Ruzhany
Ruzhany (Template:Lang-be; former / alternative spellings include Różana and Ruzhinoy [1]) is a small town located in Pruzhany Raion of Brest Voblast, Belarus. Ruzhany is situated on the river Ruzhanka and surrounded by picturesque hills. It is 140 km away from Brest, 38 km from Ivatsevichy (where the nearest railway station is located), 45 km north-east from Pruzhany, on the crossing of the roads from Pruzhany to Slonim and from Vaukavysk to Kosava. The earliest mentioning of Ruzhany dates back to 1552.[2]
Some notable residents of Ruzhany include:
- The Sapieha family, influential Polish-Lithuanian aristocrats, who built a palace at Ruzhany (see below).
- I. M. Pines, a famous writer and zionist.[3]
- Yitzhak Shamir, former Prime Minister of Israel.
Interesting sights in Ruzhnay include:
- Ruzhany Palace: a large and impressive, but mostly ruined complex.
- Two large churches: Trinity Church (Catholic, dating from 1617) and St Peter & Paul (Orthodox).
- A small unused chapel (St Kazimierz) in the town graveyard.
- An ancient Jewish graveyard [4] and ruined synagogue [5]
- A small German cemetery.