Slonim

Understand

History

Middle Ages The earliest record is of a wooden fort on the left bank of the Shchara river in the 11th century, although there may have been earlier settlement. The area was disputed between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kievan Rus' in early history and it changed hands several times. In 1040, the Kievans won control of the area after a battle but lost Slonim to the Lithuanians in 1103. The Ruthenians retook the area early in the 13th century but were expelled by a Tatar invasion in 1241 and the town was pillaged. When, later in the year, the Tatars withdrew, Slonim became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania once again, in personal union with the Kingdom of Poland after the Union of Krewo of 1385.

Early modern period In 1532 King Sigismund I of Poland granted Slonim town rights. In 1558, King Sigismund II Augustus, in a privilege issued in Wilno, established two two-week fairs. In 1569, the Polish–Lithuanian union was transformed into a single state and Słonim became an important regional centre within the newly established Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Administratively it was part of the Nowogródek Voivodeship. Thanks to the efforts of nobleman, statesman and Słonim starost Lew Sapieha, King Sigismund III Vasa renewed the town rights of Słonim and granted the city coat of arms, which included the Lis coat of arms of Sapieha. Also thanks to Lew Sapieha, from 1631 to 1685 the city flourished as the seat of the Lithuanian diet.

The wars had damaged Slonim, but in the 18th century, a local Polish landowner, count Ogiński, encouraged the recovery of the area; a canal was dug to connect the Shchara with the Dnieper river, now known as the Oginski Canal. Ogiński also built a greater complex, combining an opera theater, a school of music and a school of ballet, a printing house.

Late modern period The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, later to be known as the Commonwealth of Poland, was dismantled in a series of three "partitions" in the second half

Getting there

Slonim has a railway station, and is easily reachable by bus or car as well.

See

1 Transfiguration church. An Orthodox church in Baroque style. 2 Immaculate Conception church. A Roman Catholic church in Baroque style.

Go next

Navahrudak or Grodno can be the next destination.