Berezyna

Berazino (Belarusian: Беразіно́), or Berezino (Russian: Березино́, Polish: Berezyna), also known as Biarezan (Бярэзань), is a town on the Berezina River in Minsk Region of Belarus. The population is 13,300 (1998 census).

Although there are no documented points to determine the original founding date of the settlement on the territory of the present Berazino, it is believed that it originated as a trading post on the River Berezina which was part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks of the Kievan Rus. The first chronicles of a settlement date from 1501, which is believed to be the present date of its founding.

During the middle of the 16th century, the city belonged to one of the mightiest dynasties of the Great Duchy of Lithuania - the Sapieha Family, who controlled many other territories in Central Belarus. In 1641 the Duke Kazimierz Leon Sapieha built a wooden Catholic Church which became one of the central attractions of the town. In the course of the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) the city was captured by Russian-Cossack forces in 1655, but was taken away from them and in 1661 became part of the Minsk Voivodeship.

During the Northern War in 1708, upon Charles XII's attempt to storm into the Rzecz Pospolita, releasing the Russian/Rzecz Pospolita blockade in neighbouring Barysaw, the Swedish king used Berazino to cross the Berezina River instead, however the conquest ended with the Battle of Poltava further south.

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