My native town and favourite holiday place is Smorgon, Belarus, I was born in it and still live here. So I want to tell you about it. It is the place I am spending my holidays as well. Of course I would like to travel as much as possible but I am a realistic person and know that it is very expensive especially for the country which is not member of EU-CE. I am fond of this place and always talk willingly about the town the wonderful people who live in it. Smorgon is situated to the north- east of Grodno region on the river Oksna. It is a very convenient place to live in because it is surrounded by a beautiful countryside and yet it takes only two hours to get to Minsk by car. Smorgon is about 506 years old. It was first mentioned in 1503. In 1904 Smorgon acquired the status of town. A number of historic facts provide evidence that it played an important role in the formation and development of the Belarusian people and culture. Like most Belarusian cities it was razed to ashes rebuilt anew several times during it is long history. First Smorgon belonged to Zenoviches. Then the town passed into the hands of the Radzivill family. In the 17th century the school “Smorgon Bears Academy” was founded by the Radzivills. The bears were brained there and sent to Poland, France and other countries. Travelling artists book them to markets and fairs of different countries. That’s why the emblem of Smorgon is the bear. Some facts say, in 1812 Napoleon was in our town. He spent a night here, left his army and escaped to France. During the First World War Smorgon was ruined to the ground. The magazine “Ogonyok” called our town “The Dead Town”. So there aren’t many ancient historic places in our town. One of them is the Saint Archengel Mishael Church in the style of Renaissance. Not far from Smorgon the country estate of Oginsky, the house of the Bogusheviches are situated. You can see the ruins of the Castle of Krevo where in 1385 a very important document “The Union of Krevo” was signed. It is about 20 kilometres from Smorgon. As I have mentioned my town isn’t very large. It’s population is slightly over 36900 people. There are a few factories in the town, such as the Agrigate plant-the largest in the republic. A lot of agriculture machinery are produced here. Smorgon is situated in a very picturesque place. There is a wonderful pine forest a couple of miles from the town where you can gather mushrooms and berries in summer. There are striking walks around the town which attract lovers of nature all the year round. The social sphere of the town is reasonably well developed. We have 7 schools, hospitals and post-offices. Smorgon is in some way a cultural centre of the district. There is one modern cinema hall, a concert hall, a music school and an arts school. We have the football club “Smorgon” is a leading club in our republic. My town is the town of youth. We also have some sportsgrounds, swimming-pools, gymnasiums and other good places where young people can spend their free time. I like my native town very much. I want it always to be beautiful and clean. I’ll do everything for my town!!!