Bystrytsa

Bystrytsa in Skaryna’s times

The first mention of Bystrytsa dates back to 1390. In that year, the Grand Duke Jagaila founded the Catholic Church of the Holy Cross in Bystrytsa and donated funds to it. This event was associated with the Christianising of the pagan population of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania into the Catholic faith immediately after the Act of Kreva, which led to the rapid spread of Catholic parishes. It is also noted that at the same time a pagan sanctuary was destroyed in Bystrytsa. Bystrytsa parish is the first documented Catholic parish on the territory of modern Belarus. Together with the church Jogaila founded the White Augustinian Monastery in Bystrytsa. Apparently, since that time, thanks to the church, a regional cultural and educational centre had been formed in Bystrytsa. In 1399, Pope Boniface IX gave permission the Bystrytsa Church to use the contributions of the Vilnius Cathedral Church.

At the beginning of the 15^th century, Bystrytsa is mentioned as the property of the Grand Duke Vytaut, from which he conveyed three fishermen and a lake to the Vilnius Cathedral Church. At the beginning of the 16th century, the grand ducal estate in Bystrytsa  became the centre of the Starostwo (eldership) – a large judicial and administrative unit that belonged to the state. The court in Bystrytsa was located between the settlement and the Viliya River on its very bank. Since the beginning of the 16^th century, there has been a customhouse for timber rafting in Bystrytsa. The “myta” (toll) tax (a tax that was collected in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from local merchants for importing from or exporting goods abroad, and from foreigners for selling goods or transporting them through the territory of the state) was introduced by the Vilnius voivode Mikalaj Radziwill in 1522. There was also  a tavern in Bystrytsa.

Since the beginning of the 16^th century, Bystrytsa Starostwo was officially used by Vilnius voivodes. Thus, sources record that in 1514 Starostwo was held by the Vilnius voivode Mikalaj Radziwill, and in 1526 – by the Vilnius voivode Albrecht Gasztold. The Bystrytsa Starostwo was directly governed by deputies appointed by the Vilnius voivode. Sources mention the fact that in 1536–1542, Vilnius townspeople sued Vilnius voivodes in relation to the payment of tolls (“myta”) for rafts to Bystrytsa. The dispute ended with the fact that in 1542, the Grand Duke Sigismund the Old exempted the bourgeois of Vilnius from paying tolls for passing the rafts through Bystrytsa.

In 1526–1528, the Monastery of the White Augustinians was closed by the Grand Duke Sigismund the Elder for abuse and crimes committed by the monks, and the church was converted into a parish. Shortly before those transformations, the Grand Duke funded the construction of a new wooden church in 1523, which began functioning in 1530 as a parish church. Due to its long history, proximity to Vilnius and the central location of Bystrytsa in the region, it can be assumed that the church played an important role in spreading the influences of Renaissance Humanist culture in the first half of the 16^th century.

In 1547, Bystrytsa was first mentioned in sources as a town. The presence of the head of the city administration – wójt (senior civil administrative officer/burgomaster) was also noted.

From the middle of the 16^th century, Bystrytsa Starostwo, passed into the direct possession of the Grand Duke, who began to grant it for use by various magnates for their service, or to lease it. The Bystrytsa Starostwo existed until the divisions of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, several times changing its owners.

Bystrytsa from the 17th century to this day

Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross has deep historical roots dating back to the building of the Augustinian Church, founded by Jagaila in 1390.  It was built in 1760 in the Rococo style that was largely applied at that time in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania by the architect Johann Christoph Glaubitz. In 1865–1918 the church building was temporarily handed over to the Orthodox Church, but later returned to the Catholics and is functioning to this day.