Belarusian Autumn: Mir

The Brick Gothic Mir Castle stands out in a peaceful and sleepy village that has witnessed the arrival and departure of many a giant, including Napoleon.

The impressions of Nyasvizh were fresh and when I was told that we were to head to yet another castle after lunch, I wasn’t exactly overcome with enthusiasm. Maybe I needed to process the childlike wonder and joy of my time in Nyasvizh and I wasn’t quite ready for another intense experience.

This feeling of general laziness left me when I got off the bus and started walking towards the Mir Castle. The sun warmed up a cold afternoon and I caught my first glimpse of the castle, my mind wandered from 2023 to 1989. That was the year when an Australian pop band called INXS released a video shot (what I found out later was) in Prague.

The late autumn skies and foliage, ducks in a pond and Gothic architecture formed the backdrop for the song “Never Tear Us Apart.”

From across the pond, the towering Mir Castle stood out like a colossus in a village, the very same way fairy tales describe them. This castle, indeed, was a target for any invader that set his sights on the rich Belarusian earth. And they came for this prized caste from where one could keep a watch for miles. The Swedes, once dreaded as an expansive power and empire, coveted this castle, as did Napoleon’s army.

As I entered the castle, which is now a Unesco-protected monument, I was quite surprised to see how much the inner quadrangle resembled photos of great Polish cities such as Krakow. The heritage was strong, but we were still in a Russian-speaking land.

Large parts of the castle have been restored but a lot more work is planned over he next few years to totally restore it to its original glory. A guided excursion helped me see how the nobility of the 16th and 17th centuries lived in luxury, while the peasants in the surrounding village worked themselves to death.

I had seen enough of the castle and had time to explore the picturesque village of Mir, which got its name from the Miranka River. It’s quite ironic that a place whose name literally means peace has been subject to so many violent invasions. Now, its economy revolves around tourism and from what I gathered, a large chunk of visitors are either locals or from Russia. Western Europeans have stopped coming since February 2022 and the authorities hope that Indian and Chinese visitors will fill in the void.

Belarusians are happy to see people from both Asian giants, but find it amusing that they insist on eating their own cuisine. While Indians claim this is because most of the local food is not vegetarian, the Chinese don’t have that excuse.

Before it was time for the long journey to Brest, I stood on a viewpoint and looked both at the great castle and the charming village behind me. The sun held out on this afternoon and defeated the wind and clouds, making the foliage look even more beautiful.

Walking past the pond to the bus, I put on my headphones and listened to the INXS song, bridging that long gap from 1989 and 2023.