Slonim. Benedictine Monastery.

In the city of Slonim, on Krasnoarmeyskaya Street, as you go to the historical center from the direction of Zhirovichi, there is a stone two-story building of the Benedictine monastery.

 The monastery and Catholic church were founded in 1669 during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The church was consecrated in honor of the Holy Cross. The original building was wooden, and the stone one was erected during the Russian Empire in 1801 in the classical style.

 After the Peace of Riga in 1921, Slonim became part of the Polish state until 1939. The Polish teachers' seminary operated in the monastery building in the 1920s and 1930s. After the Great Patriotic War in Soviet times, the building housed secondary school No. 1.

 The church was a two-towered monumental building in the classical style. The facades of the Catholic church were decorated with a colonnade. The interior of the church was decorated with frescoes. The residential building of the monastery has been well preserved to our time. The building is L-shaped in plan, covered with a gable roof. The architectural and decorative design of the building has preserved its harsh simplicity to our time. There are cellars with a gallery layout under the building.

 The Benedictines, or the Order of Saint Benedict, are considered the oldest Catholic order, which was founded by Benedict of Nursia in the 6th century.