Description of the attraction
The Bernardine monastery was founded by two brothers Andrey and Jan Konsovsky in 1624. Andrei Konsovsky, being the headman of Krasnoselsky, was able to obtain permission to build a wooden church of the Bernardine Order.
The Bernardines in Belarus are called the Franciscan Observants - a branch of the Franciscan monastic order associated with the name of St. Bernardine of Siena. The Bernardines played a significant role in the formation of Poland, Lithuania and Belarus. They helped the poor and the sick, built shelters, taught children. The Bernardines collected funds from the surrounding villages, often donations came in kind, so markets arose under the Bernardine monasteries.
Very quickly, from the constructed wooden temple and the wooden house transferred to the Bernardines for the residence, an entire quarter grew. However, during a big fire in Minsk in 1644, wooden buildings burned down.
In 1652, the stone church of St. Joseph, the Chosen One of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as well as the monastery building was erected. Subsequently, the buildings of the monastery were repeatedly burned and rebuilt. Due to the great popularity of the Bernardines among the people, more and more people came to the monastery. A separate monastery was built for the Bernardine sisters. The quarter occupied by the monastery buildings was called the Bernardine quarter. It was located between Bolshaya and Malaya Bernardinskaya, Zybitskaya streets and the Upper Market Square. On the territory of the monastery there was a hospital, a school, a stable, a brewery and other outbuildings.
During a major reconstruction in 1752, the monastery acquired features of the Baroque style.
The Russian authorities did not favor the Bernardines, because they lived according to their own charter and were a state within a state. So, in 1863, the Bernardines supported the January National Liberation Uprising in Poland, for which the monastery was confiscated by the authorities.
Over the next century and a half, the buildings of the former monastery were occupied for various civil needs. The building of the Bernardine monastery was transferred to the Orthodox Church. In the church of St. Joseph, which remained from the large monastic quarter, there is now an archive of scientific and technical documentation. The plans of the current authorities of Minsk do not include the transfer of the church to Catholics, it is planned to open a hotel complex here.
