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Main - - Culture - Architectural monuments - Grodno region Zhirovichi Assumption Cathedral
Zhirovichi Assumption Cathedral is the monument of the 17th-19th centuries. It is the main temple of the Orthodox Holy Assumption Monastery in the village of Zhirovichi (Slonim district). The monastery was founded by a Lithuanian podskarbii A. Soltan after the appearance of the miraculous icon of Our Lady of Zhirovichi in this place in 1493. In 1613 it was switched over to the Uniates, since 1828 it was the centre of the Unitarian Lithuanian province, in 1839 it was returned to the Orthodox. The Cathedral was built in the years 1628-1650 on the money of Smolensk Castellan Jan Meleshka and his wife; in 1655 it was looted and burned by the Cossacks.The monumental three cross-domed basilica built in the architectural forms of the early Belarusian Baroque, in 1820-ies it was partially rebuilt in the style of Classicism (especially the main facade, from which the towers were removed). In the interior the central and lateral naves are covered with cross vaults. In the wings of transept the original vaulted ceilings with fragments of the linearly geometric decoration, characteristic of the first half of the17th century have been preserved. It contains the main sanctuary - a miraculous icon of Our Lady of Zhirovichi. The monastery complex also includes two small churches: Yavlenskaya and Holy Cross churches, built in 1769 in the style of the late Belarusian Baroque of the temple and calvary type, which represents the way of the cross of Jesus Christ on Calvary. It also includes a number of residential and office buildings of the 17th-19th centuries. The Minsk Theological Seminary functions at the monastery. It is a historical and cultural value of national importance.
© National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, 2011
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