Grand Duchy of Lithuania church bell found in Liozno District

VITEBSK, 6 September (BelTA) – A church bell dating back to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania times has been found in Liozno District, BelTA learnt from the cultural department of the Liozno regional executive committee. The excavation works in an abandoned well in the village of Kolyshki revealed a bell of 55.6cm in height and diameter. According to Director of the Liozno Military and History Museum Olga Samushchenko, its condition is satisfactory despite the fact that the bell spent more than 50 years in the ground. It lacks only a tongue. There are inscriptions in Latin on the upper and lower parts of the bell. The upper phrase can be translated as “only God do we glorify”. The lower inscription contains the name of some Friedrich Quain and the year of 1727 which is considered by the experts as the production year of the bell. The middle part of the bell has a relief image of the Mother of God with the Christ child in her hands. According to Olga Samushchenko, the bell got to Liozno District during uniatism, and was likely to be kept at the bell tower of the Orthodox Church till the 1930s. The further story of the bell was told by the local residents. Some told the bell was thrown to the well after the church was destroyed. The others assured that when the church was destroyed the bell was hung at the fireguard bell tower, and then hidden in the well from the Nazis by the Red Army soldiers in 1941. The story of localizing the bell is also very interesting. One of the Liozno agricultural companies has been constructing a church on its territory. In order to save funds, it decided to search a place where, according to the old residents, an ancient bell could be. The bell was found, but the excavation works were conducted in violation of the legislation on cultural values protection. As a result the department for historical and cultural heritage under the Culture Ministry rejected a reward for the finding. The bell was recognized a historical and cultural value. At the believers’ request, the bell has been handed over to the Holy Cross Exaltation Church in Liozno.

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