Puhovichi

Puhovichi - village in Puhovichi district of Minsk region. Village is located 6 km from Marina Gorki and 55 km from Minsk. Highway M5 / E271 (Minsk - Gomel) and the road P68 (Puhovichi - Uzda - Negoreloye) are passeing through Puhovichi. The Titovka River (a tributary of the Svisloch) flows along the southern outskirts of the village. The nearest railway station, called Puhovichi, on the Minsk-Gomel line is located in Maryina Gorka.

For the first time Puhovichi is mentioned in XVI century as a privately owned village in the Minsk povet of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. After the second partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1793 Puhovichi region became part of the Russian Empire. From the end of the XVIII century Puhovichi were in the possession of the Sulistrovskys, later the estate changed owners many times - the owners were Frybesy, Estki, Valkovichi. In 1863, a public school opened in Puhovichi, and by 1886 there were already 73 courtyards, a church, 3 synagogues, a public school, 2 breweries, 26 shops, and 4 regular fairs. A steam and water mill operated in Puhovichi manor, and there was a ferry service on the Svisloch and Titovka rivers. By the end of the XIX century most of the population were Jews.

On January 1, 1919 Puhovichi became part of the BSSR, where on June 17, 1924 they became the center of the Puhovichi district. In 1925 it was decided to transfer the center of the region from Puhovichi to the settlement of Maryina Gorka, while the district retained its former name. In 1939 a military infantry school was created in Maryina Gorka, and a military flight school in the Puhovichi village. On September 27, 1938 the status of the settlement was lowered to the village. During the Great Patriotic War from July 1941 to July 1944 Puhovichi was under German occupation.

Puhovichi is not distinguished by a rich historical and architectural heritage, but the available attractions may interest a certain circle of people. The historic Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, which was built in 1874, in the 50s – 60s of the XXth century. was dismantled by the Soviet authorities and rebuilt as a club. In the second half of the XX century by the decision of the district executive committee, the former temple was restored in the clubhouse. Also in Puhovichi there are a priest’s house from the beginning of the XXth century and a Jewish cemetery.