Pruzhany is as an
average 163 meters above sea level, although sometimes the surface is greater or slighter
than the average. The environment has changed a lot during the last centuries according to
the documents we have and the legends that we listen to in the city.
A great forest
covered Pruzhany some centuries ago and was inhabited by "hurs"1; it was
called the “Pushka of Pruzhany”. This fact is strengthened by a document from
1644 when Jewish people got special privileges from the Polish King Vladislav IV. These
documents show that the Jewishs had the right to let the cattle graze at the entrance of
the “Pushka of Pruzhany”, the same right the gentiles had. That is why they must
share the same responsibilities with the gentiles with regard to the Pushka.
There is a
second demonstration and we find it in the “Review of Pushkas and wondering
animals”2
by Grihar Vallovich from the year 1559. There we learn that "the range of the forest
is from the Pushkas of Pinsk going along Tarakan, Horodetz and Kobrin to the Pushkas of
Kobrin, to the side of Hrushawaia between Kobrin and Pruzhany over the river
Muchawietz". "It goes between the fields and yards of Shereshov and the village
of Wieshna to Shereshov and the “Bieloviezer Pushka”
3 . From all these details we come to the conclusion that a Pushka covered the
entire environment surrounding. Pruzhany of today is free from trees that during the years
disappeared completely.
1.2 The Rivers
Our areas changed
a lot because of the rivers. Centuries ago, the Muchawietz was wider and carried a lot of
water. A change took place over the centuries. The elder people tell us that they remember
the Muchawietz was wider and deeper. Today (1929) they repeat that it was wider in the
past. In fact one of the legends is that the Muchawietz was a very big river. Every
spring, when the snow melted, the Muchawietz flooded the surroundings. The legends say
that an important princess crossed the river; one of her children fell into the water and
drowned. From that moment the river is damned and becomes drier every year.
The importance of
the river is stated in the “Review of Kobriner Economy”. There it is said:
“Mills on the Muchawietz: at the "backyard" a mill of one wheel; at the
back of the city a mill of two wheels, at one mile from the city a mill of two
wheels”.
We find these
facts in historic documents that show that the Muchawietz also changed in its width and
partly in its bed. In a document of “Lithuanian Metrika” 4 from year 1473, it is confirmed that the
landlord Ivan Semenovich Kobrinski left part of these parcels of land to build a church in
Pruzhany 5. He also left with the same purpose
an island on the river Muchawietz: it says “...that is why we leave an island called
Dubowa on the river Mucha (Muchawietz) not far from the town of Slonimtzy, so that some
citizens can settle...”. On the island you can get some oat. Today Slomintzy is
practically three kilometers away from the Muchawietz.
In spite of this,
the great swamps between Slonimtzy and the Muchawietz give us the idea of something that
could be before the river bed. That is why we can accept that the Muchawietz, near
Slonimtzy, had at a certain time two different branches. Near Slonimtzy passed the left
branch of the river, and where the two branches joined the island of Dubowe was created.
We must accept that due to the decrease of the left branch of the river near Slonimtzy, it
slowly became a marsh. These changes are common in the story of rivers.
From all these
facts, it is clear that the actual aspect of the surrounding geography in many details is
not at all similar to the picture of the area four or five centuries ago.
1.3
Roadways and paths
Not only
has the geography surrounding Pruzhany changed. There were many changes in the roadways
and paths that sometimes crossed through Pruzhany, and now they have lost all sense. Today
Pruzhany is placed on the side of the railway and does not play any important role in
communications. Pruzhany looks different, considering the view of several centuries ago.
The street we call IATKE 6, once was the path through Rozshinoi to Vilna. Through this path
the corpse of Queen Barbara (from the Radziwill house), was carried in the 16th
century. The second roadway of importance was “OLD SELTZER” (today MESHTSHANSKE)
that went up to Moscow. Through this roadway passed the Polish king Vladislav IV before
the wars against the Cossacks. In this place the same king gave Jewish people certain
privileges as a present.
There too
Napoleon and his army passed on his way to Moscow, and the Russian czars went travelling
to Bieloviezsh or Vilna. That means that Pruzhany was at a certain time the spine of the
roads joining different points, which in history played an important role. If we wanted
now to try to reveal our area in the past, we would have this framework: All the terrain
within a radius of several kilometers was covered by a forest inhabited by hurs; it
was not a safe place as bands of thieves and robbers made their livelihood from people
going along these roadways. Through the hurs forest, a wide and deep way crosses the
Muchawietz. The ways of prehistoric Pruzhany crosses the Muchawietz.
_______________________________________
1. A hur is an animal from the bison
family.
2."Revisie Pushtsh i ferechodov zwierinich", Vilna 1867, cited
by S. Wislaw "Rozvai Granitz territorium powiatu Kobrinskieno do Polovi, Vieko
XVI" Vilna 1930
3. This forest still exist near
Brest, and is part in Belarus and part in Poland
4.According
to M. Balinsky
5. We are going to get more details of this document in the following
article
6
Word in yiddish that means "market"