The History of Appearance of the Trinity Church in the Village Druya

The small village Druya is situated in the Braslav district, at the border between Belarus and Latvia. One of the first cult stone structures in the Braslav district became the Trinity Church that is an architectural monument of Baroque style. The building of the church is a part of the whole monastic complex that was in possession of Bernardians. All buildings of the complex were constructed during the period since 1643 to 1646 out of the funds of Lev Sapieha. The complex comprised: a dwelling complex, gates with total enclosure and the church.

Over the period of its existence the church has suffered from regular wars and some fires. The church was particularly hard damaged by the fire of 1944 that had been caused by a dropped air bomb. The interior of the church was badly damaged. After the war the church was closed and for a long time it was not used to its destination. It served as a civil engineering school, then as a technical school and a short time later there was established a school of land reclamation.

Only in 1990 the Trinity Church was returned to believers. At the same time restoration works were started.

The Description of the Trinity Church

The Trinity Church presents a one-tower basilica made of stone. The central part of its facade is decorated with a five-tier tower ending into a beautiful dome. It was built on in 1772. Generally the building of the church looks rather massive with slightly simple forms; that is a distinctive feature of late Baroque structures.

The interior of the church stands out for its rich adornment. There are a lot of decorative fixtures and moldings that are characteristic for Baroque. The main altar was erected a century after the construction of the church. Certainly, it has influenced the altar’s style that refers to late Baroque. Lateral altars were constructed even later and they have some features of Rococo. The whole facade of the building if decorated with windows with ledgement and corner pilasters. In the church there are a great number of columns that are harmoniously combined with the ornament of the windows.

At the eastern part of the church there is an attached two-storey dwelling building of the monastery. It forms a rectangular with an opening in plan. The whole complex is fenced by stone wall with gates designed in late Baroque.

Today the church is in a good condition after the recent restoration, and it is opened for local parishioners and tourists. The Trinity Church in the village is included in a number of tour itineraries around holy places of Belarus. Such tours allow expanding cultural and historical knowledge, learning a lot of new interesting things during the excursion. A visit to the Trinity Church will become a good addition and decoration of any tour itinerary including it.