The legacy of the Sapieha family: castles, palaces and temples of Belarus.

The Sapieha family is one of the most powerful magnate families in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Their traces in the form of impressive architectural monuments can still be found in different parts of Belarus.

The rise of the family is connected with the Chancellor and Hetman Lev Sapieha, the author of the Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania of 1588. Thanks to him, the family's possessions expanded to include Ruzhany, Slonim, Mogilev and other cities.

The main architectural heritage of Sapieha in Belarus:

1. Ruzhany: the palace complex. The main pearl of the heritage. The castle was originally built under Leo Sapieha, later rebuilt into a luxurious Baroque palace. Today there are picturesque ruins.

2. Ruzhany: the Church of the Holy Trinity. The temple is in the early Baroque style, built by order of Lev Sapieha.

3. Golshany: castle. Large-scale residence of the end of the XVI century. Only fragmentary ruins, covered with legends, have survived to this day.

4. Golshany: St. John the Baptist Church. A beautifully preserved monument of Baroque architecture, built during the reign of Sapieha.

5. Bykhov: Bykhov castle. A powerful defensive citadel on the Dnieper River, completed by Lev Sapieha. Most of the ruins have survived to this day.

6. Grodno: Sapieha Palace ("Batorievka"). A 17th-century residence that was used for holding seimas. Now the building has a much more modest appearance.

7. Bereza: the monastery of the Carthusians. The only monastery of the Carthusian Order in the territory of the Russian Empire, founded by Kazimir Lev Sapieha. Today, only ruins remind of the past.

Lev Sapieha's name is immortalized in monuments in Lepel and Slonim.

Traveling around Belarus, you can make a whole route to places associated with this legendary family, and see the scale of the legacy they left on the Belarusian land.