Description of the attraction
The Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel is a functioning Orthodox church with an ancient history.
In 1645, retired Colonel Stefan Lozko invited Bernardine monks to Mozyr. He built a wooden monastery for the Bernardines on the land donated for the monastic needs. The middle of the 17th century was marked by wars and unrest for the Belarusian land. During this turbulent time, the entire city of Mozyr was practically wiped off the face of the earth. The Bernardine monastery did not survive either.
The restoration of Mozyr began only during the reign of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jan III Sobessky in 1678, who ordered to rebuild the city anew. This monarch became famous for stopping the Muslim invasion of Europe. In 1745, construction began on the stone Bernardine monastery. The construction was financed by the noble Mozyr family of Askerok. The monastery was built in the late Baroque style. The monastery complex also included a library and a school. The burial vault of the Askerok family was built in the crypt of the monastery.
After the uprising of the national liberation movement in the 19th century, the monastery was closed. Within its walls is the city presence and the hospital. In 1864, after repeated fires, the city authorities decided to close the hospital and transfer the church building to the Orthodox Church. After the repairs, the temple was re-consecrated in honor of the holy Archangel of God Michael.
After the 1917 revolution, a terrible fate awaited the temple - an NKVD prison was set up within the prayer walls of the monastery. Here the death row awaited their fate. More than 2,000 death sentences were passed and carried out.
The cathedral was opened and consecrated again during the Great Patriotic War. It practically did not close in Soviet times either. Officially, it has been a functioning Orthodox church since 1951.
