On the memorable places of the Khodkevich family.

The Khodkevich family is one of the most powerful and influential magnate families in the history of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which has left a deep mark on the cultural and architectural heritage of Belarus.

Originating from the Kievan boyars, the Khodkevichs have been firmly established in the elite of the ruling gentry since the 15th century, and their representatives have held key government and military posts for centuries.

The family was especially famous for its military leaders.

The legendary Hetman Jan Karol Khodkevich (1560-1621) went down in history as a brilliant commander who defeated the Swedes at Kirchholm and the Turks in the famous Battle of Khotyn.

His ancestor, Grigory Khodkevich, is known not only as a military figure, but also as a philanthropist: it was he who provided shelter to the first printer Ivan Fedorov, founding a printing house in Zabludovo, where the "Teaching Gospel" was printed.

The legacy of the Khodkevichs is not limited to battlefields. Throughout the territory of modern Belarus, they built and maintained numerous castles, churches, monasteries and manors, turning their possessions into centers of culture and enlightenment.

The Catholic monastery they founded in Bykhov, the powerful Bykhov Castle, the churches in Novaya Mysh and Bolshaya Berestovitsa, as well as the castles in Lyakhovichi and on Castle Hill at Staraya Mysh — all these are links in the same chain, testifying to the scale of their possessions and architectural ambitions.

Even centuries later, the memory of the family is alive.

The monument to St. Sophia of Slutsk in Slutsk reminds us that it was the Khodkevichs who were the guardians of the princess.

Unfortunately, some sites, such as the church in Bolshaya Berestovitsa, where the heart of Jan Karol Khodkevich was once kept, are now in oblivion, but they also remain mute witnesses to the former greatness of this famous family, whose history is inseparable from the history of the Belarusian lands.