oshmyany a successful coup d’etat. Around 10,000 people died in the fighting surrounding it.

At the beginning of the 16^th century the town was granted the priviledge of self-government according to the Statute of Magdeburg. During the uprising of 1794 an insurgent army headed by Y. Yasinsky housed its headquarters in Oshmyany. The well known belarussian painter Y.Korchevsky (1806-1833) was born in the town, in a lawyer’s family. He graduated from the philosophy department of Vilno University and then continued his studies at St.Petersburg University majoring in law but at the same time studying painting. Korchevsky’s speciality was thematic and historical painting. From 1829 on he went to live and work in Italy.

The brick Church of the Resurrection was built in 1875. Together with a Catholic church it forms a silhouette of the historical square. St.Mikhail Archangel Catholic church was built with the donation from King Vladislav Yagailo at the beginning of the 15^th century. It was rebuild in 1900 – 1906 following the project of architect Vaclav Mikhnevich, in a Vilno Baroque style.