17 Sentyabrya Street

17 Sentyabrya Street was once a favorite place to live for teachers, engineers, public figures, office workers, and doctors. It could confidently be considered one of the most prestigious streets in the area.

House No. 10A was home to the high-ranking Soviet official Sergei Pritytsky. During the period of interwar Poland he had been sentenced to life imprisonment, but later, in Soviet Belarus, a major industrial enterprise — Grodno Azot — was named after him for some time.

The house itself is a stylish villa built in the interwar constructivist style.

The neighboring House No. 12 dates from the same period but represents a completely different architectural style. It is a vivid and rather rare example of Polish modernism in Belarus. Its most distinctive features are a mezzanine and a tall, complexly shaped roof.

These two very different buildings perfectly convey the spirit of the Novy Svet district, a place shaped by many historical layers and the cultural heritage of different peoples — Belarusians, Russians, Poles, Tatars, Germans, and others.