Volozhin. Chapel of the Ascension.

When approaching the city of Volozhin from Minsk, there is an ancient cemetery in the suburbs. Here on the hill stands the tall stone Orthodox Church of the Ascension of the Lord. The building was erected in 1850 by the Count Tyshkevich foundation.

The Tyshkevich family was very wealthy and influential at that time. These are Belarusian magnates who had large land holdings in the Volozhin region. In Volozhin itself, in the 19th century, they built their residence with a palace and a church that have survived to our time. Tyshkevich did a lot for the city of Volozhin and this region.

The chapel was originally built as a Catholic church, which was handed over to Orthodox believers a few years later. The chapel belonged to the Catholic Bernardine Order.

The building is built compactly in simplified forms. The chapel has a rectangular volume in the plan, which is covered with a hip roof. Above the narthex, a three-tiered bell tower was erected, an octagon over a quadrangle, which is completed with a gilded dome with an onion. Initially, the tower was two-tiered with a spire. An octagonal drum with a gilded dome and an onion is built above the main volume. The building was built with elements of classicism and neo-Baroque. Above the portal there is a decoration and a cross in the form of a bas-relief.

The church has been renovated and rebuilt in recent years. Gilded domes with bulbs were installed, which gave the structure the features of a pseudo-Russian style.