Voyage of historians in the ancient times of Belarus

On October 25-26, 2019, as part of the adaptation of the first year to student life, a tour trip of teachers and students of the History Department was held to the unique monuments of national culture of Belarus: the National History and Culture Museum-Reserve “Niasvizh” and the Mir Castle.

The programme of the visit was very informative. The students visited four objects included in the Cultural Heritage List of the Republic of Belarus, two of which are included in the UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

Firstly the guys got acquainted with the oldest Gothic church in Belarus, built in 1472 in the village of Ishkold, Baranovichi district. In the village of Volna the students got into the original Orthodox Trinity Church, built in 1768 in Vilna Baroque style.

After that the historians went to Niasvizh. The palace and park ensemble of the XVI–XIX centuries in Niasvizh is located in the north-east of the town, surrounded by the ponds of the Usha river. The historical value of one of the oldest palace and park complexes in Europe, the palace ensemble and neighboring parks fascinating with their beauty, the authentic atmosphere of the Middle Ages and modern technical capabilities make the Museum-Reserve “Niasvizh” unique and attractive.

An obligatory part of the trip was a visit to the Corpus Christi Church, the first baroque building in the Rzeczpospolita, built in 1587-1593 on the project of the Italian architect Giovanni Maria Bernardoni by order of Nicholas Christopher Radziwill “Sirotka”. The temple is richly decorated with paintings not only inside, but also outside. There are also many sculptural images in the church interior - bas reliefs and tombstones busts, marble altars and monuments. There are choirs with barrel organ above the entrance to the church. In the semi-basement of the church there is a generic crypt – shrine of Radziwill, which contains about seventy burials of the dynasty.

The architectural ensemble of the Mir Castle presents the castle-museum with 39 expositions, earth walls, picturesque parks and a pond, the shrine-church of Svyatopolk-Mirsky Princes. As the castle functions as a museum, you can climb the towers, walk the halls and enjoy the views of the "golden autumn". The towers of the castle are accessed by rather dangerous steep staircases with high steps - there should have been careful, which caused a special delight among students. The castle has halls-rooms that express the atmosphere of the ancient times, with numerous exhibits and old photographs. Unlike the Nesvizh Castle, the Mir Castle has kept original fragments of brickwork, which made historians very happy, because the castle began to be built in the XVI century. 

Such excursions, which have become a long and good tradition at the Department of History, significantly contribute to the professional development of future specialists, expand their horizons and strengthen the patriotism and love of students to their homeland.

Department of History