Slonim

Sister cities

• Ogre
• Augustów
• Torzhok
• Sergiyev Posad

History

The earliest record is of a wooden fort on the left bank of the Shchara river in the 11th century, although there may have been earlier settlement. The area was disputed between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Kievan Rus' in early history and it changed hands several times. In 1040, the Kievans won control of the area after a battle but lost Slonim to the Lithuanians in 1103. The Ruthenians retook the area early in the 13th century but were expelled by a Tatar invasion in 1241 and the town was pillaged. When, later in the year, the Tatars withdrew, Slonim became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania once again, in personal union with the Kingdom of Poland after the Union of Krewo of 1385. Slonim was the location of one of many Roman Catholic churches where the priests had to know the Lithuanian language according to the Grand Duke of Lithuania Alexander Jagiellon in 1501. In 1532 King Sigismund I of Poland granted Slonim town rights. In 1558, King Sigismund II Augustus, in a privilege issued in Vilnius, established two two-week fairs. In 1569, the Polish–Lithuanian union was transformed into a single state and Słonim became an important regional centre within the newly established Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Administratively it was part of the Nowogródek Voivodeship. Thanks to the efforts of nobleman, statesman and Słonim starost Lew Sapieha, King Sigismund III Vasa renewed the town rights of Słonim and granted the city coat of arms, which included the Lis coat of arms of Sapieha. Also thanks to Lew Sapieha, from 1631 to 1685 the city flourished as the seat of the Lithuanian diet. including 9,000 on 14 November 1941. The second mass murder of 8,000 Jews took place in 1942. From August 1942 to November 1943, the occupiers operated a forced labour camp for Jewish…

Most-observed species

• Bastard Balm

  Melittis melissophyllum L. · Magnoliopsida
  19
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  18
• Rhodofomes roseus (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouzar

  Rhodofomes roseus (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouzar · Agaricomycetes
  17
• Mandarin Duck

  Aix galericulata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  15
• Mistletoe

  Viscum album L. · Magnoliopsida
  12
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow

  Passer montanus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  10
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  10
• Chalk-hill Blue

  Lysandra coridon (Poda, 1761) · Insecta
  9