Monastyrshchina

Monastyrshchina lies at the meeting of the Vikhra and Zheleznyak rivers, between Smolensk and Mstsislaw. Its name is associated with monastic lands and an early hermitage in the district. The settlement belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1619. In the neighbouring village of Andrusovo, Russian and Commonwealth envoys concluded the truce of 1667, ending a long war and assigning Smolensk to Russia.