Kletsk

Kletsk stands on the Lan, where an early Dregovich stronghold became a town of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its castle and market served a countryside between the lands of Novogrudok and Polesia. The town later passed into the hands of the Radziwiłł family, whose patronage shaped both its commerce and religious life.

In 1506 a Lithuanian army under Michał Gliński defeated Tatar forces near Kletsk. Jewish residents are recorded by 1522, and the community grew steadily in the following centuries. In 1586 Kletsk became the centre of a Radziwiłł entailed estate and also a notable centre of Calvinism under the Radziwiłł family's protection. A great destructive fire in 1705 led to rebuilding, while the Second Partition of 1793 brought the town under Russian rule.