Slonim

Slonim was developed in the late eighteenth century by Michal Kazimierz Oginski, who built a theatre, an orchestra and a canal linking the Shchara to the Dnieper-Bug system, and the town keeps buildings from that period and earlier: the Bernardine and Benedictine convent churches, the church of St Andrew of 1775 with a curved baroque facade, and the Oginski canal itself. The synagogue of 1642 is among the oldest surviving in Belarus, a fortified baroque building with a decorated interior including a carved stone aron kodesh, standing empty and deteriorating with restoration long discussed. A regional museum covers the area.

What you actually see

• The 1642 synagogue - the fortified baroque building and its interior.
• St Andrew's church - the curved baroque facade of 1775.
• The convent churches - the Bernardine and Benedictine buildings.
• The Oginski canal - the eighteenth-century cut through the town.

When to go

May to September for walking the town; churches follow service hours and the museum closes on Mondays. Winter is cold and the days short.

Honest expectations

The synagogue is closed and in poor condition, viewable from outside only. Church interiors depend on service times. The town is provincial with limited facilities. The canal is largely disused.

Nearby

Zhyrovichy lies south; Ruzhany is southwest.