Rakov. The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As you drive along the Minsk – Vilnius highway, after 30 kilometers you will pass the place of Rakov. It was here that the old border between Soviet Belarus and Poland passed until 1939. Rakov was on the Polish side and was considered the capital of smuggling.

Many monuments of architecture and antiquity have been preserved in Rakov. There is a pre-revolutionary church, an Orthodox church, a private museum, an interesting Jewish cemetery and much more.

The first Catholic parish was founded in the 17th century and a wooden church was built. The temple burned twice, but was revived.

The stone Catholic Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary was built on the site of a wooden church. The building was built of yellow brick in the Neo–Gothic style in 1904-1906. The construction of the temple was carried out thanks to the efforts of Priest Evstafy Karpovich. The funds for the new shrine were donated by Prince Drutsky–Lyubetsky, Bulgakov, Zdekhovsky and Khelkovsky. And in 1911, during a fire, the pleban (priest's house) burned down. At that time, Alexander Astramovich (1878-1921), who is known as the Belarusian poet Andrei Zyazulya, served as a priest here.

Before the outbreak of the First World War, the parish numbered about 8 thousand people. After the Great Patriotic War, the church was closed and the building was adapted for a store and warehouse. After the collapse of the USSR, the church was returned to the faithful and restoration was carried out.

The church is a three-nave basilica with a transept. The main facade is decorated with multi-tiered bell towers. A Gothic rose window is located above the entrance arched portal. The walls of the temple are reinforced with stepped buttresses. The interior is decorated with wooden altars. Among the furniture there is an armchair with an image of the Mother of God Ostrobramskaya.