Lukashenko allocates funds for restoration of two 12th century churches

President Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus signed decree No. 109 yesterday, approving the decision of the council of the Foundation of the President of Belarus for the Support of Culture and Art, allocating $188,355 (369,834 rubles) for financing creative projects, reports the official site of the president of Belarus.

Specifically, the money will be directed towards restoration and major repairs for the 12th-century Sts. Boris and Gleb Church (the Kalozha Church) in Grodno, and the preservation of the 14th-century Princely Towers of the Kreva Castle in Kreva, Belarus. Funds will also be allocated to the Polotsk National Histoircal-Cultural Museum-Reserve for restoring the chipping 18th-19th-century paintings of the 12th century Transfiguration Church.

The Kalozha Church of Sts. Boris and Gleb is the oldest extant structure in Grodno, and the only surviving monument of ancient Black Ruthenian architecture. Kreva Castle is the ruins of a major fortified residence of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, where the Union of Krewo, the first step towards the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, was signed

According to the president’s site, the adoption of the order is a testimony to the government's attention to the preservation and popularization of the country’s historical and cultural heritage, creating favorable conditions for the positioning of Belarusian culture and history as part of the world cultural space.

Source: pravoslavie.ru