Pershai is another Belarusian village which has an unusual name and rich history. The first mention of the village dates back to 1440. It was a small settlement belonged to the Vilna bishop, later representatives of the noble and wealthy Tyszkiewicz family bought these lands, and they made Pershai their summer residence. In the XVI century, the village was granted the status of a small town.

Nowadays in modern Pershai you can see a beautiful stone building with two towers – the church of St. George and Holy Mother meets village’s guests. It was reconstructed in 1935. Here you can see images of the saints and blessed martyrs Puhala and Stempen - representatives of the Franciscans. Local people believe that these images have healing powers.

The Catholic Church, the construction of which dates back to XVII century, is considered to be a bright example of stylization. The church was erected by Yuri Radziwill, but later it was reconstructed several times by dukes of the Tyszkiewicz family. Like many other wooden buildings, the church was burned a few times, once it was utterly burned.

Only in 1935, due to donations of Benedict Tyszkiewicz, the stone church was rebuilt again. The church during its existence changed many priests. The church was constructed under the guidance of priest Petrash, however, because of persecution by the Soviet authorities he had to hide in Poland. It is important to mention the sad fate of two other priests: in 1943 in the neighboring village these priests with many parishioners were burned by the Nazi aggressors because of the suspicion that they helped guerrillas. The priests could escape but decided to share the sad fate with parishioners.

Soviet authorities in 1960 closed the church, they reconstructed the building and destroyed the whole church utensils. The image of Mother of God was preserved. By the way, Czeslaw Chervinsky, a local student, was brave and saved the image and hid it in his house. 30 years later, the church was returned to Catholics as well as the image of Holy Mother.

The church has a rectangular shape with gable roof. The main facade is decorated with a shield and you can see massive towers with a bell chamber. It is important to note that local residents of the village Pershai can go to church anytime in order to listen to Sunday worship service or pray since not all ancient religious buildings on the territory of the Republic of Belarus open its doors for these purposes. The church is surrounded by a stone fence, there is a beautiful and clean area near the building. It is located in the main square.