Nesvizh is one of the most touristic places in Belarus. This is a
small town in which, despite numerous wars and cataclysms, not a few
architectural monuments of the 16th-18th centuries have survived, as
well as a number of buildings representing the architecture of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of this period and reflecting the
life of the center of the possessions of the largest magnates, the
Radziwills family.
Nesvizh, despite the assurances of the
sign at the entrance to the city, was first mentioned in 1446 (and
not in 1223). Nesvizh - a small settlement at that time - passed
from hand to hand until in 1513 it was in the possession of the
Radziwills. In 1547, Nikolai Radziwill "Black" received the title of
Prince Olyka and Nesvizh from the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire,
and the city became the center of his possessions in the Grand Duchy
of Lithuania. An active Protestant, "Black" made the city one of the
centers of Protestantism in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first
printing house of Symon Budny on the territory of modern Belarus
began work here, where books were published in the Old Belarusian
and Polish languages. At the end of the 16th century, the "Black"
was succeeded by Nikolai Christopher Radziwill "The Orphan", who
traveled a lot in Europe and planned to build a city in Nesvizh
based on the Western European model. In 1583, a stone castle was
laid a few hundred meters from the city; it was designed and built
using the latest advances in fortification. At the same time, the
construction of a system of ponds and ditches on the Usha River
began. In 1586 the city received the Magdeburg Law - a set of rights
and privileges typical for European cities, which introduced
independent self-government and a strict internal organization.
Together with the Magdeburg Law, the city received its own coat of
arms. Several monasteries were founded in the city, the Jesuits were
active. The castle withstood the siege of Russian troops twice
during the war of 1654-1667, but in 1706 surrendered to the Swedish
army under the personal leadership of Charles XII without a fight;
after this, the fortifications of the castle were destroyed, but
after a few years they were rebuilt. Nesvizh itself was repeatedly
burned by Russian and Swedish troops, after which it was rebuilt
again. The castle lost its defensive significance, but remained the
center of the possessions of the richest line of the Radziwill
family. In the 18th century, the city became one of the cultural
centers of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which was facilitated
by the enormous wealth of the family. The castle housed a huge
library and contained an archive with copies of all documents of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania (a personal privilege received by Nikolai
"the Black"). Francisca Ursula Radziwill organized a theater here
and wrote plays for it herself; there was a ballet troupe; in
Nesvizh, the manufacture of luxury goods was organized. In 1793 the
city became part of the Russian Empire. The new owner of the castle,
Dominik Radziwill, sided with Napoleon in the war of 1812, for which
the Radziwills lost the right to own the castle. In addition, most
of the collections of the genus were confiscated. Only at the end of
the 19th century, the representatives of the Radziwill family
returned to Nesvizh, began to restore the castle and laid parks. In
the 19th century, the Polish and Belarusian poet Vladislav
Syrokomlya, the classic of Belarusian literature Yakub Kolas and
other cultural figures studied for some time in Nesvizh. During the
First World War, the castle was converted into a military hospital;
the headquarters of the 2nd Army of the Western Front was located in
the city. Since 1921, the city has been part of the Polish Republic,
where it was the center of the powiat. All this time, the Radziwills
remained the owners of the castle, but the noticeably reduced income
of the princes forced them to start selling their collections, and
part of their property was transported to Warsaw, away from the
border with the USSR.
Kaiser Wilhelm II and Marshal Jozef
Pilsudski visited Nesvizh at various times. In 1886, Wilhelm - then
still the heir to the throne - visited Nesvizh to hunt at the
invitation of his adjutant Anthony Wilhelm Radziwill. Pilsudski came
to Nesvizh in 1926 to honor the memory of Stanislav Radziwill, his
personal adjutant, who died during the Soviet-Polish war. On
September 17, 1939, the border town was occupied by the Red Army
without a fight, from 1941 to 1944 it was occupied by German troops.
There was also a large Jewish community in Nesvizh; already at the
end of the 16th century, Nikolai Radziwill Orphan issued a special
decree on the rights and privileges of the city's Jewish population.
There were several synagogues and Jewish schools in Nesvizh, and up
to half of the city's population at the end of the 19th century were
Jews. However, in 1941 Nesvizh was captured by German troops,
several hundred Jews were shot together with prisoners of war, and
the rest were driven into the ghetto. In the summer of 1942, an
uprising took place in the ghetto; most of the Jews were killed, and
only a few were saved. After the war, the city became a regional
center, and a sanatorium was located in the castle (at first it
belonged to the NKVD, and until the 90s - to the management of
Mezhkolkhozzdravnitsa). Several historic buildings have been
demolished. At the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, restoration
of the dilapidated castle began, which was completed in 2012.
Orientation
Nesvizh has pronounced borders, defined by passing
highways and the Bypass road. For travelers, an interesting
southeastern, central, half of the city where the main tourist sites
are located. A good landmark is the long paths around which the
Palace and Park complex is located, and a little to the north:
monasteries, the central square, the town hall, etc. From the
bridge, which cuts the paths in half, two main streets of the city
leave in the northwest direction: Sovetskaya and Lenina. Two or
three blocks from the central square, ordinary residential
development begins on these streets, with some exceptions to remote
objects, for example, the Museum of History and Local Lore.
1
City Tourist Information Office (located at the entrance to the park
complex).
By train
There is no railway in Nesvizh. The nearest station
is Gorodeya on the Minsk-Baranovichi-Brest line. Electric trains
(electric trains of regional economy-class lines) usually stop in
Gorodeya, other trains do not stop. Half of the trains leave from
the railway station (metro station Ploshchad Lenina), half - from
the station. Institute of Culture (metro station of the same name).
Buses run regularly from Gorodeya to Nesvizh (departure - from the
other side of the railway station); their schedule is usually tied
to the schedule of morning, afternoon and first evening trains.
Travel time - 1.5-2 hours by train to Gorodeya, 25 minutes by bus to
Nesvizh.
By bus
Buses from Minsk to Nesvizh usually go to
Kletsk and Pinsk. Travel time is 2.5 hours, but buses are quite
small, and in the opposite direction you will also have to catch
tickets for them. However, there is always a second option to go
through Gorodeya. Buses run to Baranovichi 4 times a day (1.5
hours).
By car
M1 E30 Orsha-Minsk-Brest, exits about 67 km
(to Stolbtsy) and 86 km (to Gorodeya) from the Moscow Ring Road.
Usually, not only the road to the city is indicated, but also the
road to the Palace and Park Ensemble (a special brown sign
indicating the direction and distance). A winding road P54 leads
from Stolbtsy to Nesvizh, and a straight and half-empty P2 road
leads to Gorodeya. A wide straight road P11 leads from Gorodeya to
Nesvizh.
The city has two filling stations located on the
outskirts of Nesvizh: Belnefteprodukt at the entrance to the city
from the Gorodeya side and Tatneft in the southern part of the city
at the intersection of Okruzhnaya and the P12 highway.
In
principle, there are no problems with a park in the city center, you
may have to twist to find a convenient place. In Nesvizh, the main
objects are located quite compactly, it is recommended to park the
car and continue walking. In the most attractive place, directly at
the entrance to the park, there is a paid parking, nevertheless, it
is possible to get up for free and legally in the city a couple of
hundred meters towards the central square.