Starye Dorogi 3 days GUIDE

3 DAYS IN STARYE DOROGI DISTRICT

ROUTE GUIDE

Título 1

DAY 3

DAY 1

DAY 2

Day 1 · Starye Dorogi

Stop 1 - The monumet "Bread and salt"

Stop 2 - Fruit and vegetable plant

Stop 3 - Luch in a local retaurant

Stop 4 - The Palace of Сulture

Stop 5 - Historical and Ethnographic Museum

Stop 6 - The Water Tower

Stop 7 - Dinner in a cafe "Olimp"

DAY 3

DAY 2

day 1

Day 2 · Woders of Starye Dorogi District

Stop 1 - Stone – footprint

Stop 2 - Stone – boulder

Stop 3 - Luch in Hunter House

Stop 4 - St. George's Church

Stop 5 - Lack Skachalskoe

Stop 6 - Picnic at the lake

DAY 3

DAY 2

DAY 1

Day 3 · Wonders of Starye Dorogi District

Stop 1 - Proshcha in village Shchitkovichy

Stop 2 - Post stations

Stop 3 - Luch on a farm

Stop 4 - Mir-gora

Stop 5 - Dinner in a restaurant

This huge stone is located not far from the village Falichi. When you stand near this giant you feel unusual energy and the mystery of centuries. Many years ago the Byelarusian like most ancient peoples admired stones. There is an interesting legend about huge stones: “ Many years ago huge stones were bogatyrs. Later they sinned against heaven and were turned into stones.” Our stone is 3 metres high and 6 metres wide. They say this stone can cure different illnesses and save you when you touch it. Once unknown people wanted to move the stone and transport it to the other place. But they couldn’t do it because the stone is deep in the earth.

The Historical and Ethnographic Museum in Starye Dorogi was founded in 1999. It is located in the centre of the town, at 31 Proletarskaya Street (in the building of the Palace of Culture). More than three thousand items – creating sixteen fund collections: paintings, photos, documents, sculpture, etc. – can be found on exposition and its depositories. The Museum has 3 exhibition halls. The first Hall represents the development of postal communication in the region which is reflected in the only exposition of postal roads in Belarus. By the way, 2 of the 37 postal stations in Belarus have been preserved in Starye Dorogi. A postmaster's office, a blacksmith shop and a tavern are recreated in this exposition. The central place in it belongs to a chaise. The second exhibition Hall of the museum is dedicated to ethnography, where you can see the life of the Sakun community reflecting the most curious and important features of their identity. This exposition is unique because you won’t find anything like this in the world and the Sakun community is little studied. It’s worth noting that you can see original items which are more than 100 years old. The third exhibition Hall is used for organising of changeable thematic exhibitions. Not only traditional excursions and presentations are held there, you can also take part in creative projects, workshops, meetings and the others.

The Palace of Culture in Starye Dorogi is a two-storey building in the centre of the town. It’s located on the central square between the Town Hall and the Music school. It’s a modern building in the style of constructivism. Special attention is given to the dynamics of simple structures, verticals and horizontals of the structure, and freedom of the building plan. The Palace of Culture was officially opened with the participation of the Belarusian President in 2001. It includes two cinema and concert halls (with 418 and 126 seats) and recording studios. You can also find rooms for clubs and a billiard room. Every year, hundreds cultural events are held there. These are concerts, theatrical performances, show programs, discos, folk festivals and the others. Famous Belarusian pop singers and entertainers constantly perform on the Stage of the Palace of Culture in Starye Dorogi. You can also watch a nice film there. The Palace of Culture is a centre of cultural life in Starye Dorogi and its region.

The territory of our region is rather plain. So it is surprising to see a mountain near village Raback. It’s not very high. But a lot of people know about it because it’s a holy place. Native people call it “Mir –gora”. In general there are a lot of stories about this place. For example, some scientists think it was the place where pagans hold their rituals. There are some graves there. That’s why earlier people called this place “ Holy Mountain”. The legend tells that many years ago there grew a pine. One day an icon appeared on the tree and since then people came there to pray. Years passed and only a stump left there. But people still came there on religious holiday. In the 18-th century princess Sofia Slutskaya built a church there. In 1867 it was rebuilt and in 1933 it was ruined. At present there is a big cross in the middle of this hill. Another story tells that in the 18-th century Russian tsar Peter I signed peace treat there. That’s why this place is called Mir – gora.

Proshcha was built near village Shchitkovichi in 1910 because people saw icons in the forest there. It was a holy place where sick people came to pray and ask the Virgin and Jesus Christ for health. Traditionally they brought cloth, food, money, flowers and a lot of people put crosses there. When they left the place they took holy sand home.

St.George’s Church is located in village Zaluzhie. This ancient church was built in the 18-th century and still stands there. It was closed many times and after the war there was a club. A lot of people from different parts of our region have visited the church since 1991 when it started to work again.

Lake Skachalskoe keeps a lot of secrets. The lake is surrounded by a forest. It’s not very big (0.45 sq. km. ) but very beautiful. There are some stories about its origin. One of them tells that the lake replaced the church which fell through deep into the earth. Another story tells that many years ago there was a great drought. A piece of a swamp burnt and came down. The place filled up with water. This place is popular with native people and visitors. They believe that its water can cure and it makes people cheerful. It’s true because there is very much oxygen in the water.

Some stones are thought to be wonder-working. They are stones-footprints. Nature left prints of a hand or a leg on some stones. People think that they were made by the Virgin. There is such an ancient monument not far from village Starye Dorogi. In the middle of this stone you can see a man’s footprint. There are a lot of legends about this stone. One of them tells:”Many years ago there lived a peasant. On the first day of Easter he was working in the field when a storm began. After the storm the man disappeared. And people found a stone there”. Many years ago the stone lay near the village graveyard and people honoured it. Later the old graveyard was taken down and the stone was lost. But it was found not long ago. Nowadays some people believe that if you put your foot on the print and ask the Virgin you’ll recover. Nobody knows if it’s a myth or reality.

The Water Tower in Starye Dorogi was built in 1896. It is located not far from the centre of the town, in Soviet Street, behind the railway station. The tower is about 20 meters in height. It was built of red bricks which were produced at Bobruisk brick factory. The brick production process took almost four years, that’s why the tower turned out surprisingly strong. The Tower was used for the filling of locomotives with water. It was also necessary for ensuring fire safety. Not far from the Water Tower there are some buildings dates back to the late XIX - early XX centuries. Most of them were made of bricks (outbuildings (household buildings), the building of the railway station) and stones (the Ledovnya). But the quarters were built of wood. Now they are used as residential houses. All these attractions hold a prominent place among the sights of the city.

There are two post stations on the territory of our region which are still standing. They were built at the beginning of the 19-th century. You can see these post stations in villages Paskavi Gorki and St.Dorogi. Many years ago they were along the trade road Moscow-Warsaw. They were places where people could have a rest, eat, sleep and feed their horses after a long journey. The architecture of the buildings has been kept and the buildings are still attractive.