Velikaya Krakotka. St. John the Baptist Church.

There is a place called Velikaya Krakotka in the Slonim district.

Previously, there was a Velikaya (Big) Krakotka and a Malaya (Small) Krakotka.

There is an interesting legend where the name of the town of Krakotka came from. Once upon a time, an unknown village burned down near Slonim during a fire. Two siblings from this village, who had the surname of Krakot, came to these places along the Jordanka river and settled here. Where the elder brother put his house was called Velikaya Krakotka, and where the younger brother settled was called Malaya Krakotka. These villages were very close by.

Today, the former village of Malaya Krakotka is the southwestern part of the village of Velikaya Krakotka.

An ancient wooden Orthodox church has been built in the local cemetery. The temple was built during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1740, or according to other sources, it was built during the era of the Russian Empire in 1818.

There is a legend about the origin of this church.

Sometime in 1740, wealthy merchants traveled along this route. In the middle of the forest, the powerful oxen that were carrying the goods stopped and could not go any further. And only after the merchants prayed at the icon of the Mother of God, which they were carrying with them, the oxen went on. The merchants saw this as a sign from God and decided to build a church in this place. Then a cemetery appeared near the temple.

In Soviet times, the church was closed, and the building was returned to the Orthodox faithful only in 1989.

The monument was erected in the traditions of folk wooden architecture. The building consists of three main architectural parts.

The town of Krakotka was first mentioned in historical sources during the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 16th century. At that time, it belonged to the Slonim old town and was subordinated to the castle in Slonim.

During this period, the inhabitants of the village were called boyars in the documents, which means that the inhabitants of the village were employees. For a long time, local residents fought for their rights with the Sapieha magnates. In 1661, a delegation from the village of Krakotka and other villages came to the King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Jan Kazimierz, with a request to confirm the former privileges. Before the Warsaw Court, the delegates swore that, according to previous privileges, they should pay only a monetary fee called a rent and perform military service. The King confirmed the former privilege, which was also reported to the tycoon Pavel Sapieha.

In the 18th century, the Sapieha began to harass the locals and deny them their rights. In the middle of the 18th century, the area already belonged to the Oginsky magnates, who also did not appreciate the rights of the local boyars. Residents of Krakotka filed a complaint with the Sejm about Oginsky's behavior. According to the resolution of the Sejm, the locals were obliged to obey Oginsky's demands, since they did not have the original privileges from the king in their hands.

The boyars of Krakow continued to fight for their rights during the time of the Russian Empire. In 1820, they appealed to the Senate of the Russian Empire about their rights and privileges. But the Senate decided that, as according to the resolution of the Sejm in 1768, the tenants' request for privileges should be refused.

In the old days it was a very big place and there was a school here. After the Peace of Riga in 1921, this region passed to the Polish state until 1939. In 1927, a group and a circle of the Belarusian School Society (BBS) were created in Krakotka, and local youth and intellectuals founded a library–reading room, which was named after the first national poet of Belarus Yanka Kupala. The famous Belarusian writer and folklorist Yanka Salomevich (1938-2012) was born in Malaya Krakotka.

There is a spring in the village, which has been known for its medicinal water since ancient times. And there is a huge legendary boulder stone nearby on the road.