Shchorsy

The agro-town is located on the border with Korelichsky district , 8 km north-east of Korelichi and 24 km north-east of the center of the city of Novogrudok . The village stands near the confluence of the river Servech in the Neman . The Lyubcha - Korelichi highway passes through Shchorsy. The nearest railway station is in the city of Stolbtsy , 40 km south-east of the village.

Since ancient times, the estate was the family estate of the magnate family Khreptovich . In the Lithuanian metric, Shchors are mentioned in 1471 as already belonging to the Khrabtovichs (later the family’s name was written as Khreptovichi) ^[3] .

An ancient wooden Orthodox church existed in Shchors, which, according to the conclusion of the Union of Brest (1596), became Greek Catholic . A church document, dated 1627, mentions the temple ^[4] . According to the administrative-territorial reform of the middle of the XVI century, the Shchors became part of the Novogrudok district of the Novogrudok province ^[5] .

In 1758, the old wooden church burned down, in its place in 1770-1776, with the money of the owner of the estate of Joachim Khreptovich , a new Greek-Catholic Church of St. Dimitry designed by French architect J. Gabriel ^[6]

In the 1770s, Joachim Khreptovich built on his estate a large palace complex with a large park and ponds. The palace was built by the architect Giuseppe de Sacco with the participation of J. Gabriel ^[3] . In the palace, Khreptovich collected a large collection of ancient manuscripts, geographical maps and a library with a rare collection of books. Here was kept the correspondence of Bogdan Khmelnitsky with Polish hetmans, the original Khmelnitsky manifesto to the Cossacks, the diary of the Polish embassy in Russia in 1686, the diary of Marina Mniszek and others ^[7] .

As a result of the second section of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (1793), the Schorsy became part of the Russian Empire , in the Novogrudok district . At the beginning of the XIX century when the Greek Catholic Church of St.. Dimitri opened a parish school ^[5] . After the suppression of the uprising of 1830 and the holding of the Polotsk cathedral in 1839, almost all Greek-Catholic churches on the territory of modern Belarus were transferred to the Orthodox. A similar fate awaited the temple of Shchors ^[6] . The school at the temple was liquidated, a new school appeared in Shchors only about 1866. In the second half of the XIX century there were 156 courtyards in the village, there was a hospital and a school ^[5] .

In the XIX century, the estate Khreptovich was an important cultural center. Adam Mitskevich , Vladislav Syrokomlya , Jan Chechot were here . The latter worked for some time as a librarian in the famous Khreptovich library ^[3] .

In the First World War, the Khreptovich Palace was damaged by the hostilities and was later demolished, the local library was taken out and transferred to Kiev University later ^[7] .

According to the Riga Peace Treaty (1921), Shchors became part of the interwar Polish Republic , in Novogrudok povet. In 1939 the town became part of the BSSR , where in 1940 it became the center of the village council ^[5] .

After World War II, the village of Shchorsy, together with the Khreptovich manor, became part of the local collective farm. The main facilities of the complex came into final decline, the park was launched and acquired the features of a forest-park zone. The palace was destroyed to the foundation in the 1950s, only the buildings of the left wing and the library where the kindergarten and school were located remained in relatively good condition ^[3] .

• Khreptovich Manor
  • The library building, the end of the XVIII century
  • Left wing, beginning of XIX century
  • Foundation and cellars of the former palace
  • Tower-smokehouse, the end of XIX - early XX century
  • The ruins of the building stables and outbuildings
• Dmitrievskaya Church , Orthodox Church, formerly Greek Catholic, monument of architecture, 1776 ^[7] .

• Entsyklapedyya g_story_ Belarus . At 6 tons. Cadets - Lyashchenya / Belarus. Enzykl .; Redkal .: GP P. Pashko (halos red.) І інш .; Master E. E. Zhakevich. - Minsk: BelEn. ISBN 985-11-0041-2
• Sorkina I. Miastechkі Belarusi цы Kantsy XVIII - Pershy Palove of the XIX century. - Вільня: ЕГУ, 2010. - 488 p. ISBN 978-9955-773-33-7 .

• Shchors on the site globus.tut.by
• Shchors on the site radzima.org