Monastery, 1769 Monastery, a pictographic map of the 18th century First time the church was mentioned in documents in 1504, when Grand Duke
Alexander granted Vilnius
Bernardines 6000
morgens of forest in the Minsk district. Monks lived for 2–4 people in the buildings; they also had a chapel. In 1591, a wooden church of Visitation was built, in which there was the miraculous
icon of the Mother of Our Lady, the last was brought by from
Rome (a gift from
Pope Clement VIII) in 1598 and transferred to the church in 1613. In 1643 a new church was built on money donated by
Janusz Kiszka. According to the monastery's yearbooks, the German stonemason from
Polotsk Andreas Kromer headed the construction. Another master, Peter Gramel, crafted a two-level altar. During the Russo-Polish of 1654–1667, the valuable icon was evacuated to
Sokółka and returned to the church in the 1670s. Around 16 monks lived near the church. In 1750, a philanthropist Barbara Skorulska donated money to build new residential housing for the monks. The construction of a new stone church was started on June 29, 1767; some walls of the 17th century chapel were used for it. In 1783 the church was consecrated in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God. Since 1756 there was a music school at the monastery, also established thanks to the donation of Barbara Skorulska. In 1771, a master from
Vilnius Nikolaus Jantzen created the
pipe organ for the church. Jantzen is the best-known representative of Baroque pipe organ school. He crafted unique 20-register two-manual pipe organs without pedals, as dictated by fashion of his time. In 1793–1842, a two-year school and a hospital worked in the monastery. In 1731–1797, the moral theology and rhetoric was studied in the theological school; about 4–17 people lived there. The monastery was closed in 1852, some of his monks took part in the
January Uprising 1863–1864. The church, though, remained working. According to the yearbooks, various priests served the masses until 1937, then in 1954–1966. The house of the priest of the 19th century is preserved near the temple. ==Minor Basilica==