Transfiguration Church, formerly the Calvinist assembly, is the second cathedral of the Minsk Diocese of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

The church was originally built as a Calvinist assembly in the second half of the XVI century, the founder of the assembly was the then owner of Zaslaŭje, one of the leaders of the Reformation in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Jan Hliabovič. The Reformed church was located on the territory of a fortified bastion castle. The temple was also given a defensive significance and probably had embrasures along its entire perimeter in the upper part of the walls.

Under the Calvinist assembly, there was a school where children of various classes and denominations could study.

After the death of Jan Hliabovič, his son Mikalaj in 1628 handed over the church building to the Catholics, who made the Catholic Church of the Archangel Michael out of the assembly building. The new owners of Zaslaŭje, Kryscina and Kazimir Sapiehas', founded a Dominican monastery here in 1676, and handed over the Catholic church of the Archangel Michael to the order.

In 1678, the former Reformed church was partially rebuilt: a tower was added to the west side of the church and the facades were reconstructed. In the upper part of the walls, instead of embrasures, a decorative attic belt was made.

In 1833, the Dominican church was liquidated, and the building was transferred to the Uniate Church. However, already in 1839, after the abolition of the Brest Church Union, the church building was transferred to the Orthodox and became known as the "Transfiguration Church". In 1864—1865, the Transfiguration Church was reconstructed. It operated until the mid-1930s, when, in line with the anti-religious policy of the Soviet government, it was transformed into a flour warehouse. During the Second World War, the church building was partially damaged. In 1968—1972, it was restored and adapted as a museum of handicrafts and folk crafts.

Only in the late 1980s, this building was transferred to the Belarusian Orthodox Church. After a fire in 1996, the church was restored.

In September 2014, by the decision of the Synod of the Belarusian Orthodox Church, the city of Zaslaŭje was designated the second cathedral city of the Minsk Diocese. In this regard, on March 3, 2015, the Transfiguration Church in Zaslaŭje was designated as the second cathedral of the Minsk Diocese. Since December 2018, services in the church on the days of Belarusian saints and on major church holidays are conducted in Belarusian.

Publication date: 04.03.2021.

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