Location: According to archaeologists, the settlement and the castle already existed in the era of Polatsk Principality. Druya is located in front of the 60 km long rapids on the Dvina. It guarded the entrance to the Druyka River leading to Braslaw and further to Vilnius. In general, there are no large rapids in the Belarusian part of the Dzvina, which shortens the rafting to one day, but further from Druya numerous rapids begin. Perhaps, the Barys stone with an inscription from the 12th century marked the beginning of the rapids and the border at the confluence of the Druyka and Dzvina. Currently, it was moved to the centre of the town, splitting it into 3 pieces during transportation. Thus, difficult navigation slowed down the movement, created a natural border.
The first record of Druya is contained in the “Polish, Lithuanian, Samogitian and All Rus’ Chronicle” by Maciej Stryjkowski and dates back to 1386. It was captured by Andrei Polatski during the struggle with Jogaila for the Grand Ducal throne. After the Crusaders had captured Latgale, Druya became a border town.

Druya in Skaryna’s times

The need for operational support of the frontier castle led to the fact that the Grand Duke Alexander handed Druya town, the castle and the Druya volosts to Prince Tsimafey Masalski in 1496.

The arrangements and occupations of the Druya dwellers, among other things, were recorded during the census of the Polatsk voivodship in 1552: collecting taxes, helping the movement of food, providing for the needs, barge haulers and maritime pilots to pass rapids and shoals.

After Druya and its surroundings ceased to be a frontier town of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the Livonian Order in 1582, rapid development began. The town grew on both sides of the rivers.

The economically advantageous location and support of the Sapieha family led to the development of the branch of the Dnieper-Dzvina road from Dzvina to Neman through Druya. The trade reached the Russian Toropets and the Prussian Königsberg. During this period, Druya became known as the centre of production and trade of thick leather (yuft).

In the 16th century, the Druya Gospel was created in Druya.

 

Druya from the 17th century to this day

 

Marian Monastery

The Catholic parish in Druya was founded in 1633, after the Lithuanian sub-chancellor Kazimir Lew Sapieha founded a Bernardine monastery.

The tower of the Holy Trinity Church rises above the one-story green building of the village. The church belonged to the Bernardine order and was built in 1643–1646 at the expense of Kasimir Lew Sapieha (1609–1656), the sub-chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, founder of the Department of Law at the Vilnius Academy.

The temple is located on the high bank of the Western Dvina. It is a one-towered three-aisled basilica. A high five-tiered tower is topped with a figure dome (completed in the 18th century). The church has a high central nave and lower side naves, which are covered on the main facade with small annexes, completed with plastic volutes. The external decor of the building is rather restrained, which is typical for the monuments of the early Baroque, which include the Church of the Holy Trinity. The interior of the temple was created at the end of the 18th century in the late Baroque and Rococo styles and, on the contrary, is distinguished by splendour and opulence. The main three-tiered altar is decorated with columns, pilasters, twisted cornice belts and a sculpture. The moulding of the walls, columns and vaults is very rich. From the inside, the temple leaves the impression of lightness and sublimity.

In 1923–1928, Belarusian monks of the Marian Order were accommodated at the monastery near the Holy Trinity Church. In 1924, a school (a gymnasium since 1930) was established. Andrey Tsikota, Cheslaw Sipovich, Tamash Padzyava, Uladzislaw Charnyawsky, writer Yazep Hermanovich and others studied and taught at the school. The Belarusianisation of the church contradicted the plans of the Polish authorities, and most of the priests were exiled to Harbin in 1938.

Yury Turonok calls the Marian community “the first Belarusian Catholic monastery in history. It is Belarusian not only in the geographical sense, but also in its ideological direction.” Father Andrey Tsikota was one of the founders of the Vilnius Belarusian printing house named after F. Skaryna.

Francysk Skaryna became a symbol of this generation of Belarusian priests; they appealed to the translation of the Bible into the Old Belarusian language in their struggle for the Belarusian language in the church.

One of the Marian brothers, C. Sipovich, was appointed bishop and apostolic visitor for Belarusian Catholics abroad in 1960. He will create a library in London and name it after Francysk Skaryna, which is still one of the important centres for the preservation and study of Belarusian history and culture. A memorial plaque in honour of Cheslaw Sipovich has been erected in the Holy Trinity Church.

Nowadays, the memory of Skaryna is cherished there. In 2017, the former monastery hosted an art plein air called “Skaryner”, which celebrated the 500th anniversary of the translation of the Bible into Belarusian.