How else? We visited Ivye and learned how four faiths coexist here

Memorial sign "In honor of friendship and harmony of the confessions of Ivye region" Budslav Catholic Church, St. Elizabeth Monastery, Polotsk shrines, places of Jewish cultural and religious heritage... There are many spiritual centers in Belarus that attract pilgrims and tourists from all over the world, playing a huge role in the life of society. As President of Belarus ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO noted at a meeting with representatives of religious confessions in February of this year , "we are very lucky that in its modern history the Belarusian land has not known disagreements, persecution on religious, national, racial grounds. All confessions live here in an atmosphere of mutual respect, peace and harmony. Nowadays, this is surprising for many, including the so-called civilized countries. The coexistence of Christianity, Islam, Judaism and other religions, the foundations of which do not contradict the deep values ​​of Belarusian society, has united and tempered the Belarusian nation." We visited the regional center of Ivye in the Grodno region, where representatives of different faiths live in mutual respect and harmony.
This young city appeared before us as a quiet and calm place, with authentic historical streets, where rural flavor prevails. Ivye received this status in 2000.

- There are not many people here, - we begin a conversation with the locals with a photojournalist.

- What do you expect: there are only a little over seven thousand people in the city, - we hear in response. - But during the tourist season, starting in the spring, four or five buses crowd into the parking lot in the center. On weekends, there is no room for cars to pass each other on the streets, and people from the surrounding villages also come to our market. After all, our locals grow a lot of things. Radishes, onions, and how many tomatoes!..
Chairman of the Ivye District Executive Committee Igor Genets: the residents of our city are very tolerant

There is no capital bustle here, everything is done and decided calmly. The residents are friendly, open, they say that it is customary here to smile and say hello to a stranger.

- I was born in a village twenty kilometers from here. The local atmosphere is close and understandable to me, - says the chairman of the Ivye District Executive Committee Igor Genets. - And I know our people very well, they are very hardworking.

How could it be otherwise? The land in these parts is not rich. You have to put in a lot of effort to get a good harvest, be it in the field or on your own plot of land.
The building of the former synagogue in Ivye

Workon the land - the traditional occupation of the local Tatars, who settled here since the 15th century (today there are just over 500 of them in Ivye). Their main occupation is agriculture and vegetable growing. In total, up to six thousand tons of tomatoes are grown in the region per season. The largest harvest of tomatoes, as well as various greens, is usually harvested in the Tatar settlement, also called Murovshchizna. This microdistrict, by the way, is best seen from the second floor of the Museum of National Cultures of the city of Ivye (by the way, it opened 15 years ago and is still the only such museum in the country). Tatar houses are not much different from Belarusian ones. The main feature of this landscape is the tall minaret of the local mosque in the center of the settlement, which stands out from the overall picture.
"I know our people very well, they are very hardworking." - The residents of our city are very tolerant. Tatars and Belarusians are friends with each other, work together, children go to the same school. It so happened historically that both peoples consider the Ivye land to be their native land, - says Igor Genets.

Over many centuries, the history of the lives of not only Belarusians and Tatars, but also Jews and Poles has been intricately intertwined. The multi-confessional nature is emphasized by the amazing combination of Islamic shrines with Orthodox and Catholic icons, which can be seen in the office of the chairman of the district executive committee.

- In this Koran, all the texts are translated into Russian, it was donated by the mufti of the Muslim Religious Association in Belarus Abu-Bekir Shabanovich. He comes from these places, - says Igor Nikolaevich. - During the Great Patriotic War, his mother saved two Jewish boys by hiding them, risking her own life and the lives of her household.
Left: DIRECTOR of the Museum of National Cultures Alena Viktorova: we keep the bimah (an elevation in the synagogue) from which the rabbi reads the Torah. Right: Ivye schoolchildren study the history of their city in the museum halls.

The first mentions of the Jewish community date back to 1626: a Sejm was held in Brest, and a delegate from Ivye attended it, which is confirmed by written sources. Before the Great Patriotic War, over 70% of the city's population were Jews. They were mainly engaged in crafts and trade. Unique buildings have been preserved near the synagogue.

Local residents still do not forget the reprisals of the fascists. The most massive and brutal punitive operation took place on May 12, 1942 in the Stonevichi tract, where 2,304 Jews of Ivye were brutally exterminated.

From the window of the office of the chairman of the district executive committee, the white vaults of the important memorial sign for the city "In honor of the friendship and harmony of the confessions of Ivye" are clearly visible.

- This is a kind of landmark for those who come to us for the first time, - the HEAD of the district continues. - Four cardinal directions, four confessions that have lived here for hundreds of years. We see four arches that look at the temple or prayer house of a certain religion: a Catholic church, a church, a synagogue and a mosque. The city of Ivye is now famous for this unique monument to tolerance - a monument to the friendship and unity of four confessions: Orthodoxy, Islam, Catholicism and Judaism.
Mugirs in the Ivye mosque

Representatives of religious organizations are frequent guests of the local administration. For example, they drop in to invite you to the most important spiritual holidays. Thus, on March 31, Muslims will celebrate Eid al-Fitr, so it is worth waiting for Imam Adam Suleimanovich Radetsky. As far as possible, some current problems are also resolved here. It may be about repairing the fence of an old Muslim cemetery or installing an additional mirror at the intersection of two streets in the Tatar settlement to avoid increased accidents. Or even about repairing roads (there comes a time when the gravel road becomes paved, like on Druzhby Street in the Tatar settlement). Closer to the summer season, Tatars contact the district executive committee for certificates of ownership of a private plot of land, which are necessary for the legal sale of vegetables. Sometimes help is needed in organizing a pilgrimage from among the local residents of the Catholic faith to the spiritual temples and shrines of the Belarusian land ...

The history of Ivye is overgrown with legends. One of them says that this city was founded by Princess Eva, the wife of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas, who chose a beautiful place by the river, overgrown with weeping willows, for her estate. Here a castle was built, which gave rise to a beautiful settlement.

In Ivye there was an Arian Academy of the 16th century, one of the first printing houses in Belarus. There is a version that the first Belarusian grammar by Melety Smotritsky was printed here. By the way, a woman with an open book is depicted on the city coat of arms.
Left: Imam Adam Radetsky: our prayer day is Friday. Right: Kurban Bayram, Uzraza Bayram, Sabantuy are celebrated by the Tatars with the whole community

. Ivye has always been famous for its multi-confessionalism and peaceful coexistence of different peoples. In our time, these traditions have only strengthened.

- Imagine that our priest, Catholic priest and mullah go together on Christmas, Bayram, Easter to church, Catholic church and mosque to congratulate parishioners, - the director of the Museum of National Cultures Alena Viktorova introduces us to the peculiarities of local life. - Representatives of different faiths are also present at school assemblies or when taking the military oath. They were also present at the opening of the new building of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and are participating in the international patriotic event "Victory Relay".

A large-scale event dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War started simultaneously in the Brest Fortress and Murmansk on February 2 and will end on May 28 on Border Guards Day in Moscow on Red Square at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier memorial. Over several months, border guards from the CIS member states will carry a symbolic cup of the Victory Relay along the external borders of the Commonwealth. In February, the Victory Relay was met in the Ivyevsky District.

- Ivye has the largest Tatar community after MINSK, - adds Alena Viktorova. - The local Tatars believe that their ancestors were given land by the Lithuanian prince Vitovt for helping them win the Battle of Grunwald. From warriors, the Tatars gradually turned into farmers, adopting the same foundations that the Belarusians, the local population, had.
The Kazan Icon of the Holy Mother of God, which has been in space, is one of the shrines of the Orthodox Church in Ivye.

Nowadays, Muslims make up the same part of Belarusian society as representatives of other faiths and nationalities. Over time, mixed marriages have ceased to be a rarity, so that even by appearance it is not always possible to identify a Tatar.

- Here in front of you stands a typical Belarusian - blond hair, blue eyes, and he is Mustafa, - says Alena Valdimirovna.

The circumstances under which the mosque of 1882 was built also indicate the manifestation of tolerance of the Belarusian people. The money for the purchase of timber for the construction was allocated by the then owner of Ivye, a Catholic Elfrieda Zamoyskaya. This is how she decided to thank the Tatars for their service. And Jews took part in the construction of the mosque.
"Ivye is now known for a unique monument to tolerance - a monument to friendship and unity of four faiths." My interlocutor gives an interesting fact that testifies to tolerance. Before the Great Patriotic War, a fire broke out in a wooden church . So, Christians, Jews, and Muslims all came running to save the mosque from the fire. And the Ivye mosque is also famous for the fact that during the Soviet years it remained the only functioning Muslim temple, the others were closed or given over to other needs.
The Church of the Holy Martyr Infant Gabriel of Belostok is the youngest temple in the district center.

The already mentioned museum contains curious homemade prayer books, the so-called hamails - one of the varieties of literary heritage of the Tatars of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. People themselves wrote reminders on how and when to read this or that prayer, to conduct a sacred rite. Moreover, the text of the prayer could be written not only in Arabic, but also in Polish, in Trasianka.

- Khamails occupy a special place, since the Lithuanian Tatars, whose liturgical language does not coincide with the spoken language, drew their basic knowledge on conducting religious rites from them, - notes Alena Valdimirovna.

Mughirs are also associated with the spiritual culture of Muslims. These are artistic and decorative objects, extracts from the Koran. Translated from Arabic, mughir means "writing on fabric" - a special sign that allows events to happen with the blessing and will of higher powers. A mughir usually contains a statement (sura) or part of it (ayah) from the Koran. A surah can be several lines long or several pages long, written in watercolor, pencil or ink on glass.
The Easter service is conducted by the rector of the church, priest Vyacheslav Pashkevich.

The tradition of creating mughirs originated in Ivye at the beginning of the 20th century, the director of the museum said. Now this is done by a resident of the city, Emilia Shabanovich, and a teacher of the Ivye Children's Art School, Selim Ilyasevich. In 2021, he graduated from the Grodno State College of Arts, and wrote his first mughir at the age of 13. The young artist restored several ancient mughirs in the local mosque. Since 2023, Selim has been teaching Muslim and Belarusian children to paint mughirs in optional classes at the art school. In December 2024 , the Ivye mughirs were given the status of historical and cultural value.

- I have many Tatar friends. Their life has long been no different from that of Belarusians, - notes Alena Viktorova. - Only instead of Christian icons, their houses are decorated with mughirs.

Both Tatars and Belarusians add elements of embroidery to their national costumes. Cross-stitching and red thread techniques are popular among Belarusians. Both peoples are very fond of floral motifs. But for Tatars, this is also associated with religion. For example, a tulip is a symbol of Allah, a rose is a symbol of the Prophet Muhammad, and so on. There is a love for the color green - as a symbol of paradise, an oasis with a lot of water, greenery and colors.
Priest Pavel Kolesnik: Confessional peace in Ivye, and throughout Belarus, is a great merit of the state

- I have been to a Tatar wedding, - continues Alena Viktorova. - Instead of a wedding, the main religious ceremony is nikah, which in Arabic means "agreement". But we come to our Tatar friends to support them not only in joy. And here you get acquainted with another tradition: if you come to visit a person who has lost a loved one, you must treat yourself to something sweet to reduce the bitterness of loss.
"Here stands before you a typical Belarusian - blond hair, blue eyes, and he is Mustafa." In such cases, they serve galma. Only local women prepare it according to their own unique recipe. The dish is complex, although it consists of only three ingredients. FLOUR , butter and honey are taken in equal proportions. And from six to eight hours all this slowly dissolves, periodically stirring so that there are no lumps. Previously, the dish was exclusively ritual, prepared only for the funeral table , now it can be served at celebrations.

The Tatars celebrate holidays such as Eid al-Adha, Uraza Bairam, Sabantuy with the entire community. MEAT is distributed among the locals , and for the oldest and most respected people the community prepares dry rations, which include cereals, sweets, including traditional Tatar ones.

... We also stopped by the Tatar settlement, the one built around the mosque. Sovetskaya Street, where the temple is located, used to be called Tatarskaya. The well-kept vegetable gardens and huge greenhouses in almost every yard attract attention. Just 20 years ago, such things could only be seen among the Tatars, but at some point the rest of the residents of the district center adopted the wisdom of gardening from their Muslim neighbors.

- Come to us in April, there will be salad, onions, radishes, the first greens on the table, - invites the imam of the Tatar community Adam Radetsky.
Almost 70% of believers in Ivye are Catholics

The position he holds is elected and public. Adam Suleimanovich worked for many years as a teacher of Belarusian language and literature at a school.

The Ivye Tatars have forgotten their own language, only a few know the more complex Arabic, in which spiritual literature is published, including the Koran and its suras. Children can study the Holy Scriptures from the age of eight in a small school at the mosque. Before the pandemic, about thirty people attended classes, now less ...

- Our prayer day is Friday, then usually about 30-40 people gather in the mosque, and when there are big holidays, there is literally no room to swing an APPLE. Our women are especially active, - explains Adam Suleimanovich. - According to the rules, they can pray at home, but they go to the mosque. They are given a room in the temple for this.

Women in Ivye do not wear hijabs. Perhaps a couple of families where they adhere to stricter rules and prefer to wear headscarves and long clothes.

There are still rituals familiar to Muslims - nikah, calling children to prayer. The calling to prayer is similar to the Orthodox rite of baptism: elders read certain prayers while bathing a newborn. Sometimes during the ritual the child is given a second name.
On the Catholic holiday of Corpus Christi, the streets of Ivye are covered with flowers and aromatic herbs.

The youngest in Ivye is the Church of the Holy Martyr Infant Gabriel of Belostok. It was opened in 1994 in the area of ​​the former Jewish shtetl. Previously, this building belonged to a Jewish family, then there was a maternity hospital and a nursery.

- Women come to the temple also when they believe that prayer will help give birth to a long-awaited first child. I think there are about ten such examples, - local resident Irina joins the conversation. She also took her son here to the nursery. And now she has been serving in the temple for 14 years. - We have holy and miraculous icons. One of them has even been to space - tourists most often come to see it.

It was about 20 years ago. On the initiative of the Patriarch of Moscow and All RUSSIA Alexy II, thin lithographs of the Kazan icon of the Holy Mother of God were made, which flew into space, making 112 orbits around the Earth. When they returned to Earth, they were sent as gifts to different parts of the world. One of the icons was given to the church through a native of these places, Viktor Shutov, who was then working at Roscosmos. And to dispel the disbelief of skeptics in the amazing flight of the shrine, a special certificate is attached to the icon.

- Everything is well-behaved here, - Irina assures. - It is customary to live in peace with neighbors. Muslim, Orthodox or Catholic - we are simply residents of the same city. And we all pray for one thing - for well-being, so that we live no worse than we do now. And if there are holidays, then an Orthodox Christian goes to visit a Muslim, and then vice versa. It is customary here to treat other people's traditions with respect. Those who are religious will not rattle hammers if their neighbor has a big holiday.
The famous gastronomic festival "Ivyevsky Tomato" annually gathers several thousand people

. The largest denomination in Ivye is Catholic. Almost 70% of believers are Catholics. The local temple was founded at the end of the 15th century. The Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is located high on a hill, you definitely can't miss it, it is visible from afar. Restoration work is currently underway in the church (it has long been in need of maintenance). Because of the sculpture of Christ installed near the church, tourists have nicknamed these places "Belarusian Rio". And it really does resemble a large statue in Brazil. By the way, when you stand behind the sculpture, you get the impression that Christ is embracing the entire city with his arms.
"Muslim, Orthodox or Catholic - we are simply residents of the same city." - The district executive committee helped us speed up the process of obtaining a protective charter for the church as a cultural monument. Without this, it was impossible to carry out design and survey work. The money for them was raised by the parishioners, - says the rector of the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, priest Pavel Kolesnik. - I am a new person here, I have only been working for four years, before that I served as a vicar in Volkovysk, as the rector of the Zhodishki parish in the Smorgon district. From what I see, I can say with confidence: in Ivye, people really live in mutual respect for each other.

On weekends, there are four services a day. On Sundays at 12:00, a service for children is held. There is a Sunday school at the church, where about 300 children are taught the word of God.

- In Ivye, no one prevents people from living in peace and harmony, - the priest notes. - We also have parishioners who live in a mixed marriage, where the wife is Catholic and the husband is Muslim or Orthodox. Each goes to their own church and professes their own religion, and celebrates holidays together.
On the way to school

Parishioners and the priest go on foot to other Belarusian churches every year, says rector Pavel Kolesnik. They are spiritual pilgrims. They go to pray in the ag. Trokeli in the Voronovo district, the church in the village of Boruny in the Oshmyany district, to the nearby village of Dudy, and even to Budslav itself to visit the famous spiritual shrine. If someone cannot walk to the church, the priest usually turns to the local authorities for help, and they help with transportation.

- I believe that interfaith peace in Ivye, and in Belarus as a whole, is a great merit of the state, - notes the rector of the Catholic church Pavel Kolesnik. - It is wonderful when different religions peacefully coexist in one country. People of different faiths visit each other, create families.

- Come to our branded holiday "Ivye Tomato" in the summer, - invites Natalia, an ordinary city dweller with whom we started talking at the end of our short trip. - We celebrate it on a grand scale. There are usually many guests, we put on a whole show. All residents participate in the celebration. There are many humorous competitions. You will see how an Orthodox priest, the rector of a Catholic church and an imam roll up a jar of tomatoes together!

Small Ivye is a kind of marker of tolerance and harmony that reign in our native land. A place where in different churches people pray for one thing - for peace and well-being for all.

Alexander RUMAK, Commissioner for Religious and National Affairs: - The main confessions, and we are talking about Christianity - Orthodoxy and Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and Islam, are institutions for the preservation and support of traditional values ​​in society. Their role in strengthening the status of the family and charity is important. Representatives of confessions take care of social boarding houses, nursing hospitals, provide assistance to people with ALCOHOL and drug addiction. Their participation in the public life of the country is organically woven into projects implemented by the state and helps maintain socio-political stability in society.

- Which region is the most religious?

- Traditionally, the Brest region. By the way, this was the case 50 years ago, in the BSSR. Most religious communities are registered here. The Belarusian Orthodox Church has a predominant influence, but there are also many communities of evangelical churches - Christians of the Evangelical Faith, Evangelical Christians-Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists.

Undoubtedly, the Roman Catholic Church is also influential. It has developed historically. The largest number of those who have chosen the Catholic faith for themselves are among the residents of the Grodno region, the western regions of Minsk and Vitebsk. In all regions, there are still adherents of Islam and Judaism, but they are significantly fewer.

An interesting relationship can be traced: where there are many religious communities, there is a high number of large families. For example, a significant proportion of women in our country awarded the Order of Mother are from the Stolin district.

- How, in your opinion, do representatives of different faiths interact?

- All our faiths are united in matters of strengthening the institution of the family. The foundations of their doctrines contain provisions aimed at understanding family values, preventing the rupture of intergenerational ties, respect of the younger for the elder, and a respectful attitude towards parents. I would like to note that a special optional course "Spirituality and Patriotism" has been developed for the younger generation. Representatives of our traditional faiths participated in the creation of the textbook.

Belarus refutes the prevailing misconception that Islam is always accompanied by radicalism. The Cathedral Mosque in Minsk is a platform for interfaith peace largely due to the chairman of the Muslim Religious Association in Belarus, Mufti Abu-Bekir Shabanovich. This wise man invites representatives of different faiths to the temple. And what about multi-faith Ivye? Historically, many Tatars live in a small town. They profess Islam. But this does not prevent the imam from actively interacting with both the rector of the Catholic church and the priest of the Orthodox church.

- A very characteristic feature of the times: the state and religious faiths unite to solve the social problems of society.

- The most acute ones are related to alcohol addiction and psychotropic addiction. In this regard, medical organizations and the Belarusian Orthodox Church actively cooperate. Evangelical Christians are making a noticeable contribution. They have 14 rehabilitation centers throughout the country where addicts can receive treatment . Other religious associations also participate in this work as much as possible. Projects to help the elderly and disabled are also being implemented. These are houses of mercy of the Roman Catholic Church and Evangelical Christians-Baptists.

It is important that representatives of different faiths live in harmony, understand and respect each other, because each family, uniting under the spiritual protection of their church, creates well-being and peace on our land.

| Snezhana MIKHAILOVSKAYA, "Belarusian Dumka" magazine. Photos by Nadezhda KOSTETSKAYA, BELTA, Stanislav ZENKEVICH.

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