Prudok

Prudok (Gomel Region)

A cozy settlement called Prudok is located on the picturesque bank of the beautiful river Tur, which flows into the Pripyat, in the Gomel region. Tolerant Belarusians live here, love their small homeland and work there. And it is not surprising since Prudok is considered one of untouched by civilization places.

The settlement is small: there is one main street. There are wooden houses and estate- type buildings. Many of them keep secrets of the unique historical events that occurred at different times.

According to chronicles, the settlement Prudok was first mentioned in the XVI century. It was a small village, belonged to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At that time, it was possible to find information about this place in the geographical dictionary of the Polish kingdom. Prudok appeared on the map only at the end of the XVII century.

After the second division of the Rzech Pospolita in the late XVIII century, Prudok became part of the Russian Empire. The settlement began to develop. By the end of XIX century, several noblemen lived here: noblemen Zhudro and Shareiko possessed about 740 hectares, while the nobleman Knobendorf had about 330 hectares. The landowner Lenkiewicz was considered the richest at that time; he had about 5000 hectares and two taverns. In 1885, two water mills and a wooden Orthodox church were built in Prudok plus there was an inn.

A rich estate of Lenkiewicz, adorned the village, the remains of which can be seen in the settlement today. At the beginning of the XX century a school opened in a rented peasant house to teach local children, later a building was constructed for this school. Unfortunately, in 1908, there was a terrible fire in the village that destroyed about 30 yards. The local estate which belonged to the landowner Lenkiewicz for a long time suffered as well. In 1914, when the First World War began, the enemy troops destroyed the rich estate.

In 1922, the local authority ordered to build a      kolkhoz (collective farm) in Prudok. Several years later, several kolkhozes were founded there.  It is important to note that the village was relatively small but it was considered an industrial area. In the 1930s, there were several windmills, two forges, and several workshops of repairing and tailoring. Children from the neighboring villages went to school in Prudok.

Nowadays, Prudok develops gradually. In addition to beautiful landscapes, the settlement has farms, horticultural plant, ancient functioning mills, lumber mill, as well as cultural, medical and educational establishments. Therefore, this place, in contrast to many other Belarusian remote places, never stops developing.