A TRIP ROUTE

INTERESTING STORIES

The history of royal hunting in the Białowieża Forest dates back to the Middle Ages. The King of Poland, Władysław Jagiełło, together with Prince Witold, hunted here in 1409, gathering food supplies for the war with the Teutonic Order. The hunted game was portioned, salted, loaded into barrels, and then floated down the rivers to Płock, an event described by Jan Długosz in his work "Historia Polonica". He also recalls the second visit of Jagiełło in 1426, when the 70-year-old king, falling from his horse while hunting bears, broke his leg. Other Jagiellonians also hunted in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, in 1504 Jagiełło's grandson Alexander, in 1506 Zygmunt I Stary, who was the first to introduce legal protection of bison, and in 1546, Zygmunt August. During the reign of Stefan Batory, who visited the Forest in 1581-84, the first zoo that served as a royal hunting ground was built. Successive Polish kings hunted in the zoo: Jan Kazimierz in 1650, August III the Saxon in 1752 and Stanisław August Poniatowski in 1784. Polish rulers not only hunted in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, but also protected its resources, incl. forming a ring of settlements of the royal forest services.

INTERESTING FACTS

The years of the reign of one of the most outstanding Polish rulers, Stefan Batory, are considered the "golden period" of Grodno. The king liked this city very much and lived in the castle for many years, where he received envoys and summoned the senate council. Grodno became the king's headquarters during the Polish-Russian war over the infants in 1577-1582. On the initiative of Batory around 1580, the old castle was rebuilt in the Renaissance style by the Italian architect Scoto of Parma. It is from this period that the famous "Batorówka", the palace where he resided during the construction works at the castle, comes from. The king also greatly contributed to the flourishing of the stronghold on the Nemunas. He supported trade and education, made efforts to establish a Jesuit college in the city, and guarded religious tolerance. Stefan Batory died in the old castle in Grodno on December 12, 1586, in preparation for the next war with Moscow. The death took place after returning from hunting in the forests of Kundzin, and the cause of death is gout. The further development of the city was interrupted by the Polish-Russian war, during which, in 1655, Grodno was seized and destroyed by the Russian army under the command of Ivan Chowanski.

IT IS WORTH KNOWING

The Grodno Seym, convened in 1793 in Grodno by the Russian Empire, was the last and one of the most turbulent in the era of the First Polish Republic. From the very first session there were violent disputes and blows, as most of the deputies were bribed or intimidated. The Seym took place after the defeat of the war with Russia in 1792, the establishment of the Targowica confederation and the entry of Prussian troops into the territory of the Commonwealth, under the Russian-Prussian division convention concluded in Petersburg. The Russian envoy, Sievers, constantly put pressure on the Seyms, striving to sign the cession treaties as soon as possible. Terrorized MPs were not even allowed to speak, and Sievers surrounded the castle with grenadiers and Russian cannons, closing all exits. The Russian general Rautenfeld appeared in the conference room, who told Members that no one would be allowed to leave the House until the treaty was passed. Catherine II the Great sent a draft of the perpetual alliance between Poland and Russia, which she wrote, which was presented to Sievers by humiliated MPs as a request of the Polish nation. The project was passed unanimously, as no one dared to speak up, and the Second Partition of Reczy Rzeczpospolita became a fact.