Corpus Christi Catholic Church, Kroshin.
Kroshin is an old Belarusian settlement, whose Catholic church has always been a centre of culture and enlightenment, which at different times was run by really highly educated priests.
The first Catholic church in this small place was built in 1442. St. Woicjech is known to have run it in the early 16th century. During the wars between Rzeczpospolita and Russia, Kroshin was subjected to plundering. The old Catholic church was burned down but in 1628 a new one was built. In 1780, priest Karol Malinowsky founded a parochial school in Kroshin. In 1791, the church was burned down again but was restored in the same year. At different times, chidlren were educated under the supervision and with the participation of such priests as Malinowsky, Harbacievicz and Magnushewsky. The school in Kroshin was closed down only after the national liberation movement in Belarus was suppressed in 1831. It is necessary to say that before his appointment as a priest in Kroshin, Magnushevsky was a family teacher of Macey Radziwill himself.
It should be mentioned that the church built in 1791 survived until the summer of 1915 and was destroyed by the hostilities during WWI.
The modern Catholic church is the fourth on Kroshin soil. It was built in the 20ies-30ies of the 20th century in neo-Gothic style. Built into its walls are tombstones from an ancient Catholic cemetery.
The vaults of this shrine store a most valuable relic – a girandole (chandelier) forged by P. Bagrym in 1881, which is a real masterpiece made of cast-iron and bronze. The customer was the owner of Kroshin estate Pyotr Svyatopolk Zavadsky, an artist, collector and bibliophile.
Geographic coordinates: N 53° 11' 58,49" E 26° 09' 39,77"
Foto: Владимира ЗУЕВА
