Zaslawye is believed to have been founded in 985 by Vladimir the Great who sent his wife Rogneda to live here with their son Izyaslav of Polotsk, the founder of the princely house of Polatsk. The town’s current name derives from Izyaslav’s name.

In the early Middle Age the town was centre of the Duchy of Zaslawye. In the 11th century, the town was heavily fortified; much of its territory has been designated an archaeological reservation. There is also a modern outdoor statue of Rogneda and Izyaslav on the grounds.

Pictures have been taken on 13 of May, 2006.
and on 12 of May, 2012.

The water of the river is clean and, thinking, suitable for drinking. Features of forest: the main tree species are aspen, spruce, pine, alder, and birch. Undergrowth: raspberry, juniper. There are a lot of wind break, which terrifies the everything. The place is hilly.
Ozerianka River, Dyatlovo district, Belarus.
Pictures have been taken on 08 of May, 2012

Since ancient times, the swamp had been for a man as a dangerous environment and a place with unsolved mystery. People come up with all sorts of legends about the swamp. Then they realized that the marsh is a source of fossil fuels the peat. But the attitude people to the marsh remained negative. Recently, a dislike of the marshes has been replaced by pride: it turns out, bogs is one of the most interesting tourist attractions in Belarus. There are the largest in Europe, open fens.

Marshes. Spring. Minoity village, Lida district, Belarus.
Pictures have been taken on:
16 of April, 2011
21 of April, 2012
29 of April, 2012

There are passing mentions of Lida in chronicles from 1180. Until the early 14th century the settlement at Lida was a wooden fortress in the Lithuania proper. In 1323, the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas built a brick fortress there. 1380 is generally considered the founding year of the city of Lida. The fortress withstood Crusader attacks from Prussia in 1392 and 1394 but it was burned to the ground in 1710. Following the death of Gediminas, when Lithuania was divided into principalities, Lida became the capital of one of them, the seat of Algirdas.

Lida was in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. In the second half of the 14th century, after the Christianization of Lithuania the Catholic parish was established in former pagan lands and a Church was built by Jogaila (ruins are still preserved). Subsequently in 15th century town became a centre of production by craftsmen and trade. Lida was connected with Vilnius, Navahrudak and Minsk. At that time the town had a market square and four streets Wielenska, Zamkowa, Kamieńska and Krivaya. In 1588 Lida became the seat of Lida District in Vilnius Voivodeship. Magdeburg Rights were granted to the town in 1590 and confirmed in 1776 by the Polish Sejm. By these rights Lida held two annual fairs of little import to the local economy. The population was between 2000 to 5000 people.

The 17th century was a difficult time in Lida. Caught by invading to Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth forces of Russia and Sweden. A depression resulted, and people moved out of Lida. By 1786, 514 inhabitants were left in Lida. in 1795, Lida was annexed by the Russian Empire as a powiat centre of the Slonim Governorate (1795). Afterwards, Lida was a part of the Lithuania Governorate in 1797 and of Grodno Governorate since 1801.

The town was greatly destroyed during the French occupation in 1812. In 1817 the population was 1366 people. Since 1842 Lida was the “district” centre in Vilna Governorate. In 1863 and 1873, two beer factories were built in Lida. In 1884, the railway Vilnius-Lunenets was finished. In 1907, the railway Molodechno-Mosty opened. The 1897 population was 8626 people.

A two-year school opened. Then, a parish school with the department for girls opened as did a Jewish school. In 1899 a hospital opened which consisted of 25 beds. In 1901 cast-iron plant began to operate. In 1903 sawmill started its operation. At the end of 19th century and at the beginning of 20 century two brick plants were built. In 1904, there were 1000 houses of which 275 were brick, fourteen small enterprises, four hospitals with beds for 115 people, and six elementary schools for 700 pupils. In 1904, near Minsk the Russian Social Democratic Party was formed. During the revolutions of 1905-07, the uprisings of the workers took place, complete with political slogans. In 1914, there were almost 40 factories.

There is a mystical legend of the pine trees at Lida Castle. One day, nine Franciscan monks came to the castle to preach Christianity. But local residents rejected the new religion, they killed the missionaries and the bodies thrown into a pit near the castle. In the place grew slender pine. By the time the townspeople have become Catholics. No one was cutting pine. But one day a plowman cut off a branch, and blood flowed from the branches. Since then, no one has dared to raise the ax to the trees.

Pictures taken at 28 of June, 2009. Castle before the global restoration.
Pictures taken at 12 of April, 2012. Castle after the global restoration.

Walking along the small river of Udra, which is now turned into a stream, but it does not become less beautiful.
They say there is still a lot of trout and other wildlife: were seen footprints of lynx, wild boar, hares, roe deer, wolf, and many beaver dams.

Lunaria is a genus of flowering plants in the family Brassicaceae, native to central and southern Europe. It includes two species, Perennial honesty and Annual honesty. They are widely grown as ornamental plants in gardens, and have become naturalised in many temperate areas away from their native habitat. In the language of flowers, it means Sincerity and Forgetfulness.

Pictures have been taken on 09 March, 2012.  Almost 30 km from Minsk (Belarus) to the north west.

The old cemetery. There is Chapel of St. Barbara,  date of construction of chapel is 1930. Lida district, Belarus.

Pictures have been taken on 04 March, 2012.

This is not the first church in Lipnishki. It is believed that the first church was called as the Church of St. Anne’s has been built in 1411.
The second church was built in 1744. But both the church were destroyed by fires.
The third church, which was built in Lipnishki, had the name of the church of St. Casimir. Why it was named, it is not known. This temple was also destroyed by fire. According to one information, the church burned down due to negligent care of the candles. According to other sources, the church was burnt down during the peasant revolts. But it is known that the riots were July 14, 1890.
The foundation of the new church was laid May 1, 1894, while the real building started in 1900. In France was bought a very expensive project of the church in neo-Gothic style. Finally the church was built in 1906.

Pictures have been taken on 31 of July, 2010.

At the turn of the 1990s began to take place in Belarus significant climate change. If, before the cooling offset by a corresponding warming, since 1989, is a sustainable process of global warming. It is global in nature, and this process is expressed more clearly in the recent past. Due to global warming the new agroclimatic region has been born in the south of Belarus. Over the past twenty years the average temperature has increased by about 1.1 degrees. This led to a shift in agroclimatic regions in the 80-120 km from south to north.

Also there is climate change during the winter. The winter period was globally warmer and shorter by almost two months, and now he is about 3 months. November and December are usually without snow. Really the winter with strong frosts are visiting the Belarusian land in early January.
The sunny, windless and most frosty day in the forest. Yodki village, Lida district, Belarus.
Pictures have been taken on 6 of January, 2009.

The Judean Desert is an array of hills and canyons, falling from the heights of around 1,000 meters in the Judean Mountains, to the Dead Sea.

Though hostile and arid, the Judean desert was settled since before recorded history. Jericho, which was founded over 12,000 years ago (around 9,000 BCE), is one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world, and it is the first city in the world that had walls built to protect it. Another notable place is Ein Gedi, a large oasis that had cities built around it for over 6,000 years. Inside the desert itself there are numerous isolated monasteries, many are still active to this day.

The Judean desert played an important role in the jewish kingdoms in Israel during the biblical times, and also during the greek and roman times.

Because of its’ rough terrain and climate, The Judean desert was known as a hiding place for refugees and rebels. King David fled to the Judean desert with his soldiers after king Saul ordered to have him killed. During the greek and roman times, the Hasmonean dynasty and the roman client king Herod the Great built and fortified many forts, strongholds and even palaces in the Judean desert, most famously, Masada. During the Roman-Jewish wars, the jewish rebels fled to the Judean desert and fortified in the strongholds there. The last free standing jewish stronghold in jewish history, prior to the establishment of the modern state of Israel, was Masada.

This pictures have been taken on 01 of October, 2011.

wikitravel.org