GEO Travel Blog

GOA Photos

2008-04-22T07:11:00.000-07:00

Sunset, Anjuna, GOA 2007

Small Vagator, GOA, December 2007

Anjuna Beach, GOA, December 2007

Next time i will post more photos from my winter trip to GOA :)

Novogrudok Photos

2007-07-08T02:10:00.000-07:00

The 2nd July - Trip around Grondo Region

2007-07-05T03:06:00.001-07:00

Hi, some days ago i visited very beautiful villages and cities in Grodnop region: Mir, Novogrudok and Lida. I got too many positive emotions there seeing ancient castles and churches. Later i will post some pictures about my little travelling :)

The early years Adam Mitskevich spent in Novogrudok

2007-01-25T08:16:00.000-08:00

Near by the central square, Mitskevich's former house, turned into museum dedicated to the poet, is situated. In 1803 Adam's father, Nikolay Mitskevich, bought a plot of land and built a small house on it. It is still uncertain whether Mitskevich was born in Novogrudok or not. The official version tells that Adam Mitskevich was born in Zoasye in 1798. The poet was 8 years old when his family abtained a stone 7-room house in Novogrudok. Adam and his brother Francishek were admitted to Dominicans school on the 13th of September, 1807....

To be continued...

Novogrudok

2007-01-17T00:32:00.000-08:00

According to chronicles, Novogrudok was founded in 1044 by the Duke of Kiev Yaroslav Mudry. Within two centuries of existence Novogrudok became the richest city in the Prineman area. In the 1240's a kunigos Duke of a Litva tribe, Mindovg, proclaimed the city as the capital of the Great Lithuanian Principality. In 1251, Duke Mindovg was christened here. Two years later he was crowned as the first Duke and King of the Great Lithuanian Principality.
The city was an imprtant political and social center. State Seyms the Court of Appeal and the main tribunal were all seated here. Residence of the Orthodox Metropolitan was established in Novogrudok in the 14th century, and in the 16th century it was changed to the residence of an Unate Metropolitan. In the 16th century the city was appointed as the office-town of the local voevode "province", was granted the priviledge of self-government according to the Statute of Magdeburg, and recieved a coat of arms with an image of Mikhail the Archangel. Since the middle of the 17th century, the city has boasted five Catholic churches, six monasteries, a synagogue and a mosque. Today Novogrudok is a gathering place for all admirers of poet Adam Mitskevich. He loved this city dearly.

Zheludok

2007-01-15T02:12:00.000-08:00

The most interesting site in this township is a Catholic church, in the style of Classicism. It was rebuilt in 1854 on the spot of an older church that had been constructed back in 1682. Crypts of this church contain 5 tombstones of the Tyzengauz family. Tireless reformer of the second half of the 18th century, Anthony Tyzengauz also found his last resting place here.
A place that also stands in Zheludok used to belong to the Chetvertinsky family. It was built in 1907 in a modern style by architect Markoni. The building is surrounded by a park, with a mill, a smithy and other buildings nearby.
In 1836 a well-known political and public figure of the 19th century Valery Vrublevsky, friend of Kastus Kalinovsky, was born here. In 1863-1864 he headed Grodno Region's rebel forces, in 1871 was a General of the paris Commune, later joined the 1st International movement and became a friend of Carl Marx.

France Photos

2006-12-20T04:23:00.000-08:00

Shchuchin

2006-12-03T02:30:00.000-08:00

This small town gets its first mention in the documents of the Great Lithuanian Principality in the 16^th century. Near to the town’s big central square stand the St. Theresa’s Catholic Church, an Orthodox church and late in 18^th to early 19^th century traders’ houses. A Piars Collegium stands attached to the back of the Catholic church. A seminary and a high school were founded there in 1726. In the 18^th to 19^th centuries, the famous professors Kazimir Narbut, Stanislav Boniface Yundill, Anel Dovgird all lectured here. The famous scientist Ignaty Domeiko was also a student of he Shchuchin Collegium.

St. Theresa’s Catholic Church was built in 1827 in the style of Classicism, alongside a late Baroque Piars Church. In the 19^th century the Catholic church was remodeled by known Belarussian painters Andriolli and Silivanovich.

St. Mikhail the Archangel’s Orthodox Church is a building belonging to the second half of the 19^th century. Along with the Catholic church and one-storey houses, it fits aptly into the original architectural ensemble.

The palace of the Drutsky-Lyubetskys family is located in an old botanical park that was founded in the second half of the 18^th century by the botanist B.Yundill. The old palace built in 1715 by Yuzef Piolli was reconstructed in the second half of the 19^th century in an early Classicism style by the architect de Flaners.

Twenty kilometers from Shchuchin is another small town – Zheludok.

Milkovshchina

2006-11-30T10:43:00.000-08:00

After leaving Skidel 10 km down the road, on the right-hand side you will see a road sign to Milkovshchina. Turn off the main road and keep going for 2 km. In Milkovshchina in 1841 a well-known Belarussian-Polish authoress, Eliza Ozheshko, was born. Eliza lived on her parents’ estate until 1852 when she left to study at boarding school in Warsaw. She returned here only in 1864 fom Lyudvinovo – the estate of her husband Petr Ozheshko. He was exiled to Siberia for participation in the uprising of 1863-1864. During the next five years spent in Milkovshchina ancestral home Eliza Ozheshko wrote 10 stories and around 20 works of fiction or biography. The writer’s estate was destroyed during Worl War II; only a beautiful lime tree alley planted by Eliza and her sister has survived. Not far from the estate is the Pavlovskiys’ family cemetery where the writer’s father, sister and other relatives are buried. It is one of only a few gentry’s burial sites to survive to this day.

Skidel

2006-11-30T00:55:00.000-08:00

It was jokingly reffered to as “the sweetest place in Grodno region” because it house a sugar refinery. The small town was established in 1525. At the end of the 19^th century Skidel was the residence of the Chetvertinskys family. These days only the wings, entrance gates and a regular scenic park with two canals, plus remnants of lime-tree alleys remain. A second half of the 19^th century chapel of Dukes Oginskys, which later became a Catholic church is situated in the park. Long ago most the local population in Skidel was Tatar

By road to Eliza Ozheshko and Adam Mitskevich

2006-11-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

We invite you to visit places connected with the life and literary activities of the world-famous writers, scientists and public figures of the 19^th century – Eliza Ozheshko, Adam Mitskevich, Yan Chechot, Ignaty Domeiko. This route maks up 44 km in total but takes only one day. Take route A 236 to Lida when exiting Grodno. Four kilometers from the town on the right hand side there is a small village of Ponemun spread over River Neman. In this place there is a late Baroque summer palace built in 1771 by architect Y.Olekhnovich for King Stanislaw August Ponyatovsky.

At the end of the 18^th to the beginning of the 19^th centuries the palace became the property of well-known poet and friend of Tadeush Kostyushko, Yulian Ursul Nemtsevich. A chapel, several of the wings, a financed buildings and scenic park also remain. Eliza Ozheshko celebrated 25^th year of literary activity at this estate, at the end of the 19^th century.

Palace and Park

2006-11-28T01:48:00.000-08:00

Oginsky intended to stay in Zalesye forever and started his new Belarussian life with maintenance and rebuilding of the estate. The old palace and park were massively remodeled according to a project of young architect Mikhail Shultz. A two-storey mill, greenhouse, hothouse and a chapel were added. By 1815 most of the construction works in the palace was completed in the style of Classicism. The central part of the palace was emphasized with a four column portico and finished off with a small turret, where striking clock was placed. The greenhouses and a gardener’s designed to suit the scenic courtyard which in the summer was filled with exotic plants and vases with flowers.

Oginsky attached great importance to the creation of an English style park, a popular design of parks in the 19^th century. The park in Zalesye met all the fashion requirements of the time and was a romantic place with pavilions, bridges and memorial stones tastefully placed in the most scenic corners. One of the memorial stones was dedicated to Kostyushko, another to Oginsky’s tutor, Jan Rollei. A watermill by a nearby pond finished off the ensemble.

Contemporaries called Zalesye the “Nothern Athens”. It was the place for the gathering of friends and associates: singer Paliani sang Italian songs, poet Yan Hodzka liked to come with his son Alexander. It is not known exactly how many musical compositions Oginsky composed during this period of his life. His first collection printed in 1817 in Vilno consisted mainly from polonaises, including A-minor “Farewell to Homeland”, the second of romances. It is widely accepted that “Farewell…” was composed in Zalesye.

During his last years at the estate, Oginsky frequently met with representatives of democratic student circles. In 1822 there started to be arrests of their members. The composer realized that he could become a prisoner and asked the Tsarist government for a permission to leave the country. In 1822 he left Zalesye forever.

Zalesye

2006-11-27T13:39:00.000-08:00

Let’s go to a place famous for its polonaises. Several kilometers along the Minsk road from Smorgon there lies the town of Zalesye. It was some of the finest Belarusian music was composed including the famous “Farewell to Homeland” by Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky (the outstanding political figure of the second half of the 18^th beginning of the 19^th century). It is difficult to imagine European musical culture without “Oginsky’s Polonaise”.

Mikhail oginsky was born in Guzov near Warsaw on September 25, 1765. He was brilliantly educated, knew several languages, wrote poems, played a violin and a clavier, and had a great knowledge of European and vernacular history. His generation witnessed and participated in many epoch-marking political events. Mikhail Oginsky was a patriot of the Great Lithuanian Principality and Rzecz Pospolita and in 1794 he joined the national liberation uprising headed by Tadeush Kostyushko.

After its crashing defeat Oginsky was forced to leave the country. He spent 8 years abroad but did not feel at ease either in Paris or Venice. In 1802 he got permission from Emperor Alexander I to return to Russia and he arrived back to St.Petersburg. Before Mikhail’s return his aunt handed over one of his estates – the Zalesye property in the Oshmyany district – to his nephew. Mikhail Oginsky spent his last two decades here, filled with hope and disappointment, the joys and sorrows of creative works.

St.Mikhail’s Catholic Church

2006-11-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

The first wooden St. Mikhail’s and St. Alexei’s Catholic Church was built in 1503 from the donation of Brest Voevode Yuriy Zenovich. His son Hristofor was a Genevan and started construction of a Genevan Cathedral instead of the old church. But his descendants Mikolai and Sofia Zavishas in 1621 accepted Catholicism and handed the Genevan church over to the Catholics. From hence it received the name of St.Trinity. In 1866 the church was rebuilt once again as the Orthodox St.Mikhail’s Church and in 1921 returned back to the Catholic parish.

The church has and unusual structure: and eight-sided base for the main building and alongside a many tiered belfry with a hipped roof and an octagonal drum on top attached to the main façade. Where the belfry connects to the building there stands a circular defensive tower. The headstones of the Dukes Zenovichs are kept in the vaults.

Smorgon

2006-11-26T03:50:00.000-08:00

This ancient town stands 2 km away from river Viliya, surrounded by scenic landscape. The name of the town comes from a confluence of two words – “smor” (or “smur”, meaning “resin”) and “goni” (to distil). Residents of the ancient settlement extracted resin in nearby forests. The small town is mentioned in the Great Lithuanian Principality documents for the first time in the 16^th century as a settlement owned by the Dukes Zenovichs. In 1533 they founded a Genevan Church of defensive significance that remains intact to this day.

Many archeological findings prove that the territory of modern day Smorgon was inhabited much earlier than its official date of birth suggests. Just one kilometer form the town on the bank of the River Oksana there were found 50 barrows dating back to 1000 BC.

In the second half of the 17^th century the town passed to Dukes Radzivills. By that time the settlement already had a paper factory, a school and a hospital. The township was especially famous as the place of the GLP’s only “Smorgon Academy” – a comic name people gave to the business which specialized in catching and training bears. The “Academy” was founded by the Radzivills. Instructors form this “Bear Academy” along with their apprentices traveled in search of a job as far as Russia, Hungary and Germany.

It was in Smorgon that people started to bake barankas for the first time in the GLP. They were even first called smorgonki after their birth place. Baranka production flourished in the 18^th and in the 19^th centuries.

After the third division of Rzecz Pospolita in 1795 Smorgon was incorporated into the Russian Empire and became the center of Oshmyany Uezd of Vilno Guberniya. The famous Napoleon’s route – a road along wich the French troops retreated in 1812 – runs through the town. Napoleon himself made his last stop with the army before passing over command to Marshal I.Murat and escaping with just his personal guard to Paris.

Kushlyany

2006-11-25T00:59:00.000-08:00

While moving from Zhuprany to Smorgon along the ancient Krevo road one will see a sign to Kushlyany on the righthand side. Just 3 km from the main road lays the ancestral manor of Francishak Bogushevich (1840 - 1900). Nowadays it is difficult to imagine that this small settlement was once the place where Belarussian literature of the 19^th century was being formed. Bogushevich’s first collections of poems “Belarussian Pipe” and “Belarussian Bow” were written here. The poet studiously worked at collecting a Belarussian dictionary and dreamed of publishing of a Belarussian grammar book. Today the house is one of the few 19^th century gentry’s manors to survive in the Grodno region.

There is a unique exhibition housed at the poet’s literary and arts museum in Kushlyany. Frantishak Bogushevich participated in he 1863 – 1864 Uprising and after its suppression erected a chapel near the manor house in memory of all those who perished “for our and your freedom”. A chestnut alley in the manor’s park leads to the poet’s loyal friend – a big stone. Under it Bogushevich kept his correspondences and poems away from the censors and the Tsarist gendar-merie. On 28^th of April 1900 the poet died in his ancestral home.

Zhuprany

2006-11-23T05:24:00.000-08:00

The history of the small town of Zhuprany started at the beginning of the 15^th century when the Great Duke Vitovt gave it as a present to Vilno Voevode Voiceh Monvid. For almost three hundred years it was owned by the famous Belarussian family Radzivills, who enjoyed hunting in Zhupranskaya Pushcha. At the end of the 18^th century the small town and outskirts were named as Zhupranskoye County.

The town had a wooden Genevan church a market square a mill and three inns: the Olkhovka, the Lipovka and Count Chapsky’s Inn. The town witnessed the retreat of French troops in 1812. Moral and physical degradation of the soldiers at Oshmyany was described by the French writer Count de Segure in his “History of Napoleon”. Many of legends surrounding Napoleon survived to this day. The locals too have one: it is about Napoleon hiding treasures not far from Zhuprany. Local historian Cheslav Yankovsky had several pages of his 1896 research text “Oshmyanski Povet” dedicated to Zhuprany.

Zhuprany has a close connection with the life and public and literary activities of the outstanding poet of the 19^th century Frantishak Bogushevich. His ancestral manor is situated about 9 kilometres from the town.

The Grave of Poet Frantishak Bogushevich

The poet was buried in Zhuprany in 1900. Old residents recall that symbols of the poet’s work – a pipe, a bow and a violin – hung over his tomb for several years. In 1975 a stele with a bas-relief of Frantishak Bogushevich was erected. Since then Zhuprany has been turne into a kind of literary Mecca for Belarusians.

St.Peter and Paul Catholic Church

An impressive neo-Gothic church was built in Zhuprany in 1854-1890. Poet Bogushevich himself took an active part in the construction of this sanctuary. That is why in 1901 a marble memorial plate with his portrait was placed inside the church.

Oshmyany

2006-11-22T06:40:00.000-08:00

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.

Krevo Castle

2006-11-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

The castle was built in the 14^th century as a residence of the Duke and as a fortress. It was a part of chain fortresses that formed the defensive line against the Crusaders. In Lida, Grodno, Novogrudok, Krevo, Medniki, Vilno and Troki new types of structures were being built. They were small stone castles: one or two towers built on dam in marsh areas. Krevo castle takes the shape of an irregular quadrangle. The length of its sides varies from 71 meters to 108 meters. The thikness of walls is 2.5-3 meters, height: 13 meters. The main building material used was boulders. Two towers, the Duke’s and the Small, are placed diagonally. Another place in

Belarus

where this type of castle adopted from the Crusaders is Lida.

Krevo Castle was unfortunate. At the beginning of the 15^th century it was captured several times by Crimean Tatars and Moscow troops. Despite this and because of the strategic position of the township, in 1563 Krevo was chosen as a gathering place for the Great Lithuanian Principality’s militia. After the castle’s destruction in the middle of the 17^th century there was virtually no information on the township. Only in the 18^th century did it re-emerge as a trade town.

Krevo

2006-11-19T01:56:00.000-08:00

Krevo is situated in 10 km from Boruny. Once it was a place where the destiny of whole Great Lithuanian Principality was decided, and epoch-making events for Polish, Belarussian and Lithuanian nations took place.

The place’s name is usually connected to term “krevo-kreveito” a title of a Lithuanian pagan prophet. According to the historian M.Ermolovich the township got his name during its colonization by the Slavonic tribe Krivichi. In as far back as the 13^th century Krevo was mentioned in German chronicles as one of the centres of the legendary Golshany Principality. In 1338 Great Duke Gedimin, when dividing his land between his sons Keistuit and Olgerd gave Krevo Castle to Olgerd. Sicnce that time small town has been known as the centre of an appanage principality. Olgerd lived here untilhe was crowned leader of the Great Lithuanian Principality in 1341. He handed over the appanage to his son Yagailo, Duke of Vitebsk and Krevo.

After Olgerd's death in 1377, his brother Keistut completed with Yagailo for the throne og the GLP. Using his authority in 1381 Keistut actually managed to take the throne away from his nephew, but only until the appearance of the Crusaders. German knights helped Yagailo to defeat Keistut. The last defenders of pagan Lithuania were utterly crushed.

According to one version, Duke Keistut was strangled in Krevo Castle tower. The same fate was also prepared for his son Vitovt. Through a housemaid of his second wife Anna, the son was able to get in touch with his loyal friends who helped him to escape. Vitovt, disguised as a housemaid, slid along the side gallery of the castle’s walls to a defensive ditch where his brothers-in-arms were already waiting. As sworn enemies cousins Vitovt and Yagailo should have prepared for an irreconcilable struggle but fate ordered differently.

In 1385 Polish ambassadors arrived to Krevo Castle proposing Yagailo to marry the Princess Yadviga from the Pyasts dynasty and thus to become the Polish King. The union of the two nations became known in history as the Krevo Union of 1385. As the result Yagailo became head of two states, and took the name Vladislav II.

Video From Hrodno

2006-11-16T11:11:00.000-08:00

Hi, I visited Hrodno (Grodno) some days ago and captured this video. The quality is not so high cause I did it using my mobile phone. The girl is my classmate, her name is Kate. She is very beautiful girl and good friend. Pay attention on Drama Theatre architecture. Enjoy :)

Boruny

2006-11-16T03:26:00.000-08:00

Just 10 km from Golshany there is a small but interesting township called Boruny. Its name is Turkic and translated as “horseman”. In the outskirts of Boruny a legend explaining the name still survives. The first owner of the settlement was an evil and cruel man who was buried outside of the cemetery plot and his grave covered with stones. Unusual flowers grew through the stones which people named “boruny”. The name of the flowers transferred to the township.

Boruny’s history is also tightly linked to a legend about how in the 18^th century the local forester Yakub found a miracle-working icon of the Blessed Virgin. The icon appeared here in this way: in 1692 a supporter of the Uniate Church, Catholic priest Nikolai Peslyak laid the foundation of the Uniate church in Boruny and invited 7 monks from the St. Basilian Order. Monks brought with them a miracle-working icon of the Blessed Virgin, built a stone church and a monastery. Very soon both the township and the icon turned into a place of piligrimage.

St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church

Built by architect Osikevich in 1747-1757 as a Uniate Church, today it is the most typical example of so-called Vilno Baroque style. Best craftsmen from Minsk and Vilno were invited to decorate its interiors. Its wooden altars were made by famous masters Frederick Kvechura, Pavel Yakovitsky and Simon Vrublevsky.

At the present time the church has three altars finished with the stucco technique and a rostrum in the Rococo style. After liquidation of the Brest Union in 1839, the church was handed over to an Orthodox parish. In 1919 the church was handed over again – this time to Catholic followers and since that time it work has gone on without interruptions. In 1923 this Catholic church was blessed in the name of the Aposteles Peter and Paul.

St. Basilian Monastery

In 1778-1793 a two-story brick house for monks of the Uniate Church was built. In the 19^th century it was stylized to imitate Classicism. The house’s structure is of a gallery with many cylindrically arched rooms. At the beginning of the 18^th century secular school were set up to run in the monastery. In the first half of the 19^th century it was reorganized into a public six-grade educational institution and until its closing in 1833 the place was the biggest Uniate center in Belarus.

A chapel was built in the square in front of the church during the first half of the 18^th century for students of the St. Basilian School. The icon of the Blessed Virgin of Boruny titled the “Consoler of Sores” is a work of an unknown master. In 1692 the icon was bought to Boruny for placing in its wooden church. In 1715 the icon was proclaimed as miracle-working. After that the church received its present name: “Guardianship of the Blessed Virgin”. A festival to honour The Blessed Virgin of Boruny takes place every year on 29 August.

Golshany

2006-11-15T04:23:00.000-08:00

Golshany is the first mentioned in chronicles of the 13^th century. It is considered that the founder of the settlement and of the famous royal family of Golshanskys was the legendary Duke Golsha. For quite a long time Dukes Golshanskys held high posts in the Great Lithuanian Principality and later in the Rzecz Pospolita. Duke Algimut is the first representative of this family certifiably recorded by history. He was part of the council sent by Duke Yagailo in 1385 to ask for the hand of the Polish Queen Yadviga. Algimut’s son Ivan was the closest associate of Duke Vitovt who was married to Ivan’s sister – Ulyana Golshanskaya. Ulyana was included in the pantheon of Belarussian saints, along with the most famous female saints of the country – Euphrosinya Polotskaya and Sofia Slutskaya. Relics of the St.Ulyana are in the Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra (a monastery in Kiev). Another representative of the Golshansky family, Sofia (1405 - 1461), after marrying the Polish king Yagailo in 1422 in Novogrudok, founded the royal Yagellon dynastry.

Golshany was an area where many craftsmen, merchants and military people settled. At the intersection of the main roads leading to Vilno (now Vilnius) and Krevo, Rynochnaya Square (‘Market Square’) appeared. Small kamenitsa houses, standing there still, and shops were built around the square. The square was surrounded by churches of the three main religions wide-spreaded in Belarus: a Catholic church and St.Francis monastery, a St.George Orthodox church and a synagogue. Trade stalls and inns were also situated in the locality. The town also boasted water mills and four taverns famous for their excellent and original beer. Golshany enjoyed brisk trade and many fairs were held there.

St. Yan the Baptist’s Catholic Church

The construction of this church is connected with the outstanding representative of one of the most prominent belarussian families - Pavel Sapega (1565-1635). He was a courtier of a King Stefan Batory and Sigizmund III, equerry of the Great Lithuanian Principality and starting form 1623 – the Lithuanian Vice Chancellor. At the same time from the beginning oh the 17^th century, Pavel Stefan Sapega commenced the construction work, wich turned Golshany into a flourishing medieval “Holland”. He invited minorities to settle in the region and in 1618 constructed a new Catholic church and a monastery for them. The splendid church built in an early Baroque style was a kind of beacon for travelers as it could be seen from a dozens kilometers away. The main ornamental detail of the interior is an 18^th century fresco over the altar. Another fresco of the Sapegas family coat of arms hangs over an altar on the right hand side of the church. The church also contains the ancestral burial vaults of Dukes Sapegas. His last years Pavel Stefan spent in Golshany, where he died in 1635 and was buried in the church along with his three wifes.

St.Francis’ monastery is a residential building constructed in the 17^th century and attached to the north-west side of the church. The building has two storeys and a gallery. The first floor accommodated a dining hall, the second – the dormitory cells of monks and a libray stocked with around 1000 rare theological texts.

One of the many ghost tales the town has accumulated over the years is connected to the construction of the monastery. Pavel Stefan Sapega decided to build monastery as quickly as possible. The first three walls of the monastery were put up with speed and stood unstintingly, but the forth one fell down again and again despite any amount of effort. Craftsmen decided the reason for this was the presence of evil forces. According to the old beliefs, it was necessary to make a sacrifice to disperce the spirits. Being afraid of the Duke’s anger, craftsmen decidde to immure into the “damned” wall the first woman coming by the construction site to bring dinner for her husband. The first girl happened to be the wife of a young bricklayer.

Though the construction was completed peace has never reigned in its grounds. Even nowadays inexplicable events take place nearly every night and female whispers, crying for mercy are reported to be heard. Local people believe them to come from the soul of the immured young woman and they have named the ghost “White Lady”.

For those interested, Golshany monastery is open to visitors and is now a branch of Belarus Fine Arts Museum.

Castle

Zamkovaya street leads from Rynochnaya Square to the ruins of a one time beautiful medieval castle built in 1610 by Pavel Sapega. Along the castle, flows the Karabel stream. Formerly the stream was filled deep with water as one of the castle’s fortifications. The castle was a rectangular building with a square courtyard. The castle has hexagonal corner towers and a pentagonal tower with an entrance tunnel in the middle of the north-eastern building. In front of that building stood the castle chapel. The buildings had tiled roofs, and floors were covered with ceramic tiles. There were plenty of rooms in the castle decorated with frescos and artistic designs.

The place was filled with fancifully decorated fireplaces, ceilings, window openings, stoves with glazed tiles baring the heraldic monogram. On the walls hang portraits of the Sapegas family, as well as paintings and weapons. Stained-glass windows faced the inner courtyard, stone floor tiles were kept in harmony with expensive furniture and bronze candlesticks. There was a store of secrets kept in the underground vaults of the Sapegas family. One legend tells of a love between a young girl from the Sapegas clan and a handsome but poor castle gardener. Young lovers were doomed to die in the deep dungeons of the castle as soon as the girl’s parents discovered the “criminal” love.

Every evening since – according to local people – the soul of the young Marylya Sapega, who was eventually immured together with her lover in the vaults, turns into a white bird and flies all over the castle accompanied by a black shadow of a medieval cavalier dressed in a clock and a hat.

In th 17^th century, Golshany’s castle was unique in the Great Lithuanian Principality because it was the only construction in the Holland architectural style. Unfortunately, due to wars, poor maintenance and other circumstances it did not survive. The ruins of its walls and a tower are the only reminders of the bygone greatness Golshany’s owners once enjoyed.

Gorodishche

If you are archaeology enthusiast, don’t miss out on visiting the site of Golshany’s settlement on the banks of River Karabel, 1.5 km east of the township. Stone stoves, arrow-heads, amulets, hatchets, glass, household goods and decorations were found on this location. The site dates back to the 12^th century. According to legend, it was here that Duke Golsha established the first Golshanskoe Principality and built a wooden castle. Until the 16^th century the residence of Golshanskys dukes was also situated here.

St. George’s Church

The exact date of construction of the first Orthodox Church in the old castle of the Golshanskys Dukes’ castle is unknown. The Golshanskys were patrons to local Orthodox believers and belonged to this branch of Christianity until the 15^th century. The church is first mentioned in a text in 1536 as already active. After the Brest Union of 1596 it was handed over to members of the Uniate Church. In the first half of the the 19^th century Uniate believers were exiled from Golshany and the wooden church disassembled. In 1901, tanks to the efforts of the Orthodox priest Vladimir a new Orthodox church was built in its place. Today the church houses many miracle-working icons of from the 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Ivye

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Pass through the main square and turn right – you will see an imposing Catholic church, one of the very few surviving here. This town was first mentioned in chronicles of the 15^th century as the residence on the Great Duke. In 1444 Ivye was given to a Novogrudok head of the local community, Petr Montigerdovich, who commenced construction of the first Catholic church here around 1495. In the second half of the 16^th century, Ivye established itself as a center for Protestantism in the Great Lithuanian Principality. Printing houses and school were founded. The rector of the school between 1585 and 1593 was a progressive thinker, educational specialist and poet, yan Namyslovsky. During the next three centuries, ownership of the town often changed hands. Among the prominent families who at one time controlled the area were the Slushkas, Glebovichs, Oginskys, Sapegas. Tyzengauzs and Zamoiskys.

Ivye construction was formed throughout its history and affected by the location – it lies at the intersection of roads leading to Minsk, Lida and Novogrudok. At the cross-road there’s the main square. In the central part of the town stand buildings from the beginning of the 19^th to the 20 th centuries, the so-called “Jewish houses”, decorated with ornamental design.

St.Peter and Paul Catholic Church and St.Bernard’s Monestry.

Around 1600 Stanislav Kishka founded in Ivye a Catholic church in the fashionable early Baroque style. In 1631, voevode (the military head) from Mstislavl, Mikolai Kishka, founded the St.Bernard’s monastery. All these buildings were burnt to the ground during th 1656 war. The church was rebuilt and sanctified in 1787.

Nowadays, the architectural ensemble consists of the St.Peter and Paul Catholic church and residential buildings (only western and part of the eastern outhouses remain). The monastery is slightly away from the street, separated by an earthen mound that in the old days was of defensive significance. In the 19^th century a chapel was attached to the north wall of the church. St.Peter and Paul Catholic Church has six 18^th century altars.

Mosque

Tatars settled in Ivye around the 16^th century, separately from the Christians, in area called Muravsgchizna. In 1884 the owner of the township, Elvira Zamoiskaya, made a donation for the building of a mosque. In 1922, emigrant Tatars donated money and a minaret was added. Local Tatars are followers of the Sunni school of Islam. The mosque has never been closed and operated even during the most difficult days of the Soviet antireligious struggle.

Grodno and the outskirts

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If you wish to experience real Belarusian hospitality, if primeval nature, clear lakes and rivers, pleasant forests and picturesque landscapes attract you, if you would like to see living history on ancient city streets, near legendary castles and palace walls, if you are interested in a rich and original culture and works of master craftsmen, you are welcome to visit the Grodno Region in belarus, the place where I born.

There are 14 towns, 17 townships, and around 4,500 villages. The main towns are Grodno, Lida, Slonim, Novogrudok and Volkovysk.

Grodno oblast is situated in the north-west of Belarus, by the basin of the River Neman. The region borders with Vitebsk, Minsk and Brest oblast of Belarus as well as with Lithuania and Poland. In the center of the oblast are the Neman lowlands: a plain landscape dotted with Grodno, Volkovysk, Novogrudok, Slonim and Oshmyany hills. The highest point in the locality is Zamkovaya Hill in Novogrudok, 323 metres above sea level. Local climate is mild and humid, the average winter temperature starts -5 degree Celsius, rising to 18 degrees in the summer, however, temperature can reach as high as 30 Celsius, dropping to a massive winter low of -25 Celsius on ocassion.

Rainfall figures:530 mm to 660 mm a year.
Grodno oblast occupies a territory of 25,100 square kilometres.

Its population, as it stood on January 1, 2004, is around 1,146,000. Belarussians make up more than 62% of the region's population, with Poles being the largest minority. Other nationalities living in the Grodno oblast are Russians, Ukranians, Lithuanians, tatars, Jews and more.
The official language are Belarussian and Russian.

A LAND OF RIVERS AND LAKES

The locality is rich in lakes, small but scenic. The biggest of them are Lakes Beloye, Rubnitsya, Svir, Vishnevskoye and Svityaz. Most of them are used as water reserves and have grown famous for their clear water. Leafy groves, coniferous and mixed woods cover around one third of the area. Amazengly, parts of ancient virgin forests have survived on the territory. The biggest and most famous of these is Belovezhskaya Pushcha, listed as Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.

The northern part lies inside the Grodno region. A number of biological reserves have been created especially to protect the great variety plants and trees in the forest: currently there are 1,500 types of vegetation.

TRAVELLING IN THE GRODNO REGION

The Prineman area grants a traveller a wide choice of interesting routes. For boat-enthusiasts, there is a famous Avgustovski canal. It runs inside the Grodno Oblast for 21.2 km and includes four sluices; part of the canal also passes through Poland. Once a year at the end of August, near the Dombrovka sluice, a tri-nation Culture Festival takes place. Art groups and craftsmen from Belarus, Poland and Lithuania take part in the activity.

Rout Grodno-Slonim-Zhirovichi is full of amazing discoveries. In Slonim, splendid Baroque Catholic churches, as well as M.K.Oginsky's manor and local museum, all well worth a traveller's attention. Zhirovichi is a center for pilgrimage not only for Orthodox Belarussians but also for many believers from afar. Its ocal monastery is well-known for encompassing an ensemble of ancient churches and for its miracle-working, healing icon of the Blessed Virgin. Should the traveller stray from the set path, and come upon the small village Synkovichi, he would not regret it. A church-fortress has stood there, its faceted towers pointing to the sky, for the last 500 years. Its sister fortress and church, Malomozheikovo (also known as 'Muranovka') can be seen during as you drive along the Grodno-Minsk motorway. The road passes through plenty attractive sites: ancient towns and townships of Skidel, Schuchin and Lida, the ancestral nests of gentry's families, old parks, and Catholic and Orthodox churches.

If you come to visit Grodno area, you can not bypass the capital. Thes pearl in the crown of Belarussian cities will surely charm with its cosy atmosphere of ancient narow streets and green courtyyards. Royal castles, imposing Catholic churches, a unique Kalozhskaya church, museums, the only zoo in Belarus, exhibition and concert halls, theatres - Grodno has them all. You can easly spend a couple of days here and every one of those will be packed full with discoveries and impressions.

For nature lovers the Grodno region has a store of treasures - sanatoriums, recreation areas, beaches, rivers and lakes full of fish, and forests full of berries and mushrooms.

In the nest few days I will put some imortant information about the main beautiful places in Grodno Region...

Six magical petals

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During april to may Amsterdam turns into flower paradise. It inflates with millions of tulips making it the most colorful and mixed city on the Earth. You can see tulips everywhere: on squares, canals, lamps and showcases etc.

The most popular colors are red and white, and the most rare are black and blue. The red tulip with white edging is a classical harmonious flower combination stimulating a sense of gladness.

And black and blue bells you can see more often at the pictures then in the real life.

Blue tulip presents just in mind of floriculturists but there are a lot of sorts including the words in their names such as blauw. It is considered that there is no DNA responsible for blue color.

The first tulips came to Holland from Turkey 400 years ago. Exotic flowers with sharp long petals decorated the sultan’s castles and has been in respect in people minds.

Nowadays Holland exports hundreds of sorts of tulips abroad. Only men can cultivate tulips!

So, I think that you enjoy finding any useful information about history of tulips. And as usual you are welcome to add something that you know. Please feel free to post comments. But I ask you to post only relevant comments NO SPAM allowed! Thank you.

Amsterdam - the symbol of enterprise, freedom and cosmopolitanism

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Amsterdam… This city absorbs smell of the sea and flowers, cheese and fresh milk, Amsterdam has been poetized by poets and artists, it has been built up by famous architects. From this place a flotillas are gone to uncertainty, they conquered continents and won many sea battleships.

The origin of Amsterdam wrapped around legends.

The city where temptations are at every step. The cult of light drugs and easy of access sex gave to Amsterdam the glory of the city with the most free dispositions on the continent. Night begins here at 6 p.m. There are a lot of hippy with guitars and bear “Heineken” near the canal. Public hurry up to night shows and it sounds a music from restaurants. Whores open curtains inside the showcases at the “Red Lights” district. The day is finished but the life is continuing. Night life is very rich and various: every day there are approximately 40 concerts and theatre shows, thousands of disco and bars.

Starting from the Old Part of the city you can choose two ways: going to Ladeseplane and Rembrandtplane. You can find a huge variety of restaurants there. But most part of tourists prefer Rembrandtplane because there it can be found very unusual establishments. Striptease bars can be placed here too. Teenagers prefer disco and pop bars with techno, house and rap styles of music. Please do not surprised if you here the whisper “Coca..coca” and please be very carefully to buy heroine from street people – it is prohibited by the law! But at the local coffeeshop you can try light drugs – for instance hashish – absolutely legally.

Further you can reach the district of Red Lights. Oh… There is the biggest condom shop in Europe. In the center is situated famous “Sex Theatre” Next – showcases with pretty girls for cash. Night walks over the Amsterdam are safe. Till the early morning the doors of the bars are opened…

To be continued…

Please leave some comments here and tell what ware your impressions of visiting the Amsterdam. You can also ask any question you like. Thanks.