In the first half of the 19th century, a colossal accurate degree measurement took place on the territory of modern Belarus – the Struve Arc was created. This project got its name from the surname of the head – Professor of astronomy and geodesy, the first director of the Pulkovo Observatory Vasily Yakovlevich Struve. The Struve Arc is a network of 265 triangulation points with a length of more than 2,820 kilometers, which were stone cubes embedded in the ground with an edge length of 2 meters.
In 2005, UNESCO declared 34 of the best preserved points of the Struve Geodetic Arc a historical and cultural heritage of mankind, paying tribute to the audacity of thought and the strength of spirit of the people who measured the Earth. There are five such facilities on the territory of Belarus.
Ivatsevichi point is located on a hill on the northwestern outskirts of the city. This place is popularly called the Shibelnaya Mountain. The fact is that not far from this place in the winter of 1864 there was a battle between the rebels and Russian regular troops. And after the battle, the captured rebels were hanged by the royal punishers from the pines on this mountain. More than 20 people were tortured in this way. The fighters for the freedom of the Motherland were buried there.
Since then, this small hill has been called Shibelnaya, from the Belarusian word “shybenitsa” or in Russian - gallows.
Small icons were inserted by local residents into the bark of those pines on which the rebels were hanged. Back in the 50s of the last century, they were still noticeable, overgrown with bark and covered with resin.
Then everything was simple and no less tragic. To straighten the road from Ivatsevichi to Kossovo, Mount Shibelnaya was dug in half and asphalt was laid where the graves used to be. The pine forest on the mountain and the trees with icons were cut down…
Today, this place remains in people's memory. There is no memorial sign on the mountain, or even a commemorative plaque. Only one big old cross reminds us that this place was watered with the blood of our ancestors who fought for our freedom.