Press releases

13 Aug 2019

Slonim sprucing up for Belarusian Written Language Day

Photo from the archive

GRODNO, 13 August (BelTA) – Slonim will landscape the embankment of the Oginski Canal and reopen several landmarks after renovations for the Belarusian Written Language Day, Aleksandr Versotsky, the head of the main department of ideological work and youth affairs at the Grodno Oblast administration, told BelTA.

The Belarusian Written Language Day events will span more than ten venues in the city. Slonim is sprucing up streets and houses, social infrastructure facilities, the embankment of the Oginski Canal which is a popular holiday spot among the locals. The Shchara Hotel will reopen after reconstruction. “Slonim is a tourist friendly city and should be attractive in all respects,” Aleksandr Versotsky said.

The monument to Lew Sapieha will be unveiled in the central square of Slonim. The author of the Statute of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, he was once the headman of the ancient Slonim and contributed a lot to the growth of the city.

“Both local enterprises and citizens got actively involved in the clean-up efforts, tiding up their yards and backyards,” Aleksandr Versotsky noted. All in all, Br10 million has been earmarked from all sources to help the city prepare for the festival.

Slonim is also preparing print products for the Belarusian Written Language Day. These include a set of postcards featuring retro views of Slonim, collections of literary pieces by the writers and poets hailing from the Slonim land, themed albums, and publications dedicated to the beauty, history and tourism in Grodno Oblast.

The Belarusian Written Language Day has been celebrated since 1994 on the first Sunday in September. The festival has been hosted by Polotsk (three times), Turov (twice), Novogrudok, Nesvizh, Orsha, Pinsk, Zaslavl (twice), Mstislavl, Mir, Kamenets, Postavy, Shklov, Borisov, Smorgon, Khoiniki, Gantsevichi, Glubokoye, Bykhov, Shchuchin, Rogachev, and Ivanovo.