The National Library of Belarus has opened access to the video archive of the latest research on Zhirovichi and Belarusian books on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of the Zhirovichi monastery, celebrated today.

May 20 marks the day of the Zhirovichi miraculous icon of the Mother of God. 550 years passed since the miraculous appearance of the famous icon and 500 years ago the Zhirovichi Monastery was founded. While the main celebrations have been postponed in Zhirovichi, the National Library of Belarus prepared a present specifically for the anniversary.

Today, online access to the video archive is open for everyone interested. It includes video recordings of speeches by famous domestic and foreign scientists, their presentations, reports, photo documents and other valuable materials that reveal previously unknown pages of our common past.

The video archive was based on the materials of the ХVІ International Book Readings, which were dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Zhirovichi Monastery and Library. The scientific forum was held on May 15, 2020, in the form of a real-time video conference with the possibility of wide communication.

It is symbolic that this year the Book Readings are dedicated to the 500th anniversary of the founding of the famous Zhirovichi Monastery and Library. Monasteries have long been centers of culture and book publishing – here books were rewritten and printed, the first libraries and schools were created. For five centuries, the best examples of the book, art, musical culture of our people, intellectual monuments were created and stored, secular and clerical educational institutions operated at the Zhirovichi monastery.

The video archive is available on the Youtube channel and will continue to be replenished in the future.

Bibliology Research Department