Some of Belarusian towns differ fr om others with their richest history and plenty of preserved architectural monuments, and some are famous for ancient trades and rich crop culture. But few of them can boast of both at the same time. Shklov in Mogilev region relates to such towns.

Shklov is famous all over Belarus for a most beautiful glass production, of which exquisite dishes and unusual glass statuettes are made. This production is of high quality, which is valued far abroad. Besides, the residents of Shklov know a unique receipt of cucumbers preparation, which you can’t tear yourselves away from! There is even a legend, which says that the secret of delicious pimply vegetables culture appeared as back as in the XVI century. And now, it has been passed from housewife to housewife for five centuries and is kept in a strict secret. In addition to secrets of house cooking, the local residents are very proud of ancient architectural buildings, which were the main decorations of the town several centuries ago.

Practically all of the excursions through Mogilev region include a compulsory visit to Shklov. And it is quite reasonable because it is in this town wh ere you can see several functioning ancient religious establishments at once. The matter is surely of the synagogue building (XVII century structure), a local town hall (XVIII century structure), Transfiguration Orthodox Church (XIX century structure) and Saints Peter and Paul Church (XIX century structure). The last monument of Catholic architecture deserves special attention.

Saints Peter and Paul Church was erected in 1849. Then that Catholic shrine belonged to Minsk-Mogilev diocese. Then and now, this building is the most important Christian regional sacred place. A stone structure was built on the site of the former wooden building. By the way, it was a common thing on the territory of Belarus at that time. Due to the lack of money, many Christian establishments were made of quite short-lived material – wood, there was a fire and practically the whole church burned down. And fires happened quite often at that time. The same fate overtook the old wooden building of Peter and Paul Church.

Though, one of the researchers of this region, A. Lukashevich inclines to the version, that the church was built not on the place of the former church, but on the old theatre foundation, which had been erected in 1780 by a talented architect Zorich. When the Soviet authority came to the territory of Belarus and all the religious establishments were to be closed and demolished, Peter and Paul Church in Shklov was used as a cinema. A little bit later, the building was rearranged into a storage. And only in the very late XX century the building was returned to Catholic believers again. Cardinal and Metropolitan, Kazimir Sventak of Minsk-Mogilev sanctified the church solemnly in 1999.

It is worth mentioning that today the temple is far cry from a typical Catholic building. Its external decoration is quite modest, but the size of the temple is quite large. However, the Catholic sacred place was able to keep the echoes of the Soviet epoch and stood whole in those historical twists of tragic events and constant transformations.