Svir

Svir in Skaryna’s times

The princely family Svirskiya was derived from the dukes of Nalšia. The family was large, but failed to make a career at the Grand Ducal court in Vilnius. Their estates had rapidly declined and the family became poor. Despite this, the dukes from the Svirskiya  family were recognized in Europe as  princely (ducal) families . In search of money, they became dependent on the Radziwills. Firstly, in 1428, the Radziwills redeemed a part of the titular town from them; and in 1547, this estate and confirmation of the Radziwills’ nobility from the duke in Svir allowed Mikalay “The Black” Radziwill to receive from Holy Roman Emperor the title of duke of the Empire. Since then, the Radziwills of Nyasvizh had become dukes, and their German family eagle was black as contrasted to the white Polish eagle.

In 1452, Yan (Ivashka) Svirski built Svir’s main landmark – the Church of St. Nicholas. The wooden building of the church, which Skaryna might have seen, was modified by Yanush Svirski for the needs of the Protestant community in 1577. At the beginning of the 16^th century, other members of the Svirski family actively sponsored the decoration of the altar of St. Mary in this church, having signed over their lands, peasants and even a tavern in Myadzel’ for these needs.

The most significant event in the life of the town, located on the road from Vilnius to Polatsk, was the concentration of the troops of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish crown in the summer of 1579. More than 40,000 soldiers established an encampment near the town (Pol. “miasteczka”). Stefan Batory personally hosted a parade in Svir on the 30^th of June 1579. The movement began along the military-strategic route of Batory to Polatsk.

Svir from the 17^th century to this day

Church of St. Nicholas

The wooden building of the church that Skaryna might have seen was returned to the Catholics in the early 17^th century. The construction of the stone church began in 1644 and was completed in 1653. It acquired its present appearance only in 1903–1909. The last reconstruction of the Church was extensive and covered the biggest part of the old building and the chapels. The Church was closed during the Soviet period (from 1961 to 1990). During this period, the building of the Church served as a factory for the production of number plates. In 1990, the Church was returned to the believers and significantly repaired. The Svir icon of St. Nicholas with the image of Dovmont (17^th century) was given to the Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. In 2002, the Baroque three-part altar was restored, and a 16’ stop organ was installed. To this day, the refurbished Church of St. Nicholas is a perfect example of a combination of baroque, classicism and pseudo-Romanesque styles.

The estate of the Church opens with a gate in a stone fence from the 19^th century. In the courtyard of the Church, there is a church bell (900 kg) cast in 1701. Judging by the inscriptions, it served to both Orthodox and Catholic churches. There are also several sculptures. The most interesting sculpture has the form of a bent and broken Cross and is dedicated to the memory of the times when the Church was closed. There is a clergy house (Bel. “плябанія”, Pol. plebania) nearby that dates to the early 19^th century.

The layout of the city, its streets, market and residential buildings remained unchanged. Through the whirlwinds of history, several stone shops and houses of the late 19^th–early 20^th centuries, the gmina (municipality) building and osterias (inns) have survived to this day. The town was multiconfessional. This is borne out by the wooden Old Believers’ Dormition of the Mother of God Church that has survived to this day, as well as the wooden Orthodox Church of Sts. Cyril and Methodius and the Jewish cemetery (the synagogue has been lost).