Brest region is very rich in architectural monuments, especially ancient temples and churches. Township Gorodische situated in the Servech River offshore in Brest region was no exception. Interestingly that it is one of the most ancient settlements and the largest locations in Baranovichi district.

Gorodische is a village where was found one of the few really valuable archeological monuments in the territory of our country. It is a burial mound where were found remainders of ancient civilizations, in particularly, a site of ancient settlement, the date of origin of which is connected to the Hatched Pottery culture. Besides, there are two churches, a roadside chapel, Jewish and Catholic cemetery, where there is the Commemorative Cross to the participants of the revolt of 1863-1864, and some other erections in Gorodische. But now it is the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary that interests us. Do you know that the full name of this church is the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary – Our Lady of the Rosary and it is referred to the Catholic denomination?

The history of this church began in 1640 when a wooden church was constructed at the monastery of the Greek Catholic Order of Basilian founded by decree of the Polotsk war leader Yan Kaminsky. Later, it was made of brick in the end of the XVIII century.

Many people know that once the territory of the today Western Belarus was in the possession of the today Poland. Later, as a result of the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1793, that territory came to be in the possession of the Russian Empire. It is known that the revolt of Poles took place there in 1863, and it was brutally suppressed. The consequences were not long in coming, as the authorities closed all Greek-Catholic monasteries in that territory and re-formed them into orthodox temples. The church in Gorodische was no exception. It was closed in 1867, and re-consecrated into the Holy-Trinity Temple of the Orthodox Eparchy in 1868.

The change of denomination influenced the exterior of the church. In 1873, the project to rebuild the church according to the canons of orthodox building was developed. The works on upgrading took the period since1874 to 1876. The changes in construction were not major: a belfry and five domes were built on to the main building. Up to the end of the First World War, when the territory of Western Belarus was in the possession of Poland, the church remained orthodox. In 1919, the church building was given to the Catholic Church. Later, the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary had got its original appearance.

At the time when Belarus was in the possession of the USSR, after the Great Patriotic War, the church was expropriated from the Catholic Church. As it used to be in such cases, the inner decoration was destroyed, and the building itself became storage for furniture. In the early 90-s, the Church of Blessed Virgin Mary was given back to the Catholic Church, it was restored, and now worship services are held there.

Exteriorly the church is built in the Baroque style, and it is one of its brightest examples. The semicircular apse with a conical roof and a belfry attached to it especially attract the eye.