Nyasvizh

Nyasvizh, known in Polish as Nieśwież, was the seat of the Radziwiłł family for centuries. Its castle and town grew into a centre of noble power, religion and learning in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its gardens, fortifications and family burial church were conceived as parts of an imposing princely residence. A printing press established in the early 1560s produced works associated with the reformer Symon Budny, including a catechism in 1562. Nearby, the fortified residence and the Corpus Christi Church proclaimed the family's wealth and changing religious allegiances.

Mikołaj Krzysztof Radziwiłł, called the Orphan, began the castle in 1583 and secured Magdeburg rights for the town in 1586. Jesuits and Benedictines founded institutions here, and the castle became the heart of an entailed family estate. Swedish troops damaged Nyasvizh during the Great Northern War, after which Michał Kazimierz Radziwiłł rebuilt and developed workshops, a military school and a printing house. His wife Franciszka Urszula established a court theatre with a choir and ballet school.

Russian troops occupied the town in the 1760s; after the First Partition, a large library and works of art were taken to St Petersburg. The Second Partition brought Nyasvizh under Russian rule in 1793. The castle and church remain monuments to the ambitions of the Radziwiłłs and the culture they supported.