Grodno and the outskirts

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...