Preserving Belarus’ traditions: Famous Sopotskin pisanka and secrets of centuries-old technology of decorating Easter eggs

One of the main symbols of the Easter celebrations are colorful (often red) eggs decorated with fine ornaments. In the agro-town of Sopotskin in Grodno Oblast, in the run-up to the important Christian holiday, artisans make brown and even black Easter eggs decorated with white patterns which in 2013 were given the status of intangible historical and cultural value of Belarus. You can visit the local Pisanka Museum to learn more about the centuries-old technology and its secrets, see more than 1,500 Easter eggs, and learn the ropes of egg decoration.

Today, the famous pisanka traditions are the pride of not only residents of Sopotskin (the town is located 20km away  Grodno) but also of the entire Grodno Oblast. It was here where this special egg decoration technology was born. This technology is passed from one generation to another. The technology, just like the instruments, look very simple. Before coloring, chicken eggs are boiled and thoroughly rinsed with water. After that they are put into ‘rusty’ brew cooked after Maslenitsa. Such a color is produced by oak and alder bark and rusted nails that were put into water and kept in a cool place for 1-1.5 months.

In the run-up to Easter, women embark on the most interesting part of preparations – creation of sophisticated patterns and designs with a special stylus. To make a stylus, people used needles, pins or hand-made sticks and inserted a small nail soaked with melted beeswax onto the end of the stick.  Sopotskin craftswomen apply a variety of drawings on the egg, including, for example, cornflowers and dandelions, spruce boughs and branches decorated with lace patterns. Thanks to years of experience, the work runs fast, and craftswomen decorate up to 200 eggs for their families and friends.

Today, the Pisanka Museum of the Sopotskin Cultural and Tourist Center gives master classes to teach this unique craft. Here one can also see a rich collection of Easter eggs - goose, ostrich and even quail ones! In total, there are over 1,500 exhibits donated by craftswomen and visitors, including foreign guests. Among the exhibits there is, for example, an unusual Easter egg made of pasta and an artwork by a Serbian dentist - a hollow egg decorated with ornaments made of hundreds of holes drilled by a dental bur. 

Virtual tour of the Pisanka Museum in Sopotskin in our story!