Halshany

Halshany (Гальшаны; Гольшаны; Alšėnai, Galšia; Holszany; אלשאן) is an agrotown in Ashmyany District, Grodno Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Halshany selsoviet.

It is known as the former seat of the Olshansky princely family and the location of the ruined Halshany Castle.

History
It was the birthplace of the Lithuanian princess and later Grand Duchess of Lithuania and queen of Poland Sophia of Halshany, extending Lithuanian Jagellon dynasty over two states.

During the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth the town was in the hands of the Sapieha family, which constructed a castle there in early 17th century. The town grew smaller with the devastations of the mid-17th century wars wrought in the Commonwealth. The town became part of the Russian Empire with the partitions of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century.

After the First World War the town became a part of the Second Polish Republic; it was taken by the Soviet Union after the Soviet invasion of Poland and became part of the Belorussian SSR. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union it became part of modern Belarus.

Notable people

 * Ben Zion Goldberg (1895-1972), Yiddish journalist
 * Jazep Hermanovich (1890 - 1978), Belarusian Eastern Catholic priest, writer, poet and Gulag survivor