Iwye

Tatars were settled in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania from the fourteenth century, brought in as cavalry and granted land, and communities descended from them have remained in a scatter of towns across what is now western Belarus, keeping Muslim practice while adopting the local language. Iwye has the largest of those communities and its wooden mosque, built in 1884 with a green roof and a small minaret, is one of very few in the country and was the only one to remain open through the Soviet period. The town also has a Catholic church, an Orthodox church and a synagogue building, and a monument in the centre marks the four faiths that lived here.

History

From the 15th century Jews, Roman Catholics, Orthodox Christians and Muslim Lipka Tatars settled here, and in the 16th century there was also an Arian community; the Tatar community shaped the look of many buildings. By 1938 more than three-quarters of the town's people were Jewish, with a Tarbut school, a football team, a fire brigade, a theatre and an orchestra (Wikipedia, Iwye).

Highlights

• The wooden mosque - the 1884 building and its minaret.
• The Tatar community - the descendants of the medieval settlement.
• The four-faith monument - the marker of the town's mixed history.
• The other churches - the Catholic, Orthodox and former synagogue buildings.

When to go

May to September for the town. The mosque can be visited outside prayer times with permission; asking locally is the way. Fridays and Muslim holidays are when the community gathers.

Good to know

The mosque is a working place of worship and access depends on who is present; modest dress and shoes off. The town is small with limited facilities. Buildings are modest in scale. Labelling and information are minimal.

Nearby

Lida lies northwest; Novogrudok is southwest.

Key facts