Bereza-Kartuska
Officially known as Kartuz-Bereza, it is a town in the district of Pruzhany, formerly the Brest district, on the river Jasiodla. On January 1,1878, the town counted 2,507 inhabitants, i.e. 1,121 male, and 1,386 female. Of these, 1,113 Jews. Bereza features a train station on the Moscow Brest rail line, between Linieva and Kosov and is located 92 verst from Brest. At one time it was one of the postal stations on the Moscow-Brest highway, between Svadbicze and Zapole.
A magnificent monastery and a Kartuz church of the Holy Cross stood here once. This was at one time the only congregation in all of Lithuania, and was funded by Leon Sapieha, the Lithuanian deputy chancellor, who in 1648 had the first stone laid by Jan de Torres, the papal nuncio in Poland. The Italian builder was brought to the region, where the kartuzians from Treviza settled, to oversee the construction of these magnificent walls. The church and monastery were surrounded by a hexagonal rampart, funds for which were provided by the benefactor, who having donated so generously to the parish, had himself taken vows of poverty and solitude.
All properties within a radius of several miles of Bereza, including towns, villages, rivers and forests, were transferred to the kartuzian people. The Congress (Seym) confirmed the transfer of funds in 1653, however it was only several years after the death of the benefactor, that the construction of the church was completed. The inauguration took place on June 6
th 1666, the day of the funeral of Kazimierz Leon, and was presided over by Alexander Sapieha, the bishop of Vilnus. In th eyear 1706 a number of misfortunes befell the district, which also left their mark on Bereza.
First Peter the Great jointly with August II, tried to invade the monastery with their army. Later, on April 28th, Karol XII, the king of Sweden arrived at the head of two infantry battalions. 1,500 Russian dragoons defended the monastery and its access across the dam. The king acknowledging the difficulty of making his way across, retreated by throwing himself into the water, followed by the grenadiers. Having witnessed their quick retreat, the dragoons also withdrew. The king returned to the village of Alba where he and his men spent the day at the local monastery, taking with them three hostages, for whose release a ransom of 300 zloty was paid.
In 1708 the Kartusian population had another encounter with the Swedish army. The Swedes having entered the monastery, took three priests hostage, demanding payment for their release. To compensate for insufficient funds, the church silver was offered in lieu of payment. The remaining priests fearing captivity, hid in the surrounding forest, leaving behind only four guards. In later years the monastery encountered more misfortunes, and falling into disrepair was finally demolished in 1831.
Visits to the church at this time, reveal a complete moral breakdown amongst the clergy, characterized by unbridled immoral and frivolous behaviour, resulting in enormous losses to the church holdings. The grounds were found in a state of total disrepair, the ponds overgrown, the library once housing an impressive collection was left in complete disarray. A memorandum was found, issued to bishop of Vilnius, Jan Nepomuc Kossakowsky, outlining the method, which if implemented, could have served to restore order to the monastery. The post-kartusian church in Bereza was until recently the parish church of the Pruzhany district.
May 20, 2006