Description of the attraction
Since ancient times, the Pinsk Epiphany Fraternal Monastery has been the subject of contention between the Orthodox, Catholic and Uniate churches. There are two opposite versions of the origin of the monastery. According to the Orthodox version, the pious noblewoman Raisa Makarovna Garoburdina, who wished to remain Orthodox, despite the implanted Uniate religion, founded the monastery during the Brest union on the land where this monastery is now located. In 1596, she built a home Orthodox church on her land and began to receive Orthodox refugees, building cells for them at the church. In 1614, a wooden Epiphany Church was built by the efforts of the Orthodox townspeople, and the monastery cells began to be called the Epiphany Monastery. However, the Uniate clergy did not like this, and in 1618, after a long feud, it was transferred to the Catholics. Then there is a continuous history of uprisings, riots, church pogroms and riots.
The Catholic version is less confusing and not replete with stories of riots. In 1636, a huge Catholic monastery was founded on the Market Square with donations from Albrecht Stanislav Radziwill, which later also became the most famous Jesuit educational institution in the country. The monastery complex has been under construction for 40 years. In 1787 the Jesuits were expelled from the Commonwealth, and in 1795 the huge building of the monastery was transferred to the Orthodox Church. In 1904, an Orthodox brotherhood named after the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God was founded in the Epiphany Monastery.
During the Polish domination, Orthodoxy in Pinsk was oppressed, and churches were closed. During the Nazi occupation, Orthodoxy was restored, churches were opened. There is evidence that bishops continued to be appointed to the Pinsk See until 1952, and later all Orthodox churches were closed by the Soviet authorities.
Now the monastery houses a museum of Belarusian Polesye and a children's choreographic school.
