Date :
Friday, November 24, 2023
Lake Svityaz, located in the Novogrudok district of the Grodno region, is the most mysterious water body in Belarus, shrouded in numerous legends.
Its area is about 2 kilometers, and the distance to the bottom at the deepest points reaches 15 meters. It is one of the most beautiful places in Belarus. The circular lake surface is surrounded by forests and hilly terrain. Its crystal-clear waters, where the sandy bottom is visible even at depth, mesmerize visitors coming here for the first time.
Lake Svityaz was formed as a result of the ground collapsing into underground voids. But this is a scientific explanation. The folk legends sound much more beautiful, telling that once, where the lake is now, there was the city of Svityaz. Once, when the city ruler Turan and his warriors went to Novogrudok to help Prince Mindovg fend off an enemy attack on Novogrudok, an enemy army attacked Svityaz. The elders, women, and children left in the city refused to surrender to the enemy and set their homes on fire. Suddenly, the earth opened up and the city sank into the ground. In its place, a beautiful forest lake appeared, and the city's inhabitants turned into white flowers. According to the legend, Prince Turan's daughter turned into a mermaid and was named Svitiazianka, becoming the guardian of the lake. This myth was explored in a ballad of the same name by the Belarusian-Polish poet Adam Mickiewicz.
The story of the city that went underground is not the only legend associated with this place. It is said that in calm weather, one can hear the bells of a temple hidden in the depths of Lake Svityaz. And the mysterious Svitiazianka still appears to fishermen and tourists. A sculpture of a mermaid decorates the lake's waters as a tribute to local folklore.
While legends are hard to confirm scientifically, archaeological finds suggest that secret paths of the Baltic tribes once crossed the bottom of the lake. A fragment of a paved road was found at the bottom of the water body in the 1970s. Historians and archaeologists believe that there used to be an elevation in the center of the lake, which had a cult significance for our distant ancestors.
However, there are things that even puzzle scientists. For instance, researchers cannot explain why the water level in Svityaz always remains constant, regardless of droughts, rains, and other weather changes. Moreover, the lake is home to rare relict mollusks that can only be found in the fresh waters of France, Germany, and Belgium. How they arrived in the isolated waters of Svityaz, where no river flows, remains a mystery. Another mysterious inhabitant of the lake is the aquatic plant Tetradinium javanicum, which, besides Svityaz, is only found on the island of Java in the Malay Archipelago.
In 1970, the lake and its adjacent territory were granted the status of the "Svitiaziansky" landscape reserve. Today, Lake Svityaz is a comfortable destination for ecotourism, active recreation, and family time. It is ideal for holidays with children – the entrance to the water is shallow, the bottom is flat and sandy. In the summer, it is crowded with both locals and tourists. Along the lake, there are beaches equipped with changing rooms, toilets, and parking areas. During the season, food and sweet stalls operate on the shore. Fishing is allowed in the lake – the waters of Svityaz are inhabited by pikes, perches, roaches, ruffs, and crucians.
Near the lake, there is a children's health camp and a sanatorium with the same name. Tourists who come for a few days can stay in farmsteads or a well-equipped camping site. Lake Svityaz is located 150 kilometers from Minsk. It is easily accessible by car or by buses that depart from the capital's "Central" bus station.