Zaslavl

The laborious work of archeologists solved the riddle of Zamecheck to a considerable degree. The story started in Polotsk with a “bloody marriage” of prince Vladimir and Polotsk princess Rogneda and had been frequently recollected in Russian epic and chronicles. Taciturn written proofs of ancient times, colorful poetic and prosaic works, theatrical plays and modern screen versions relate about it…

Here was the place where the proud princess Rogneda-Gorislavna was lodged after the exile from Kiev by her husband. For the princess, her son Izjaslav, and the accompanying guard Zamecheck became a small fortress. After christening in 988 prince Izjaslav occupied the Polotsk throne. But Rogneda remained here, in Izjaslavl. She voluntary accepted monkshood and adopted the name of Anastasia. They say, she also founded a monastery in Izjaslavl where she spent the last days having lived three lives for 30 years – the one of a Polotsk princess, the next of a wife of Grand Prince of Kiev, and, at last, the life of a nun...

With the time passing Izjaslavl changed. The town entered the XIth century different. Zamecheck faded away and carried away many mysteries, while nearby on the banks of the rivers Svisloch and Chernitsa the present Zaslavl was started to grow. Mighty earthen ramparts and bastions of the castle built by the Glebovichy magnates in the XVI – XVII remain till nowadays. At that time the white stone building of the Calvinist Church appeared inside the fortification. Later, the temple was altered to the Roman-Catholic, and then to Orthodox Church.

The Salvation-Transfiguration Church is one of the two major architectural dominants of Zaslavl. The second is the Mariinsky Roman-Catholic Church of the XVIIIth century. The verticals of their belfries clearly mark the two territories important in the town’s historical landscape. They are the Castle (residence of the feudal lord) and the clinging to it Market (center of the trading and crafts settlement). The Renaissance and Baroque appearance of these cult monuments fits in the ingenuous rural landscape and their charm remains in memory for a long time inducing visitor to linger over it...