The Sluck Town Gates are a unique Baroque monument. These are the only gates out of five existing in the town and the only preserved gates in Belarus, which were built in the system of town fortifications in the late 16th – early 17th centuries.
In 1586, Mikalaj Kryštaf Radzivil Sirotka set the task for the town inhabitants to build fortifications. Until the end of the 16th century, the town fortifications were mostly built. The basis of the town's defense was a high earthen rampart. It looked like a pentagon with 7 bastions and covered the town from all sides. One could get inside through five gates: Sluck, Klieck, Viĺnia, Mir and Zamak. During the war between the Moscow Kingdom and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of 1654–1667, the town fortifications, including the town gates, were badly damaged. In 1700 (according to some sources, in 1760), the Sluck Gates were rebuilt in the Baroque style. According to the inventory, on the first floor of the gate, there was a room for a guard and an official who collected the fee. Everyone who entered the town had to pay customs duties. On the second floor, there was a chapel of the Mother of God. In the 70s of the 20th century, restoration work was carried out at the Sluck gate: facades and roofing, oak doors, windows, stairs to the second floor, a balcony on the facade from the town side were restored. In September, 2007, a major overhaul of the gate was completed, and the area around the monument was landscaped.
Publication date: 27.11.2017.
For convenient navigation through the landmarks, use the FREE mobile program