Religious Tourism
There are over 2,500 religious buildings on the territory of Belarus with more than 3 thousand churchmen. The neighborhood of various religions and faiths in the vast expanses of one state allows us to talk about the development of all areas of religious tourism in the country.
Every year a large number of pilgrims hurry to bow to the miraculous Zhirovichi Icon of the Mother of God, stored in The Monastery of the Assumption in Zhirovichi. On September 13, The Yurovichy Icon of the Mother of God Remembrance Day, a procession from Mozyr to Yurovichi is organized. Also, every year in early July, thousands of pilgrims set off for Budslav, where the miraculous Budslav Icon of the Mother of God resides in a magnificent baroque church. On August 8, Catholic pilgrims travel to The Rakov Dominican Church.
Deeply religious people come to the miraculous icons and incorrupt relics of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Righteous Princess St. Sofia Slutskaya, The Righteous St. John of Korma Convent. There are duplicates of The Turin Shroud - the burial cloth in which the body of Christ was wrapped in The Church of Saints Simon and Alena in Minsk and in The Farn Church in Grodno
The Belarusian land is replete with such wonderful phenomena and signs as myrrh-streaming icons, amazing icons of Christ and the Mother of God appearing on trees and stones, unique cross-stones growing directly from the earth, as in ancient Turov. Many people come to plunge into Belarusian holy springs, the healing power of which is confirmed both by clergy and scientists.
Thousands of pilgrims visit such Belarusian sanctuaries as The Spaso-Efrosinievsky Мonastery and The St. Sophia Cathedral in ancient Polotsk, temples in Budslau, Grodno, Kamai, Nesvizh, etc.
The oldest Orthodox church in Belarus - built in the XII century is The Church of Saints Boris and Gleb Kolozhskaya in Grodno. The oldest Catholic church is The Church of St. Casimir in the agricultural town Vseliub of the Novogrudok District and dates back to approximately 1433.
The oldest synagogue in Belarus was built in the XVI-XVII centuries. in Grodno.
The oldest Muslim temple in the republic is located in the unofficial capital of the Belarusian Tatars in the city of Ivye, Grodno region.
To visit the holy places of Belarus, you can use the services of travel agencies. Anyone who wants to become a true pilgrim can turn to the pilgrimage departments of the Belarusian Orthodox eparchies and Catholic dioceses, the Union of Belarusian Jewish Public Associations and Communities, and make a sacred pilgrimage with prayers and fasting, participating in sacred services and talking with a spiritual mentor.
Related Links
Ministry of Sport and Tourism of the Republic of Belarus
Belarusian Orthodox Information Portal
The Union of Evangelical Christian Baptist Churches in the Republic of Belarus
The Official Web Portal of the Belarusian Orthodox Church
Pilgrimage tours to holy places. Belarus
Pilgrimage Department of the Minsk Eparchy of the Belarusian Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Architecture of Belarus
The Site of the Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of the Republic of Belarus
Piligrim.by