Supraśl

Supraśl Orthodox Monastery in the 1930s

The settlement was founded in the 16th century.[2] After the Third Partition of Poland in 1795, it was annexed by Prussia. In 1807 it passed to the Russian Partition of Poland. In 1823, a 10th-century manuscript, the oldest Slavic literary work in Poland, named the Codex of Supraśl was discovered in the Supraśl Monastery by Michał Bobrowski.

After 1831, the textile industry developed. In 1834 manufacturer Wilhelm Fryderyk Zachert came from Zgierz to Supraśl and significantly contributed to the development of the village into a town.[3] Until the mid-19th century, it was the largest center of the textile industry in the region, before it was surpassed by nearby Białystok.[2] In the 19th century, mostly Catholics lived there, but also Protestants, Orthodox and Jews.[3] During World War I from 1915 to 1919 it was occupied by the Germans.[3] After 1919, in independent Poland. During World War II it was occupied by the Soviets from 1939 to 1941 and by the Germans from 1941 to 1944.[2] The Soviets destroyed part of the monastery's interior,[3] and the Germans destroyed most of the industrial plants.[2]

In 2001 Supraśl was recognized as a spa town.[3]

It is the home of the Supraśl Lavra, founded by Aleksander Chodkiewicz, one of six Eastern Orthodox monasteries for men in Poland. The Codex of Supraśl, the oldest Slavic literary work in Poland and one of the oldest of its kind in the world, is named after the Supraśl Lavra. Since September 2007 it has been on UNESCO's Memory of the World list. The Museum of Icons is located in the Chodkiewicz Palace within the monastery complex.

Other historic landmarks include the Buchholtz Palace, which now houses the Art High School, the Catholic churches of Our Lady Queen of Poland and of the Holy Trinity, the town hall, cinema, a 19th-century park and historic wooden architecture.

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  Buchholtz Palace
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  Our Lady Queen of Poland church
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  Cinema
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  Chodkiewicz Palace
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  Monument to the Polish victory in the Polish–Soviet War in 1920 in the city park
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  Coach house of the Buchholtz Palace

• List of Catholic dioceses in Poland

• Official town webpage
• GCatholic

Bibliography - ecclesiastical history

• Augustin Theiner, Die neuesten Zustände der Katholischen Kirche beider Ritus in Polen und Rußland seit Katharina II. bis auf unsere Tage, Augsburg 1841
• Konrad Eubel, Hierarchia Catholica Medii Aevi, vol. 6, p. 389
• Alfred Ignatowicz, Greckokatolicka diecezja supraska (1796-1807), in "Wiadomości Kościele Archidiecezji w białymstoku" 1976, r. 2, nr 4, pp. 105–116.
• Radosław Dobrowolski, Opat Supraski Biskup Leon Ludwik Jaworowski, Supraśl 2003, p. 333.
• Nikolaj Dalmatov, Supraslskij Blagowescanskij Monastyr, St. Peterburg 1892, p. 611.
• Gaetano Moroni, Dizionario di erudizione storico-ecclesiastica, vol. 71, Venice 1855, pp. 76–78
• Leonard Drożdżewicz, Overheard in Suprasl Academy, „Znad Wilii”, Viešoji įstaiga „Znad Wilii” kultūros plėtros draugija, ISSN 1392-9712 indeks 327956, nr 1 (81) z 2020 r., pp. 91–97, (in Polish)http://www.znadwiliiwilno.lt/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Znad-Wilii-1-81m-1-1.pdf

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