Belarus in Faces (part LXXVII): Mrs. Maryja, Kuranjets 2012 and 2013. Беларусь у тварах (частка LXXVII): спадарыня Марыя, Куранец 2012 і 2013 гг.
Kuranjets is now classified a village but retains a large central square, lined with solid masonry buildings, from when it was a bustling market town. Today its curved, tree-lined streets are peaceful, but part of Napoleon’s army camped here on its 1812 retreat from Moscow. The village has a monument to insurgents killed in the area in the 1863 uprising against the Russian empire and graves of Polish soldiers who lost their lives fighting against advancing Bolshevik troops in 1920.
In August 2012, as we wandered through Kuranjets looking unsuccessfully for the monument to 1863 and the Polish graves, we saw Mrs. Maryja sitting by her front door. She modestly and kindly pointed us in the right direction.
In late March we stopped by to give Mrs. Maryja a copy of the portrait from last August. Captivated by her quiet radiance in the early spring light, we asked permission to take another portrait.
