Luzhki

Luzhki in Skaryna’s times

The first mention of Luzhki dates back to 1519. At that time, it belonged to the Sapieha family. Because of the administrative-territorial reform of 1565–1566 Luzhki became a part of Polatsk voivodeship. Later, Luzhki repeatedly changed its owners. It was owned by the Sapieha, Zhaba, Czapski and Plater families.

Luzhki from the 17^th century to this day

Luzhki was a small village for a long time. Significant changes took place in the first half of the 18^th century, when Luzhkov was owned by Valeryyan Zhaba – the Hussar Standard-Bearer, the ambassador to the Sejm, the marshal of the Treasury Tribunal of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and castellan of Brest and Polatsk. The Zhaba family comes from the Smolensk boyars of the 15^th century. The new owner, through privileges, invited different artisans to Luzhki: tailors, tanners, blacksmiths, jewelers, etc. Trade was going on in Luzhki as well. Valeryyan Zhaba achieved the status of a town for Luzhki from the King, and Luzhki was allowed to hold week-long fairs twice a year – on the 25^th of January and on the 8^th of September.

St. Michael the Archangel Church

The church was founded in 1744 by Valeryyan Zhaba. It was initially intended for the order of Piarists, which was invited to Luzhki by the owner of the town in 1741. The church was built in 1744–1756 as a Vilnius Baroque building. Piarist college was founded at the same times as the church and the monastery.

Thus, at this time Luzhki became a significant educational and cultural centre in the region. The fact is that in the middle of the 18^th century Piarists created a fundamentally new education system in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania at that time. In contrast to the then-dominant  Jesuit colleges, the greatest attention was paid to the courses of mathematics, natural and secular social sciences and humanities, as well as foreign languages. In addition to Luzhki, Piarist colleges in the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania appeared in Shchuchyn, Voranava (later transferred to Lida), Heranyony, Zel’va, Vitsebsk and Darahichyn.

In 1782, there were three classes in the Luzhki Piarist college, with a total duration of 6 years, 4 teachers and 130 students. Teachers from Vilnius were invited to teach. Students studied arithmetic, algebra, physics, geography, history, French and German, and even used microscopes. Even the basics of composing poetry were taught at the college. The studies were free, there was only a fee for accommodation in dorms. After joining the Russian Empire, the college was turned into a four-year county school with six years of studies. The largest number of students was recorded in the academic year 1820/21: 189 people. However, after the uprising of 1830–1831, the school was closed, and the Piarists were expelled from the country.

Later the church faced numerous challenges of the time. In Soviet times, it was closed and turned into a warehouse for mineral fertilizers . The church was restored and returned to the believers only in 1988. Previously, it contained a large number of ancient icons, but everything was taken away in Soviet times. Nowadays, the icons are in the museum in Polatsk, and the neighbouring parishes were kind enough to donate  icons to the Luzhki Church.

There is also the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God in Luzhki, built in 1794, as well as the remains of the 19^th century synagogue, where the outstanding inventor of Hebrew Eliezer Ben-Yehuda (Perlman) used to study.