Belarus. Our closest neighbors Land border with Europe
In order to more accurately summarize the development of Belarus in the post-Soviet period, it is necessary to compare its achievements and negative aspects with the corresponding indicators of its neighbors. The authors of this article decided to take a number of social and economic indicators for comparison:
Lifespan
According to Deputy Chairman of the National Statistical Committee Elena Kukharevich, in 2008 life expectancy in Belarus was 70.5 years. For men this figure was 64.7 years, for women 75.6 years. Compared to Russia and Ukraine, this is slightly higher, for example, for men in Russia it is 60.4, in Ukraine it is 62.4, for women it is 73.2 and 74.1 years, respectively. As for the other neighboring countries, in Lithuania the average life expectancy for men is 65.3, for women - 77.1, in Latvia 65.9 and 76.8 years, respectively. Poland is in the leading place, for men this figure was 70.9, for women - 79.6.
According to the Human Development Index (an indicator of living standards), Russia ranks 65th in the world, behind Belarus (61st place), Latvia (48th place), Lithuania (44th place), and Poland (41st place). The situation is worse than in Russia only in Ukraine (67th place). Belarus is a neighbor of Serbia and the Republic of Costa Rica according to the HDI.
If we draw analogies on wages in Belarus and its neighbors, then Poland will again be at the top, wages in which amounted to 1,160 US dollars, in Latvia - 850 US dollars, Lithuania - 758 US dollars. Next comes Russia, where wages amounted to 484 dollars, then Belarus - 375, Ukraine closes the list - 300 dollars.
One of the indicators of the standard of living of the population is daily calorie consumption per capita. For 2005, this indicator by country is as follows: Russia - 3157, Belarus - 2983, Latvia - 3146, Lithuania - 3415, Poland - 3301, Ukraine - 3182 calories.
If we calculate the highest wages by region, then in Belarus the city of Minsk is in the leading place, in Ukraine - Dnepropetrovsk, Donetsk regions, and the city of Kyiv. In Russia, this list included the Yamalo-German Autonomous Okrug, the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the Republic of Sakha, and the city of Moscow.
| Countries | Salary in US dollars |
| Belarus | |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania | |
| Poland | 1160 |
| Russia | |
| Ukraine |
Source:[ 7 , 10 ]
| Countries | Daily calorie intake | Consumption meat and meat production/per year/kg | Consumption Fish and fish production/per year/kg | Consumption Milk and mol. Pr./ per year/l. | Consumption vegetables per year/kg |
| Belarus | 2983 | ||||
| Latvia | 3146 | ||||
| Lithuania | 3415 | ||||
| Poland | 3301 | ||||
| Russia | 3157 | ||||
| Ukraine | 3182 | 17,5 |
Source:[ 10 ]
| What can you buy with an average salary in dollars? |
|||
| Minsk | Astana | Moscow |
|
| Salary in dollars | 1478 |
||
| Beef (except boneless meat), kg | 127,4 | 185,6 | 213,4 |
| Butter, kg | 104,7 | 178,8 | 186,3 |
| Fresh milk (2.5-3.2 fat content), l | 955,0 | 1374,4 | 1452,0 |
| Wheat bread made from premium flour, kg | 592,4 | 756,3 | 1121,3 |
Source:
Crime statistics
Now, let's compare crime statistics in Belarus and its neighbors. According to UN statistics for 2009, the following can be observed:
| A country | Number of crimes per 1000 people |
| Belarus | |
| Russia | |
| Poland | |
| Ukraine | |
| Latvia | |
| Lithuania |
Source:
It seems unfortunate that in 2008 Belarus ranked third in the world in terms of the number of suicides per 100 thousand population, second only to Lithuania (first place) and Russia (second).
During January-September 2010, 1,982 cases of suicide were registered in Belarus, which is equal to 28 cases per 100 thousand people.
Alcoholism statistics
Drunkenness is one of the most dangerous human habits. It is no secret that today alcoholism has become one of the most serious threats for our society. Over the past 15 years, alcohol consumption in Belarus has doubled. The statistics are frightening in their numbers: it turns out that every resident of Belarus drinks 12 liters of alcohol per year.
The country has already adopted two government programs to reduce the level of alcoholism in the population and overcome its negative consequences for society, but, unfortunately, none of them lives up to the hopes placed on it.
| A country | Number of chronic alcoholics | As a percentage of the total population |
| Belarus | 180,000 people | 1,9 % |
| Russia | About 3,000,000 people | 2,1 % |
| Poland | About 800,000 people | 2,1 % |
| Ukraine | Over 900,000 people | 2,0 % |
| Latvia | 30.10 3 people | 1,3 % |
| Lithuania | 59,773 people | 1,8 % |
Source:
To summarize, it can be noted that in terms of living standards (HDI), Belarus is in the middle among six countries, inferior, of course, to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, but superior to Russia and Ukraine. In terms of life expectancy for men, we are again in the middle, inferior to Poland and Latvia, being on the same level as Lithuania. In terms of meat consumption, we are ahead only of Lithuania and are leaders in vegetable consumption.
It can be noted that Russia has extremely poor indicators both in terms of level and life expectancy, and in statistics on crime, abortion, and divorce. Russia ranks fifth in the world in the number of murders per 100 thousand population, 3rd in the world in the number of abortions per capita, 1st in the world in heroin use per capita, 1st in the world in divorce.
Kuprin A.A., Karapetyan Yu.V.
Sources
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2) Belarusian portal TUT. BY [Electronic resource] – Minsk, 2000-2010.- Access mode: http://news. tut. by /116929. html . - Access date: 12/02/2010.
3) Belarusian portal TUT. BY [Electronic resource] – Minsk, 2000-2010.- Access mode:http://news.tut.by/economics/207012.html . - Access date: 12/03/2010.
4) Be healthy! You can't buy health! [Electronic resource] - Moscow, 2007-2010. – Access mode: http://www.bydzdorov.ru/alk-stat.html. Access date: 12/02/2010.
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6) My Italy [Electronic resource] - Kyiv, 2007-2010. – Access mode: http://www.mia-italia.com/node/5628. Access date: 12/02/2010.
7) National Statistical Committee of the Republic of Belarus [Electronic resource] – Minsk, 1998-2010.- Access mode: http://belstat. gov. by / homep / ru / indicators / wages . php . - Access date: 11/30/2010.
8) “News of humanitarian technologies” [Electronic resource] - Moscow, 2002-2010. - Access mode: http://gtmarket. ru/news/state /2010/11/05/2719. - Access date: 12/02/2010.
9) Project about life [Electronic resource] – Moscow, 2002-2010.- Access mode: http://www. lossofsoul. com/DEATH/SUICIDE/STATISTIC. html . Access date: 12/02/2010.
10) Federal State Statistics Service [Electronic resource] - Moscow, 1999-2010. - Access mode: http://www. gks. ru/wps/portal . - Access date: 11/30/2010.
11) Central Statistical Office [ Electronic resource] – Warsaw, 1995-2010.- Access mode: http://www. stat. gov. pl / gus /5840_ demographic _ yearbook _ ENG _ HTML . html . Access date: 11/30/2010.
12) Latvijas Statistika [Electronic resource] - Riga , 2010. – Access mode: http://www. csb. gov. lv / saslimstiba - ar - alkoholismu - narkotisko - un - psihoaktivo - vielu - atkaribu . Access date: 12/01/2010
13) Medicaterra . Center for Web Medicine [Electronic resource] – Minsk, 2008-2010. - Access mode: http://www. medicaterra. by / borba - s - alkogolizmom . html . Access date: 12/01/2010.
14) PARPA – Panststwowa Agencja Rozwiazywania Problemow Alkoholowych [Electronic resource] - Warsaw , 2010. – Access mode: http://www. parpa. pl/index. php? option = com _ content & task = view & id =155& Itemid =16. Access date: 12/01/2010.
15) Statistics Lithuania [Electronic resource] - Vilnius , 2005-2010. - Access mode: http://www. stat. gov. lt / lt / . Access date: 12/02/2010.
I really love it when I make new friends. After all, how many interesting things you can learn from them! Therefore, I decided to talk about other countries in my magazine and hope to make friends with the girls and boys who live there. Moreover, no one can tell you better about their country than the children themselves. Do you agree?
Today I want to introduce you to such a wonderful republic as Belarus. No closer countries than ours. We are forever connected general history, culture, customs, traditions. In the most difficult times, our peoples helped each other, and together we won the Great Patriotic War. Second in Belarus state language is Russian language.
The very name of the country, Belarus, comes from the merger of two words - White Rus'. This is what these lands were called since the 13th century. Here's why - there are many versions. These include the white clothes that Belarusians used to wear, and the fact that White means Ancient or Great, and much more.
Flag of Belarus
The red color on the flag of Belarus has several meanings: a symbol of victory in the Battle of Grunwald between the Belarusian regiments and the crusaders, the color of the banner of the Red Army and the banners of the Belarusian partisans of the Second World War. Green color is a symbol of spring, hope. Near the shaft there is a strip with a national Belarusian ornament.
Coat of arms of Belarus
On it you can see the green outline of the borders of Belarus in the rays of the sun rising over the globe. In a wreath of ears there are: on the left - clover flowers, on the right - flax. The red and green ribbon that surrounds the wreath are the colors of the flag of Belarus.
The President of Belarus is Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko.
This is interesting
The oldest forest in Europe is located in this country and it is called Belovezhskaya Pushcha. There are 2000 giant trees growing here!
Schools in Belarus use a 10-point grading system. A rating of 0 is given very, very rarely. The same as a rating of 10 (which means “excellent”).
A short story about the formation of the borders of Belarus and relations with its neighbors - a complex story about confrontation and common national heroes.
A story about the people and events that shaped the modern world.
A brief overview of the relationship between the Belarusian state and its neighbors in the XIV-XX centuries.
XIV century - Belarusian lands were gathered into a single state under c. Prince Olgerd.
Formation of the Belarusian ethnic group.
XX century - collapse and collapse of the Russian Empire in 1917
Northeast. Latvia
Since the founding of Dinaburg (Daugavpils) by the Knights of the Sword (Fratres militiae Christi de Livonia) in 1275, it has remained virtually unchanged to this day. Duchies of Courland and Transdvina - Herzogtum Kurland und Semgallen & Ducatus Ultradunensis - from 1565 to 1795 - protectorate of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth..
From 1796 - Courland province
Russian Empire
Northeast. Latvia
Northwest. Lietuva
In a single state (after Grunwald) 1411-1917 (506 years). From Gediminas to Grunwald 1341-1411 (70 years)
Historical border between Samogitia and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It practically coincides with the northern border of the settlement of the Belarusian ethnic group and with the border of Lietuvos Respublika in 1935. This border, marked on all maps, is mentioned in the "Chronicon terrae Prussiae" of 1326.
The border received its modern appearance in 1940. Wars of the XIV-XX centuries. 0 (zero) years
The formation of ethnic groups and statehood of modern Belarusians and Lithuanians took place within the borders of one state. There were no state wars on the border of modern Belarus and Lietuva. In the XIV-XV centuries in Zhmudi-Samogitia there were poorly documented uprisings against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Until the 1980s, the Vilna region (province) was divided in half according to its native language mov/kalba and there were no wars on the linguistic border during the period under review. The longest and most uncompromising war of more than 20 years is being waged (today - online) between
with svyadomymi zmagars
And lietuviski nationalistai for the right to call the cultural and historical heritage of a common country “our own.” Soon it will become a national sport. Common heroes of the XIV-XX centuries. Complex issue. It's probably easier to list
NOT
common ones - such as Symon Budny (1530-93) and Martynas Mazvydas (1510-63), who promoted printing in their native languages.
Northeast. Latvia
The vast majority of significant historical figures, starting from Gediminas, cause acute holivars "geta nashae VS jis musu".
The situation with common heroes is best illustrated by the Radziwill cousins - Nikolai "Black" ("honorary Belarusian") and Nikolai "Red" ("honorary Lithuanian").
West. Poland
In a single state 1362-1569 (207 years). As part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth 1569-1795 (226 years). As part of RI 1795-1917 (122 years)
Northeast. Latvia
They were united into a single state. Prince Olgerd after the Battle of Blue Waters in 1362 between the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Golden Horde.
The natural border between Belarus and Ukraine is Polesie.
Even on maps of the 16th century it was depicted as the Sarmatian Sea - the Sea of Herodotus, which separated the Sarmatians and Scythians. [According to Herodotus
]
"The parents of Targitai (the first man), as the Scythians say, were Zeus and the daughter of the Borysthenes (Dnieper) river, the goddess Api"
In a single state (after Grunwald) 1411-1917 (506 years). From Gediminas to Grunwald 1341-1411 (70 years)
The border line was finally formed in 1569, when, according to the Union of Lublin, the Russians moved from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania to Poland.
4 years
After the transfer of the Ruskie Lands (Ukraine) to Poland under the Union of Lublin, the complex relationship between the Cossacks and the crown gave rise to Cossack uprisings.
In 1594-96 Nalivaiko, hetman of the Zaporozhian Army, with his army reached Mogilev. During the Khmelnitsky uprising, the Zaporozhye Army twice entered the lands of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania-Belarus - the battles of Loev in 1649 and 1651. The Khmelnitsky uprising, which ended with the Pereyaslav Rada, buried the idea of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of Three Nations until the uprising of 1863 (in Belarus - the Kalinowski uprising).
The situation with common heroes is best illustrated by the Radziwill cousins - Nikolai "Black" ("honorary Belarusian") and Nikolai "Red" ("honorary Lithuanian").
[ In that
brief overview
“wars” mean major battles with the organized Zaporozhian Army near the Belarusian-Ukrainian border. If we start counting smaller armed conflicts, then on the eastern border of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, mutual border raids lasted for decades.]
A long common history gives rise to common heroes. Vseslav the Magician, elected by the people of Kiev to the throne, c. Prince of Lithuania Shvarn is the son-in-law of Mindaugas and the son of Daniil of Galicia, King of Rus'. Princes Konstantin and Konstantin-Vasily of Ostrog are defenders of the state and the support of Orthodoxy. Meletius Smotrytsky, author of "Grammar" and Archbishop of Polotsk.
Kazimir Malevich, founder of the Vitebsk "Approvers of New Art" and author of "Black Square", born in Kyiv.
Northeast. Latvia
Belarusian-Ukrainian Polesie still considers itself “Poleshuks” - not Volyn and not Belarus.
By the way: first
In a single state (after Grunwald) 1411-1917 (506 years). From Gediminas to Grunwald 1341-1411 (70 years)
"bulbashi"
1368-1372 "Copy of Olgerd at the Moscow Gate" 1406-1408 Standing of Vytautas on the river. Eel
1487-1494 1500-1503 1507-1508 1512-1522 1534-1537 Wars that determined today's border
1558-1583 Livonian War 1609-1618 Capture of Moscow 1632-1634 Moscow's attempt to capture Smolensk 1654-1667 Bloody Flood
1768-1772 Bar Confederation 1773-1795 sections of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
1794
The apotheosis of ambiguity. Vaclav Lastovsky - Belarusian writer, public and political figure, academician of the National Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, historian, philologist, Prime Minister of the BPR, director of the National Historical Museum RB - arrested and executed in the case of the "Union for the Liberation of Belarus".
1939-1941 With the outbreak of World War II, clarity does not come. It seems that the Soviet Union helped Belarus unite.
Just who was killed then for the sake of Zaslav?
Clarity comes in 1941. All WWII heroes are common heroes.
Priest. Uniting Catholics and Orthodox Christians of Belarus. Translated the Bible into modern Belarusian. Died in the Trostinets concentration camp in 1942. A common hero. Although... Vincent Godlevsky wrote something about the independence of Belarus. No longer a hero?
Everything is somehow confusing. As a choice of cultural paradigm.
PS.
This page is written about Belarus and for Belarus. There is no objectivity in historical assessments and tactics.
For Lithuanians, this period is the expansion of the aukštaites from the coronation of Mindaugas in Kernavė.
For Russians - collecting ancestral lands.
For Poles, this is Poland to Smolensk.
For Ukrainians, it is determined by the inscription on the Boplan map “Ukraine is the land of the Cossacks.”
And even if the events of a hundred years ago have undergone a radical reassessment over the past 20 years, what can we say about the Middle Ages.
National self-identification is more important than some “historical truth”.
The borders of modern Belarus coincide more accurately with the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania than of Russia - with the borders of the Russian Empire. The Belarusian ethnic group emerged in the 15th century, and statehood even earlier; the state language is the same as 500 years ago. Where do the people who lead the history of our country since 1917 come from? Our neighbours
More than twenty years ago, the Smolensk region and Belarus parted ways and each went their own way towards the goal of building a happy life. To reach your goal, you must first go. Or go. To travel, you need roads. In Belarus they are excellent. This means that 20 years of independent living in Belarus spent time, money and effort on building roads. But first things first.
The purpose of our trip is Brest and the Brest Fortress. On the way we plan to visit Minsk, Mir and Nesvizh. Alferovo is connected to Brest by the M-1 road, which is called the Moscow-Minsk highway to Minsk.
At the last gas station on Russian territory, attention is drawn to an original marketing move - an installation in the form of a motorcycle, created by some very creative person. I remember a year ago there was an iron woodcutter in this place, and you couldn’t drive past it without stopping. This means that the creative search continues.
Here is the Russian-Belarusian border. It’s hard to call it a border, because we drive through it without stopping. This is extremely pleasant. Borders should not separate people.
First impressions of Belarus, which we see from the car window: all the land has been cultivated, plowed, sown, even small woodlands have been plowed. In every field, rye and wheat are earing, flax and potatoes are growing... The farms are all operational, with herds of cow cows grazing nearby. There is a lot of equipment in the fields. The lyrical and soft Belarusian landscape, full of inner dignity, flashing outside the car window evokes nostalgic memories, since over the past decades such pictures have disappeared from the life of the Smolensk region. The houses in the villages are reminiscent of the Smolensk region - the same unprepossessing, indicating the small wealth of their owners, simple architecture, but everything around is neat, no weeds, and very clean. In general, there is order in the country.
The feeling of order is also supported by the condition of the Moscow-Minsk highway. She is not at all like herself on the Moscow-Smolensk section. All along the entire length from the border to Minsk (as it later turned out, to Brest too) - this is a luxurious two-lane highway in each direction, with a divider in the middle and with permitted maximum speed 110-120 km/h. Driving on such a road is very pleasant and comfortable.
Our first stop is in Minsk. It is convenient to pre-book accommodation on booking. It is rented out to travelers by both real estate agencies and private owners. There are many cozy cafes and restaurants in Minsk. Belarusian potato pancakes are incomparable. Minsk GUM pleasantly surprises with its prices and wide range of locally produced goods. The sight of Belarusian souvenirs - products made of linen, wood, ceramics, straw - makes your eyes widen. All souvenirs are made in Belarus, not in China.
Belarus is a country of millionaires. The number of zeros on banknotes does not immediately begin to fit in the Russian head - this requires skill. We discover that all the sights of Belarus that we plan to visit are depicted on Belarusian money, which confirms the correctness of our goals.
The city pleasantly surprises with its wide avenues, monumental Soviet architecture, cleanliness and neatness. It perfectly combines past and modernity.
Among the sights, we have time to explore the central Freedom Square with the restored city hall, and see the Church of St. Simeon and St. Helena (1908) on Independence Square. This beautiful temple, which is called the Red Church, is an unusual structure. The main financial support during the construction of the Church of St. Simeon and St. Helena was provided by a wealthy landowner, originally from Slutchina, Edward Voinilovich. His children Simeon and Elena became seriously ill and died at the ages of 12 and 18. The temple was built in memory of them. The rectangular tower in the center of the architectural complex symbolizes the grief of parents who buried their children. Two small towers symbolize deceased children and are named after Helen and Simeon.
On Freedom Square, tourists take pictures in front of modern sculptural compositions. One of them, called “Crew of Governor Zakhary Korneev,” was installed in 2007. The empty carriage drawn by horses seems to be just waiting for the governor to leave the town hall and go on important business in his carriage. Zakhary Korneev is a historical figure. He really was the governor of Minsk, and not just any governor, but the very first. Korneev was appointed to this position in 1796, after the city was annexed to the Russian Empire. Another sculptural composition, “City Scales,” depicting how citizens weigh goods, appeared in 2013. Minsk received the standards of the European metric system, as well as permission to install city scales, thanks to Magdeburg Law. City scales, standards of units of weight and volume were kept in the town hall building. The new sculptural composition presents an image of the seal of the Minsk Town Hall with the city’s coat of arms and an inscription about the granting of Magdeburg Law to Minsk.
A hundred kilometers from Minsk is the urban village of Mir. This is the next goal of our journey. Mir Castle is one of the most significant and unique monuments architecture of Belarus. Like any ancient monument, it is shrouded in many interesting legends and legends that give it mystery and enigma.
One of the reasons for the start of construction of the castle in the 20s. XVI century was inspired by the desire of the owner of Mir, Yuri Ivanovich Ilyinich, to receive the count title of the Holy Roman Empire. One of the necessary conditions for this was the presence of a stone castle in the property. Five towers were erected, connected by walls whose thickness at the base reached three meters. Each tower, 25 meters high, had five battle tiers with loopholes and a complex system of internal passages. During the construction of the castle, three-layer masonry was used: the outer and inner parts of the walls were made of brick interspersed with boulder stones, and the space between them was filled with small stones and broken bricks.
The Ilinichs were unable to complete the construction of the castle, since their family had completely died out in forty years. The Mir County was inherited by the cousin of the grandson of the castle founder - Nikolai Christopher Radziwill, nicknamed “The Orphan”. From 1569, over the next three centuries, the castle belonged to representatives of the powerful Radziwill family. At first, Prince Nicholas Christopher Radziwill “The Orphan” decided to make the castle one of his residences and changed a lot of things in it. Then his plans changed.
Peaceful life was cut short by the war between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire. The castle was devastated and burned several times. Former luxury The castle was returned to its new owner - Mikhail Kazimir Radziwill, nicknamed "Rybonka".
One of the sons of "Rybonka", Karol Stanislav, nicknamed "Pane Kohanku", from 1754 to 1762. lived in Mir Castle, organized luxurious balls here, and invited numerous guests to hunt. After his death in 1790, all hereditary possessions passed to his nephew, Dominik Hieronymus Radziwill, who during the War of 1812 took the side of Napoleon. Mortally wounded in battle, Dominic died in 1813. The further history of the ownership of Mir Castle is the history of litigation between heirs who lived outside of Russia. Ultimately, the Radziwill heirs were forced to sell the Mir Castle due to changes in Russian legislation.
In 1891, the world's lands and the castle were bought by the assigned Cossack ataman of the Don Army Nikolai Ivanovich Svyatopolk-Mirsky (apparently because of the name). Under him, a pond with islands was built in front of the castle. There is a legend associated with this reservoir. They say that previously there was an orchard in its place, planted by one of the tenants of the Mir Castle, Anton Putyata, in the 1880s. The tenant sought to turn the estate into a beautiful residence and therefore planted a wonderful orchard here. Around 1890 the lease ended and the tenant went bankrupt.
Nikolai Svyatopolk-Mirsky, having purchased the estate, ordered the garden to be cut down. It was spring, people did not raise their hands to the flowering trees. Then the prince himself was the first to take up the ax. The desired reservoir was created. They say that one of the first to drown in the new pond was the son of a local healer. Then she cursed both this place and the prince himself. The laity believed that Svyatopolk-Mirsky was punished for blasphemy with premature death, and as many people should drown in the reservoir as there were trees cut down. Indeed, almost every year people have been drowning in the pond for many decades.
The castle in Myra has witnessed numerous wars over its more than four-century history. In 1655, it suffered from a long siege by the Swedes; in 1705, they attacked the castle a second time and burned it. The castle was severely destroyed during the War of 1812. There were fierce battles between the French and Russians in Mir. Then the north-eastern tower of the castle, in which there was a gunpowder warehouse, was blown up, and the palace was burned. The castle was in such a dilapidated state until recently.
Under Svyatopolk-Mirsky’s eldest son, Mikhail, work began on the restoration of the Mir Castle in 1922. Everyday amenities appeared in the castle: water, electricity, sewerage, telephone. But Mikhail Svyatopolk-Mirsky was forced to leave his possessions, since the territory of Western Belarus was annexed to the USSR in 1939.
Restoration work at Mir Castle began in 1983. The castle has been open to tourists since December 2010.
From the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. Mir Castle served only country residence The Radziwills are one of the richest and most influential families in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Poland and Europe. Prince Nicholas Christopher Radziwill “The Orphan”, for unknown reasons, abandoned the thorough modernization of the Mir Castle that he had begun and moved the princely residence to Nesvizh. Therefore, the next point of our journey is Nesvizh.
Nesvizh is small district center in the Minsk region, located southwest of Minsk. Nesvizh Castle with palace complex and parks are its main attraction. Construction of a stone castle and palace began in Nesvizh under Prince Nikolai Radziwill the Orphan (from 1584 to 1616). To do this, he invited the Italian Jesuit monk Giovanni Bernardoni. Defensive fortifications were created in front of the castle - an earthen rampart lined with stone up to 20 meters high with bastions in the corners and artificial reservoirs. The only approach to the castle was through wooden bridge, who quickly dealt with the situation in the event of an enemy attack.
In the three-story Nesvizh Palace there were storerooms on the first floor, apartments for the prince and princess on the second, and halls, a library and a home chapel on the third. In 1658, the palace had 12 halls, decorated with marble and gold.
The castle has its own ghost - the Black Lady - the ghost of Barbara Radziwill, the wife of the king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Sigismund Augustus, who was poisoned by the mother of the king Bona Sforza. After the death of his wife, the king was very sad. By using medieval alchemists he summoned the spirit of his dead wife and, in a fit of emotion, tried to hug him. Barbara's spirit immediately disappeared. Since then, a ghost has appeared in Nesvizh Castle - the Black Lady. A legend arose that the Black Lady warns the owners of the castle about impending disaster: fire, illness, war or death.
The restoration of the palace and park ensemble began in 1997, and in 2004 the restoration of the castle began. The opening of the palace and castle complex took place in 2012. $55 million was spent on restoring the former beauty and luxury of the unique residence. Using the old inventory books of the Radziwills, the palace halls were restored: Ballny, Hetman, Golden, Star, Okhotnichy.
The Radziwills were fabulously rich. The palace treasury was stacked from floor to ceiling with hundreds of gold bars and a variety of jewelry. Twelve figures of the apostles, made of silver and gold, decorated with precious stones. The owners of the castle replenished the family treasury from generation to generation, not having the right not only to sell or give anything from it as a dowry, but also to take it out of Nesvizh. During military invasions, it was securely kept in a hiding place, which only the prince and his closest servant knew about. In 1793 Nesvizh became part of the Russian Empire. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia, the owner of Nesvizh, Dominik Radziwill, while in the service of the Russian Tsar, supported the French Emperor. After the defeat of Napoleonic army, he fled to France, where he died from a mortal wound, without informing anyone about the location of the famous family treasury. She has not been found yet. Nesvizh Castle was confiscated. The Radziwills returned here only in 1860.
In 1878, under the leadership of Princess Maria Kastellyan Radziwill, the park ensemble of Nesvizh was founded. In total, there are five parks at Nesvizh Castle: Old, Japanese, New, English and Castle. It took more than 20 years to create the park ensemble. The seedlings were grown from seeds brought from the Berlin palace of the Radziwill princes. In the Old Park you can find many interesting bronze sculptures: a mermaid sitting on a stone, a dog that saved the prince while hunting from a wounded bear, and others.
After the outbreak of World War II, Nesvizh became a Soviet city. From 1945 to 1992 there was a sanatorium in the castle. The Radziwills left their ancient residence. Today they all live outside of Belarus, occasionally visiting their family nest.
As befits magnates, the Radziwills cared not only about their lives, but also about death. Prince Radziwill the Orphan spared no expense in the construction of the Jesuit church, which was to become not only a temple, but also the tomb of the Radziwills. The Radziwill tomb is the third in the world in terms of the number of burials after the Habsburgs and Bourbons.
Today, the script-mausoleum of the church contains 154 burials and 71 sarcophagi. The first to be buried in the crypt (in 1616) were Nicholas Radziwill the Orphan, his wife and children. Nikolai Radziwill Orphan learned the embalming recipe while traveling in the East. The last to be buried was Anthony Nikolai Radziwill, the urn with whose ashes was brought from London and installed in the family crypt in 2000. Tourists have the opportunity to visit the scriptu-mausoleum. The feeling of contemplating many sarcophagi standing underground on top of each other, covered with dust and preserving centuries of history of a powerful family, is impossible to convey in words.
Nesvizh today is a clean, cozy, friendly town for tourists. In Nesvizh there is the oldest preserved monument on the territory of Belarus. city hall(1596, architect Giovanni Bernardoni). After World War II, under Soviet rule, the town hall was transferred either to the district cultural center, or to the home of pioneers and schoolchildren, or to the children's library. Now it is a monument of history and architecture, which has acquired its original appearance and attracts tourists. Not far from the town hall there is a monument to Lenin, who, with his usual gesture, shows the working people the path to a bright future. And he doesn’t bother anyone, doesn’t offend anyone’s feelings. His well-groomed appearance once again serves as proof of the caring attitude of the residents of Belarus towards their own past. This is a piece of our common history.
From Alferov to Brest 790 kilometers. The walls of the Brest Fortress became a symbol of the city. Here, on June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began. The army of Nazi Germany needed more three months In order to cover these 790 kilometers to Alferovo, German tanks rumbled along the Moscow-Minsk highway past the village of Maloe Alferovo in early October 1941. The first obstacle on their way was the defenders of the Brest Fortress. The suffering of the fighting people was incredible. There was no water, and the summer that year was unusually hot. Plumes of smoke, gunpowder fumes, and the smell of decomposing corpses filled the space. But they continued to resist until the last bullet.
Now it’s hard to even believe that before 1955, few people had heard about the events that took place in June 1941 in the Brest Fortress. Moreover, the soldiers and officers who were captured by the Germans in the first days of the war were outcasts among the victorious people. Survivors of fascist concentration camps automatically ended up in Soviet camps, after which they could only remain silent... Only after the death of Stalin, the history of the defense of the fortress began to gradually open up. Writer Sergei Smirnov meticulously collected stories, wrote down memories, and studied archives. Thanks to his work, everyone learned about the heroic defenders of the Brest Fortress, who continued to fight even in July 1941 without hope of help or salvation.
In the Brest Fortress I had a chance to see Belarusian schoolchildren picking out grass from paving slabs, presumably as part of their summer practice, following a tradition established back in the Soviet Union. It seemed inappropriate to point a camera at them. The defense of the Brest Fortress is now actively used in Belarus in the patriotic education of the new generation.
The history of Brest itself is not limited only to the events of the Great Patriotic War. The city has already celebrated its millennium, there are many temples, museums, monuments and beautiful streets. The museum of railway equipment and Archaeological Museum“Berestye” is on the site where the city was born in the 9th-10th centuries. There is Lenin Street and Sovetskaya Street in the city (it can be considered the “Brest Arbat” or the “local Khreshchatyk”). There is also a bronze monument to Lenin, which in Brest shows the lost the right path... to the temple - the Church of the Revival of the Holy Cross...
From Brest it’s a stone’s throw to Belovezhskaya Pushcha. It would be wrong not to visit it, having traveled 800 kilometers from Alferov. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is associated with bison, with the collapse Soviet Union(On December 8, 1991, here in the village of Viskuli, the heads of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine stated that the USSR had ceased to exist) and with Pakhmutova’s song:
Perennial oaks become majestic.
A lily of the valley youth in the shadows, guarding someone's treasure...
Your bison children don’t want to die out,
Belovezhskaya Pushcha, Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Here, too, everything has been done to attract tourists. You can rent bicycles and travel around the entire Pushcha on special paved roads. The bikes are so-so, they're pretty weak, but you can ride them quite well. Belovezhskaya Pushcha is primarily a forest. For example, there are ticks there, which are very unpleasant to later remove from your own body. And snakes crawl across the road. The place is protected, so snakes have an advantage over cyclists.
They saw the bison and set off on the return journey, which lay through the town of Kamenets. A defense watchtower (13th century), known as the White Vezha, has survived to this day. The height of the tower is about 30 meters, the thickness of the walls is 2.5 meters.
It is difficult to disagree with the opinion of Yu.N. Shorina (editor-in-chief of the magazine “Smolensky Region”): “The acquisition of national independence gave a lot to the Belarusian country. Currently, it is experiencing an outstanding cultural and civilizational upsurge, serving for us as an example of hard work, cleanliness, order, competent arrangement of life, and respect for one’s traditions.”
Based on the results of the trip, it can be stated that building a reasonable, prosperous life in a single country is post-Soviet space quite possible. The Belarusian recipe for achieving happiness does not include the mandatory demolition of Lenin monuments and the renaming of Soviet street names. The coffins with the bodies of the long-dead richest and most influential tycoons (often rare tyrants), who mercilessly exploited the working people, they also do not bother in vain. Such tolerance is a very wise decision in a situation where society, in a short historical period, tends to change its attitude towards certain issues, in the apt expression of our fellow countryman Pavel Nikiforovich Propalov, “to the exact opposite.”
Belarusians in currently turned out to be closer to the “sky in diamonds” than the Smolensk residents. They, like good neighbors, have a lot to learn. Yu.N. shares the same opinion. Shorin: “We should learn from Belarusians how to respect the natural environment and develop the tourism sector. A small country quickly learns to balance its government and civic efforts with the interests and needs of the individual.”
Russia's closest neighbor is Belarus. This country is always happy to have guests and if you have never been here - welcome!
A distinctive feature of the country is a quiet, measured life, leisurely, kindness and hospitality. You will definitely be pleased with delicious Belarusian cuisine and quality products at reasonable prices.
Wonderful nature, a huge number of rivers, lakes and forests have a beneficial effect on well-being. At the resorts of Belarus they treat with climate, mineral waters And therapeutic mud. In addition, little Belarus can surprise you with many attractions. Be sure to visit these significant places, such as the Brest Fortress, Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the restored Novogrudok and Ludsky castles, the ruins of 14th century monasteries in the vicinity of Mstislavl and much more.
In short, this country has something for everyone to do. Hospitable Belarus is always waiting for you!
We present to your attention the sanatoriums of Belarus, as well as fascinating sightseeing tours in Belarus.
