- Ruzhany
Ruzhany ( _be. Ружаны; former / alternative spellings include Różana and Ruzhinoy [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Ruzhany/] ) is a small town located in
Pruzhany Raion ofBrest Voblast ,Belarus . Ruzhany is situated on the river Ruzhanka and surrounded by picturesque hills. It is 140 km away from Brest, 38 km fromIvatsevichy (where the nearest railway station is located), 45 km north-east fromPruzhany , on the crossing of the roads fromPruzhany toSlonim and fromVaukavysk toKosava . The earliest mentioning of Ruzhany dates back to1552 . [http://www.brestregion.com/history/h16.html]Some notable past 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. [http://www.eleven.co.il/article/13216]
*Yitzhak Shamir , formerPrime Minister of Israel .Interesting sights in Ruzhany include:
*Ruzhany Palace : a large and impressive, but mostly ruined complex.
* Two large churches: Trinity Church (Catholic, dating from 1617 [http://www.radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=brprruzh01] ) and St Peter & Paul (Orthodox, built 1762-1788 [http://www.radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=brprruzh02] ).
* A small unused chapel (St Kazimierz) in the town graveyard.
* An ancient Jewish graveyard [http://www.radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=brprruzh06] and a larged ruined synagogue [http://www.radzima.org/pub/pomnik.php?lang=en&nazva_id=brprruzh05]
* A small German cemetery.References and external links
* [http://www.brestobl.com/gerb/ruzany0.html Webpage about Ruzhany's history and present (in Russian)]
* [http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A0%D1%83%D0%B6%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%8B Russian wikipedia entry for Ruzhany]
* [http://www.eleven.co.il/article/13617 Jewish Electronic Encyclopedia page on Ruzhany (in Russian)]
* [http://globus.tut.by/ruzhany/index.htm Photos on Globus.tut.by (in Russian)]
* [http://www.radzima.org/pub/miesta.php?lang=en&miesta_id1=brprruzh Photos on Radzima.org]
* [http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/Ruzhany/ ShtetLinks page on Ruzhany]
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