Luchai

History of village Luchay began in the middle of the XVI century, when the place was a part of the Vilnius province and in the possession of the noble Zaberezinsky family.

The village name comes from the geographical term "bend" and means "long river bend, arc, peninsula with the Gulf, having a clear path".

According to the legend, a beautiful girl once lived here. She was good in everything, but she only had different colored eyes: one is blue as the sky on a clear day, and the other is black as night. And that girl fell in love with a wayward man. The guy laughed at the beauty and said, that no one could ever love her because of the color of her eyes.

Cried the girl, and two lakes flowed from her eyes: clean and clear lake Luchayskoe and turbid lake Lisitskoe. The river Luchayka connects these lakes, in bending of which is a picturesque place - village Luchay.

Over the course of several centuries of its existence, the village got new owners many times and was owned by the Yundzillovs, the Glebovich family, the Shemetovs and the Rudominovs at different times. However, the highest peak was reached by Luchay at the Oginsky family.

Alzhbeta Puzyna, nee Oginskaya, got the place in 1731. In the same year, a mission of the Vilnius Jesuit College was established in village Luchay. In 1766, a church in the Baroque style with elements of Classicism was built with financial support of Alzhbeta and her husband.

The church in Luchay was the last monument of Jesuit architecture. Its construction was completed only ten years later, in 1776, after the expulsion of the Jesuits from the territory of the Grand Duchy.

Today, the church of St. Thaddaeus is the main architectural landmark of village Luchay. Frescoes have preserved in the church to this day, executed in the technique of grisaille, imitating sculptures. The author of the three-dimensional murals is a famous Belarusian artist Anton Antoshevsky. Unfortunately, only a part of the unique frescoes is preserved. More than half of them are painted with paintings of the  contemporary artists.

The church of Luchay was the home church of the local gentry for many years. Ordinary people were forbidden even to pass close to him, so as not to break up the road. St. Thaddeus Church was part of the palace and park complex. Plebaniya was a part of it besides the church - the residence of Catholic priests. Two-storey stone house, surrounded by a park, was located near the church.

Plebaniya as the church has preserved until today. But the fate of the manor house was tragic. It was razed to the ground during the Nazi occupation. Today, the mansion can be seen only as a layout but on a few photos.

The Soviet authorities do not contributed to the preservation of cultural heritage in Luchay, came in 1939. For years, the church of St. Thaddaeus was used as a warehouse for building materials. The church was returned to believers only at the end of the twentieth century.

Today, the church of St. Thaddaeus is the center of the cultural life of village Luchay. Organ music sounds herre , and also festivals and public events are held.