Photo expedition to Daniljevichy (I/VI). Фотавандроўка ў Данілевічы (I/VI).
In Belarus the 1986 Soviet nuclear power plant meltdown at Chernobyl most harshly affected the rich fabric of village life and traditions in the southeastern region of Homjel’ (Гомель). Nevertheless, deeply-rooted, unique-to-their-village folk traditions (songs, legends, syncretic Christian/pre-Christian rites, embroidery) continue in a number of surviving villages across the region. One of those villages is Daniljevichy (Данілевічы) in Ljel’chytsy District. Although its population has
Deepest appreciation to the outstanding Belarusian writer/ethnographer/photographer Vital’ Voranau for having alerted me to the traditions of Daniljevichy.
Danjelavichy is most known for its giant “tsar oak” (tsar-dub — цар-дуб), shrine to “the girl turned to stone” (kamjennaja dzjevachka — каменная дзевачка), and village women’s continued wearing of traditional embroidered dress.
Local legend tells of a girl at harvest time who refused a warning to take shelter from an approaching storm and was turned to stone. At one point the villagers decided to drag the stone from the place of the girl’s petrification and place it by the (now destroyed) village church. When villagers linked a series of subsequent misfortunes to the removal of the stone from its place of rest, they dragged the stone back and erected a cross on the spot. More recently, villagers constructed a chapel by the cross. On Holy Saturday before sunset, village women in traditional dress gather at the site to sing and to burn the previous year’s embroidered runners hanging in the chapel and replace them with new runners. On Easter day before dawn, they again gather at the site to welcome the Resurrection and to greet spring.
Chapel and cross dedicated to “the girl turned to stone”, Daniljevichy 2015. Капліца й крыж “каменная дзевачка“, Данілевічы 2015 г.
Chapel icons with embroidered runners, Daniljevichy 2015. Капліца з вышытымі ручнікамі, Данілевічы 2015 г.
Crosses of Belarus XXII: cross at “the girl turned to stone”, Daniljevichy 2015. Крыжы Беларусі ХХІІ: крыж ля “каменнай дзевачкі“.
Site of the church (destroyed by the Soviet authorities), in front of the now-closed school, where the stone was moved to until the village began to suffer misfortunes.
