Halshany

Halshany was the seat of the princely Olshansky family in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Sophia of Halshany, who became queen of Poland, was born here; her marriage to Władysław Jagiełło ensured the continuation of the Jagiellonian dynasty. The Sapieha family later held the town and built a castle in the early seventeenth century. The wars of that century reduced Halshany, and the partitions of the Commonwealth brought it under Russian rule. French and Polish troops passed through the area during Napoleon's campaign of 1812.