Ruzhany
Encyclopedia
Pruzhany Raion
Pruzhany Raion is an administrative subdivision, a raion of Brest Voblast, in Belarus....
of Brest Voblast
Brest Voblast
Brest Voblast or Brest Oblast is a province of Belarus with its administrative center being Brest.Important cities within the voblast' include: Baranovichi, Brest, and Pinsk.-Geography:...
, 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 ,...
.
Geography
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
, 38 km from Ivatsevichy (where the nearest railway station is located), 45 km north-east from Pruzhany
Pruzhany
Pruzhany is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of a district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 20.000 people. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, which give the start to Mukhavets River.-History:Pruzhany has been known...
, on the crossing of the roads from Pruzhany
Pruzhany
Pruzhany is a town in Brest Voblast, Belarus. Pruzhany is the center of a district in Brest Region, Belarus. Its population is about 20.000 people. The town is located at the confluence of the Mukha River and the Vets Canal, which give the start to Mukhavets River.-History:Pruzhany has been known...
to Slonim
Slonim
Slonim is a city in Hrodna Voblast, Belarus, capital of the Slonim District. It is located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa rivers, 143 km southeast of Hrodna. The population in 2008 was 50,800.-Etymology and historical names:...
and from Vaukavysk
Vaukavysk
Vawkavysk or Vaŭkavysk or Volkovysk is a town in the Hrodna Province of Belarus. It is the center of Vaŭkavysk district and has a population of around 48,000....
to Kosava
Kosava
Kosava can mean:* Košava , southeastern wind that blows in northern Serbia.* Kosava, Belarus, also Kosau, a town* Koshava, also transliterated as Košava, a village in Bulgaria...
.
History
The earliest mentioning of Ruzhany dates back to 1552. Following the First World War the town was part of PolandSecond Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
until 1939.
Notable residents
- The SapiehaSapiehaThe Sapieha is a Polish-Lithuanian princely family descending from the medieval boyars of Smolensk. The family acquired great influence in the sixteenth century.-History:...
family, influential Polish-Lithuanian aristocrats, who built a palace at Ruzhany (see below). - I. M. Pines, a famous writer and zionist.
- Yitzhak ShamirYitzhak Shamir' is a former Israeli politician, the seventh Prime Minister of Israel, in 1983–84 and 1986–92.-Biography:Icchak Jeziernicky was born in Ruzhany , Russian Empire . He studied at a Hebrew High School in Białystok, Poland. As a youth he joined Betar, the Revisionist Zionist youth movement...
, former Prime Minister of IsraelPrime Minister of IsraelThe Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
. - Melech EpsteinMelech EpsteinMelech Epstein was a Jewish American journalist and historian. His two most famous books, Jewish labor in U.S.A. and The Jew and communism are considered standard works.- Early life :...
, A US Yiddish language journalist.
Louis leon Rybak
Notable sights
- Ruzhany PalaceRuzhany PalaceRuzhany Palace is a ruined palace compound in Ruzhany village, Pruzhany Raion , Brest voblast , Western Belarus. Between the 16th and 19th centuries Ruzhany was the main seat of the senior line of the Sapieha noble family, known as the Sapiehowie-Różańscy...
: a large and impressive, but mostly ruined complex. Now undergoing complete renovation. - Two large churches: Trinity Church (Catholic, dating from 1617 ) and St Peter & Paul (Orthodox, built 1762-88 )
- A small chapel named for St. Casimir is in the town cemetery.
- An ancient Jewish graveyard and a larged ruined synagogue
- A small German cemetery.