Nesvizh
Encyclopedia
Nesvizh is a city in Belarus
. It is the administrative center of the Nesvizh District (rajon) of Minsk Province and location of the Nesvizh Castle World Heritage Site
. Its 2009 population is 14,300 .
. In the 15th century, while still a minor town, it passed to the Radziwiłł princely family, and remained the family's home until 1813. The first Belarusian language
book printed in the Latin alphabet
, a catechism
by Symon Budny
, was published in Nesvizh in 1562 . Nesvizh Castle was founded in 1583, and between 1584 and 1598 two monasteries and a collegium, all belonging to different religious orders, were built . On the initiative of Mikołaj "the Orphan" Radziwiłł the city was granted Magdeburg rights
in 1586. Two epidemics that occurred in the city in the 17th century led to an establishment of a pharmacy in 1627.
During the Great Northern War
of 1700-1721, the city was significantly damaged by the Swedish troops. It was rebuilt in the 1720s by Michał "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł. In the aftermath of the war, in 1740s and 1750s he founded a silk belt factory (which was later moved to Sluck), a cadet corps military school, several textile manufacturers and restored the Corpus Christi Church and a printing factory. Michał's wife, Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa, founded the Nesvizh Radziviłł Theater, which included a choir and a ballet school.
In 1764 and 1768 the city was occupied by Russian troops, and in 1772 the library, which included approximately 10,000 volumes, along with paintings and other objects of art, was transferred to St. Petersburg. Books from the library were granted to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
The city was a county (powiat) centre in Nowogródek Province during Polish rule between 1919-1939.
. With the occupation beginning on June 27, 1941, they established a Judenrat
. On October 30, 4,000 of the town's Jews were murdered and the rest confined to a ghetto. On July 20, 1942, the ghetto was surrounded by Belorussian police and the German commander announced that the ghetto's population would be liquidated with the exception of 30 essential skilled workers. The ghetto's underground organization, based on a Soviet-era Zionist group, called for self-defense, having one machine gun but mostly knives and similar arms. Most of the Jews were killed; a few succeeded in escaping to nearby forests to join partisan units, including the Zhukov Jewish partisan unit.
The Corpus Christi Church (constructed 1587-1593) is one of the earliest Jesuit churches in the world and one of the first baroque buildings in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, influencing the later architecture of Belarus
, Poland
and Lithuania
.
Nesvizh Castle, the family complex of the Radziwill
noble family, is a World Heritage Site
.
(Italy
) Goris
(Armenia
) Reutov
(Russia
) Złotów, Poland
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. It is the administrative center of the Nesvizh District (rajon) of Minsk Province and location of the Nesvizh Castle World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
. Its 2009 population is 14,300 .
History
Nesvizh was first documented in 1223 , later becoming a part of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
. In the 15th century, while still a minor town, it passed to the Radziwiłł princely family, and remained the family's home until 1813. The first Belarusian language
Belarusian language
The Belarusian language , sometimes referred to as White Russian or White Ruthenian, is the language of the Belarusian people...
book printed in the Latin alphabet
Latin alphabet
The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...
, a catechism
Catechism
A catechism , i.e. to indoctrinate) is a summary or exposition of doctrine, traditionally used in Christian religious teaching from New Testament times to the present...
by Symon Budny
Symon Budny
Symon Budny was a Belarusian and Polish humanist, educator, hebraist, Bible translator, Church reformator, philosopher, sociologist and historian.-Christology:...
, was published in Nesvizh in 1562 . Nesvizh Castle was founded in 1583, and between 1584 and 1598 two monasteries and a collegium, all belonging to different religious orders, were built . On the initiative of Mikołaj "the Orphan" Radziwiłł the city was granted Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg rights
Magdeburg Rights or Magdeburg Law were a set of German town laws regulating the degree of internal autonomy within cities and villages granted by a local ruler. Modelled and named after the laws of the German city of Magdeburg and developed during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, it was...
in 1586. Two epidemics that occurred in the city in the 17th century led to an establishment of a pharmacy in 1627.
During the Great Northern War
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...
of 1700-1721, the city was significantly damaged by the Swedish troops. It was rebuilt in the 1720s by Michał "Rybeńko" Radziwiłł. In the aftermath of the war, in 1740s and 1750s he founded a silk belt factory (which was later moved to Sluck), a cadet corps military school, several textile manufacturers and restored the Corpus Christi Church and a printing factory. Michał's wife, Franciszka Urszula Radziwiłłowa, founded the Nesvizh Radziviłł Theater, which included a choir and a ballet school.
In 1764 and 1768 the city was occupied by Russian troops, and in 1772 the library, which included approximately 10,000 volumes, along with paintings and other objects of art, was transferred to St. Petersburg. Books from the library were granted to the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Hegemony
Nesvizh was part of:- Polish-Lithuanian CommonwealthPolish-Lithuanian CommonwealthThe Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
between 1569-1793 - Russian EmpireRussian EmpireThe Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(except short occupation by FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
in 1812) between 1793-1915 - German EmpireGerman EmpireThe German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
(1915-1918) - Belarusian People's Republic (1918-1919)
- Lithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicLithuanian-Byelorussian Soviet Socialist RepublicLithuanian–Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic or Litbel was a Soviet socialist republic, that existed within the territories of modern Belarus and eastern Lithuania for approximately seven months during 1919. It was created after the merger of Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic and the...
(as part of USSR) in 1919 - PolandPolandPoland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
(1919-1939) (except short occupation by USSR in 1920) - Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1939-1941 and 1944-1991) and
- GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(1941-1944).
The city was a county (powiat) centre in Nowogródek Province during Polish rule between 1919-1939.
The Jews of Nesvizh
The Jewish population in 1900 stood at 4,687 , and approx. 4,500 on the eve of the German invasion of Operation BarbarossaOperation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
. With the occupation beginning on June 27, 1941, they established a Judenrat
Judenrat
Judenräte were administrative bodies during the Second World War that the Germans required Jews to form in the German occupied territory of Poland, and later in the occupied territories of the Soviet Union It is the overall term for the enforcement bodies established by the Nazi occupiers to...
. On October 30, 4,000 of the town's Jews were murdered and the rest confined to a ghetto. On July 20, 1942, the ghetto was surrounded by Belorussian police and the German commander announced that the ghetto's population would be liquidated with the exception of 30 essential skilled workers. The ghetto's underground organization, based on a Soviet-era Zionist group, called for self-defense, having one machine gun but mostly knives and similar arms. Most of the Jews were killed; a few succeeded in escaping to nearby forests to join partisan units, including the Zhukov Jewish partisan unit.
Main sights
Baroque in Poland
The Polish Baroque lasted from the late 16th to the mid-18th century. As with Baroque style elsewhere in Europe, Poland's Baroque emphasized the richness and triumphant power of contemporary art forms. In contrast to the previous, Renaissance style which sought to depict the beauty and harmony of...
, influencing the later architecture of Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
and Lithuania
Lithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
.
Nesvizh Castle, the family complex of the Radziwill
Radziwill
The Radziwiłł family is an noble family of Lithuanian origin. The descendants of Kristinas Astikas, a close associate of the 14th century Lithuanian ruler Vytautas, were highly prominent for centuries, first in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the...
noble family, is a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
Twin towns
Cava de' TirreniCava de' Tirreni
Cava de’ Tirreni is a city and comune in the region of Campania, Italy, in the province of Salerno, 10 km northwest of the town of Salerno...
(Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) Goris
Goris
Goris is a city in the Syunik Marz of Armenia. Located in the valley of river Goris , it is about 240 km away from the Armenian capital Yerevan and 70 km from the Syunik Marz center Kapan. Goris forms an urban community...
(Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...
) Reutov
Reutov
Reútov is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located east of Moscow. Population: 50,200 .In 2007, Reutov was named one of the best places to live in the Russian Federation in the category of small towns with a population of fewer than 100,000 people....
(Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
) Złotów, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...