Narochansky National Park

Naroch region is famous for its natural diversity and unique landscape, formed during the retreat of the Valdai glacier about 15-20 thousand years ago. It was then that the famous Naroch lakes appeared. The lakes occupy about a fifth of the park and belong to the basins of the Neman and Western Dvina. The Stracha, Narochanka, Uzlyanka and Sviritsa rivers flow through the park. There are 43 lakes in the national park, including 4 groups: Narochanskaya, Myadelskaya, Boldukskaya and Svirskaya. The pearls of the region are Lake Naroch (the largest in Belarus with an area of 79.6 km2), Myastro and Batorino.

About 48% of the park's territory is covered with pine forests and birch groves. The flora includes a variety of mosses, lichens, fungi and algae. There are more than 1400 species of higher plants, of which 114 are listed in the Red Book of Belarus, including the most beautiful Belarusian orchid, the Venus slipper.

The fauna of the region includes 314 species of vertebrates, including European red deer, wild boar, elk, roe deer, raccoon dog, badger, marten, mink, otter, beaver and muskrat. The abundance of reservoirs and swamps attracts 218 species of birds, among which more than 51 are listed in the Red Book of Belarus, such as the great bear, osprey and gray crane. Naroch lakes and rivers are home to about 35 species of fish, including pike, roach, perch, bream, crucian carp, guster and ruff.

Naroch lakes, which arose during the retreat of the Valdai glacier more than 15 thousand years ago, have always attracted lovers of recreation, hunting, fishing, researchers and travelers with their natural beauty and wealth. At the beginning of the twentieth century, private villas, a restaurant, a yacht club and a pier for sailing boats were built on the shore of the lake. Country trains also ran here. 

After the Great Patriotic War, in 1946, a scientific expedition discovered mineral springs and healing mud (sapropels) in the lakes Kuzmichi, Shvakshty and Diaghili, which marked the beginning of the creation of a climatic and balneological resort. In the late 50s, active construction of tourist bases and holiday homes began on the Naroch coast. In 1963, the Naroch sanatorium was opened, and later the Naroch recreation center and the Zubrenok children's health camp. In the 60s and 70s, the Naroch region became the largest resort and wellness area in the country. 

Narochansky National Park was established in July 1999 by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus to preserve unique natural complexes and effectively use the recreational opportunities of natural resources. Architectural monuments on the territory of the national park include religious buildings such as the Catholic Church of Our Lady of the Scapulary of the XVII century in Myadel, St. Andrew's Church and the church in the village of Naroch, St. Nicholas Church and a wooden church in the urban settlement of Svir, the monastery of the Carmelites of the XVIII century in the village of Zasvir, the church of the XIX century in the village of Konstantinovo and the Church of the Mother of God in the city the village of Krivichi.

In addition, there are manor complexes and ancient parks in the resort village of Naroch, the urban village of Svir and the villages of Konstantinovo, Komarovo and Olshevo. Naroch region is located in the transition zone of two historical and ethnographic regions - Ponemanya and Podvinya (Poozerye). Archaeological finds of the second half of the I and the beginning of the II millennium AD indicate the cohabitation of Baltic and Slavic tribes in this territory.

The oldest archaeological sites of the Naroch region date back to the Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age) and date back to the VII—VI millennia BC. These sites were found near the villages of Kusevshchyna, Strugolapi, Laposi and Krasyany. The Neolithic cultural layer revealed during excavations near the villages of Nikoltsy and Kochergi (culture of pit-comb ceramics) dates back to the IV—III millennia BC. Monuments of the culture of corded ceramics are represented by finds near the villages of Nikoltsy, Rybki and Rasokhi (sites of the Bronze Age 2200-700 BC). Traces of the ancient era of the Iron Age are well preserved in the form of burial mounds, settlements and settlements near the villages of Oleshki, Guski, Shklyanikovo, Zasvir and others.