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3. Grodno

Grodno

 Welcome to Grodno!

Grodno is often called a royal city or city-museum. Even in the 16th century it was included in the Cologne encyclopedia Brown as one of “the most beautiful” city of Europe for its unique architectural appearance You will certainly be impressed by its majestic castles, Catholic cathedrals and Orthodox churches. A walk in the historical center combined with driving round the city allow a visitor to breath the air of the bygone centuries, comprehend the present life of the city and have a glimpse into its future.

Read about Grodno

It is a good idea to start the acquaintance with the city with a sightseeing tour "The Royal city of Grodno”

 The tour includes:

• Boris and Gleb Church, its other name (Kalozhskaya), is the oldest in the city. It was built in the early 12th century on the high and picturesque bank of the Neman River. It was among the first stone buildings in Belarus, which is primarily distinguished by its unique brickwork, still preserved in a good condition: polished boulders of several colors alternating with rows of narrow red bricks adorn the exterior walls of the church. Interior walls are decorated with colored ceramic tiles, creating images of crosses and other intricate patterns. For floor decoration majolica tiles were used. It is not accidentally, that in the near future the church is likely to be included into the UNESCO World Heritage List.
• Old Castle, also known as the Upper Castle, has a long and fascinating history. It was built in the eleventh century by Russian princes. The first historical castle was built out of wood and had distinctive features of the defensive character. In the early 13th century Grodno, as the rest of Belarus, became  a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In 1391 at the order of the Great Lithuanian prince Vitovt a brick castle was constructed in the late Gothic style to substitute the wooden one. Since that time the Castle had become the residence of Great Lithuanian princes and subsequently of Polish kings. The next Lithuanian prince Kazimir Yagelon preferred Grodno to the official capital and stayed in the Castle until his death in 1492. Polish king Stefan Batoriy used to stay in the Castle very often. He actually made Grodno the capital of his enormous state. At the initiative of the king in 1580, the castle was rebuilt in the popular then Renaissance style by an Italian architect Scotto from Parma. In 1655 the castle was entirely destroyed by Russian troops during the Russo-Polish war of 1654-1667. It was rebuilt by a Lithuania chancellor and head of Grodno Krzysztof Zygmunt. It was here that every third Seim of Czech Pospoilita took place. After the partition of Czech Pospolita at the end of the 18th century the castle was handed over to the army of the Tsarist Russia and was used as barracks. Today the Castle houses the main exposition of Grodno Historical and Archaeological Museum. A project of reconstruction of the castle is envisaged. It is going to be reconstructed to acquire the glamorous appearance it had during the time of Stefan Batoriy.
• In 1751 the New Castle was built in front of the Old Castle to become a summer residence of Polish Kings and Grand Dukes of Lithuania. It was designed by the architect Carl Friedrich Pёppelman at the request of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Augustus III. In one part of the castle there were apartments for the royal family and the other part was arranged for holding Seims. It was in 1795 as a result of the partition of Rzecz Pospolita that the last King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania had to sign an Act of Abdication. It was destroyed by fire during World War II and rebuilt afterwards in the Soviet neo-classical style to house the Regional Party Committee of the Communist Party of the BSSR. Nowadays some departments of Grodno Historical and Archaeological Museum are accommodated in its premises. There is a memorial plaque on the building in honor of the national liberation uprising in 1794 led by the national hero of Belarus, Poland and the USA Tadeush Kosciuszko.
• Farny Catholic Cathedral or Cathedral of St. Francisk Ksavery is a real pearl of the Belarusian architecture, the largest, richest and the most beautiful Catholic Cathedral in Eastern Belarus. The idea of building a church in Grodno was already cherished in the 16th century by the Polish king Stefan Batoriy, who made the city his residence and the capital of the state. He even donated ten thousand zlotys for the construction of the church. Its construction was launched in 1668. The cathedral was consecrated in 1705 at the presence of the Polish king August I and the Russian emperor Peter the Great. Its interior is decorated with wood carving, frescoes and gorgeous sculptures and marvelous paintings. The attention of a visitor is attracted by the main alter made entirely of carved wood. There is a wooden statue of the Saint Preacher Frantsisk Ksavery in the center of the alter and on either side from the alter there are statues of apostles.

Museums:

Grodno State Historical and Archaeological Museum

The museum was opened in 1924. The impressive collection includes 8,000 exhibits placed in the premises of the "Old Castle", "New Castle" and "House of the craftsman", the latter is a typical apartment building, an architectural monument of the 19th century. With the largest museum collection you can get acquainted in the "Old Castle." Here you can see the artifacts found during archaeological excavations, with the history and nature of the Grodno region. In the New castle, you can get acquainted with in the departments: "New Castle Events and Destiny", "Saved Values", "Wonderful World of Nature" and "Weapons of Past Centuries"  The museum boasts a collection of coins, there are 30, 000 coins of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as well as of Sweden, Hungary and Russia. Here at the Castle Hill near the House of the craftsman, the ruins of stone buildings have been found during the excavation, including the Lower Church of the 12th century. This unique excavation can also be seen during the tour.

• Address: 230023, Grodno. Castle Street, 20, Republic of Belarus,
• Phone: +375 152 74 39 14, +375 152 74 08 33
• Website: www.muzeum-grodno.by

Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion

Grodno State Museum of the History of Religion is a unique museum of religion in Belarus and one of the four existing within the post-Soviet space. In this museum the visitor has the opportunity to trace the history of the emergence of various denominations in the territory, which is today Belarus and their impact on daily life and culture of the Belarusians, as well as their history of peaceful coexistence with each other. There are two main exhibitions housed in the museum: "The Era of Time, the Construction", which tells about the history of the construction of the castle and the everyday life and holidays of the Belarusian nobility, their family values and hobbies. The second exposure is directly related to the main focus of the museum, is devoted to religion. The spacious halls of the museum tell about different faiths: Christianity, Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Protestantism and the Uniate Church, there is also a hall, telling about Judaism and Islam in the museum. Among many unique exhibits one can see a miniature icon carved in stone depicting the Prophet Elijah in the desert, displaying a rather rare biblical scene.

• Address: 230025, Grodno, ul.Zamkovaya, 16, Republic of Belarus
• Phone: +375 152 74 25 13
• Fax: +375 152 74 54 79
• Website: www.religija.by

Pharmacy Museum

The museum is the first pharmacy not only in Grodno, but also in the whole of  Belarus. The history of its creation dates back to 1709 and is associated with the activities of the Jesuits. For their Pharmaceutical Research Jesuits purposely constructed this building, which also housed a pharmacy. Pharmacy enjoyed great popularity among the inhabitants of Grodno and existed in this building until 1953. The building housed a medical warehouse, and a few years later it housed working premises of the furniture salon. Most likely, this architectural monument of the 18th century would have fallen into oblivion, if not a private pharmaceutical company "Bio Test," which decided to reconstruct the building itself and revive its ancient pharmacy. Today, the ancient halls with vaulted ceilings  are used as a pharmacy and exhibition space. As in the past. pharmacy is still characterized by a variety of drugs, and in the original rooms of the museum you can get acquainted with the history of pharmacy, as well as to see the ancient medical books, and devices, drug utensils and even furniture of apothecary. There is  the so-called "Alchemist's Corner", where you can see a diverse collection of medicinal herbs used for the treatment of various diseases in the old days.

• Address: 230023, Grodno, Sovetskaya Street, 4, Republic of Belarus
• Phone: +375 152 74 00 81
• Fax: +375 152 74 54 79
• Website:http://am.biotest.by/

Museum of Iron

The museum is the only one of its kind in Belarus. This unique museum is among only ten of this kind in the world. This is not an ordinary museum, because here visitors can not only see its exhibits but even touch them. The museum's collection includes 300 irons,  mainly  produced in the 19th and 20th centuries. It displays a large variety of irons: tiny and huge, cast iron and wood, steam and gas. Visitors are offered a unique opportunity to try out the exhibits. For example, to iron linen fabric with a wooden iron, which consists of a rolling pin and a ribbed board, as our greatgrandparents did. In addition to the main collection a visitor can see other household utensils: meat grinders, peelers, juicers, kettles, and not only.

• Address: 230025, Grodno, Sovetskaya Street, 7-23, Republic of Belarus
• Phone: +375 29 780 13 18
• Fax: +375 152 74 54 79
• Website: www.museyutyuga.by