Smilovichi. Tatarskaya Sloboda. Mosque.

In 1397, Grand Duke Vytautas invited about 40,000 Tatars to guard the borders of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, as the Tatars were considered skilled and brave warriors. The princes were pleased with the new servants and generously gave them lands, high ranks and honorary titles. In some houses of the Smilovichi Tatars, noble coats of arms can still be seen on the walls of their houses.

In 1856, the Smilovichi Tatars received permission to build a mosque at the request of the local imam Poltorzhitsky. The construction site was donated "for eternal time" by local landowners Paulina and Erastina Manyushko.

In 1930, the mosque was destroyed, and on October 18, 1996, a new mosque building was opened. The money for its reconstruction was donated by Nuria's sister from Kuwait, as well as local Muslims. The new mosque was created through the efforts of Ibrahim Borisovich Konopatsky, a native of Smilovichi, a well-known public and scientific figure, former deputy Mufti of Muslims of Belarus, as well as the religious association of Muslims of Belarus, formed in 1994.

The building is built of white brick, crowning a dome with a crescent moon. Quotations from the Koran in Arabic are written on the walls of the mosque, and the floor of the temple is covered with red carpets on which they sit during the service.

The modern Tatar community in Smilovichi has more than 100 families. The mosque has unique ketabs, books written in Arabic script, but in the Belarusian language, understandable to local Tatars, created during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. They are still being rewritten in some Muslim homes.

Tatarskaya Sloboda has preserved the traditions and culture of the Tatar settlers, and many of their traditions, especially culinary ones, have already been adopted by many of their Belarusian neighbors. There are also mixed families among Tatar families. Back in the early 20th century, Tatars were not allowed to marry people of a different faith or nationality. But today, more than one international family lives in Smilovichi.

Life in Belarus forces Tatars to reconsider some of their national customs. So, local Muslim women are not ready to share their husband with other wives. Tatars speak Russian and Belarusian, wear the same clothes as Belarusians, call their children by Slavic names and differ little from our countrymen. However, they don't eat pork and they don't drink alcohol. There are about 50 Belarusian words of Turkic (Tatar) origin today.

There are currently eight mosques in Belarus, and one of them is in Smilovichi. It is very unusual to see a white brick building with a dome topped with a crescent moon among our Belarusian wooden houses. The presence of a Tatar Settlement and a mosque in the Belarusian city testifies to the kind and hospitable disposition of our Belarusian people.