On the memorable places of the Kishka family.

Going on a trip to Belarus, you can set a unique route related to the history of one of the most powerful magnate families of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania — the Kishka.

This family, which died out in the middle of the 17th century, left behind a deep trace, embodied in dozens of architectural monuments scattered from Podlyashye to the central regions of the country.

The influence of the Kishka family was so great that at the review of the army in 1567, they fielded 807 mounted soldiers, second only to the legendary Radziwills.

Initially supporters of the Reformation, they turned their possessions into centers of education and book printing, as it was in Losk and Ivye.

Later, returning to the fold of Catholicism, they became generous patrons, financing the construction of magnificent churches.

Their legacy lives on in monumental buildings: from the Lubcha Castle, founded by Jan Kishka in 1581, and the magnificent Baroque church in Budslav, erected on the initiative of Janusz Kishka, to a modest wooden shrine in Danyushevo.

Each of these objects is a page of the general chronicle, telling about voivodes, hetmans, enlighteners and religious figures, such as Metropolitan Lev Kishka.

This trip is an opportunity not only to see ancient castles, churches and churches, but also to touch the living history, where the fate of a powerful dynasty is inextricably intertwined with the cultural and spiritual development of the whole region.