The early years Adam Mitskevich spent in Novogrudok

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

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

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.

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Shchuchin

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

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

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