Description of the attraction
The Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, also called the Farny Church or the White Fara, is one of the most ancient Catholic churches in Belarus. It was founded in 1395 shortly after the baptism of Lithuania by Prince Vitovt and was named the Church of All Saints.
In 1422, the Polish king Vladislav Yagailo was married in this temple with the young princess Sophia Golshanskaya. A memorial plaque in Polish was installed on the wall of the church about this event: "In this shrine in 1422, Vladislav Jagiello, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, married Sophia Princess Golshanskaya, the future mother of Polish kings Vladislav Varnenchik and Kazimir Jagiellonchik."
In 1624, a stone church was built on the initiative and at the expense of Christopher Chodkiewicz. In 1631 two chapels of Saint Expedite and Guardian Angels were added. In 1662, the church was almost completely destroyed during the Russian-Polish war. In 1714, the construction of a new stone church began, the first stone of which was consecrated by the coadjutor of the Vilna bishop Maciej Jozef Antsuta. In 1723, construction was completed and the temple was consecrated in honor of the Body of God.
On February 12, 1799, the future great Belarusian poet Adam Mitskevich was baptized in this church.
In 1857, after the transition of Western Belarus to the Russian Empire, the church was closed by the tsarist authorities, who did not even allow repairing the shrine. In 1921, after Novogrudok became part of Poland, the temple was restored and re-consecrated.
Until 1991, in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, there were the bodies of 11 Nazarene sisters buried, who were shot by the Gestapo on August 1, 1943 and canonized.
From 1948 to 1992, the church was closed by the Soviet authorities. In 1992, the temple was returned to the believers. In 1997, the church was opened after restoration.
Description added:
Korunov Gennady 24.06.2014
Hello. It is written that the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord was closed until 1991, but I remember that in 1976-1977 it was definitely open for services, I lived in a house opposite the church.
