Nesvizh. The craftsman's house.

Walking through the center of Nesvizh, next to the Town Hall you will see an unusual house with a main facade in the Baroque style. This is the Nesvizh "House on the market", or "Craftsman's House" — an example of urban housing in the first half of the XVIII century. There is no such building in Belarus anymore. Now it is a monument of national importance. This is a unique Baroque monument built in the city of Nesvizh in 1721. After the war with the Swedes, Nesvizh was in ruins for a long time, and only in 1720 began to rebuild again. Residential premises were built especially quickly.

This house was part of the development of the Market Square and may have belonged to a wealthy merchant, not an artisan. In any case, the owner of the house was wealthy enough to afford a beautiful and spacious house in the city center. Probably, there were once several houses where merchants and artisans lived. Unfortunately, the original layout of the house has not been preserved, but it can be assumed that there were workshops or a shop on the ground floor, and living rooms on the second floor.

The craftsman's house stands out with a beautiful figured Baroque pediment that overlooks the main square. The gable-roofed tiled roof contrasts with the light plaster of the facade. A special feature of the house is a metal openwork balcony on the second floor, the black wrought-iron grille of which looks spectacular against a light background. A characteristic feature of Belarusian city houses is that the first floor is built of brick, and the second floor is made of wood.

The windows and doors are arranged asymmetrically, probably due to late alterations and repairs. However, the Baroque carved pediment smooths out this asymmetry.