Case file · Folklore / legend
The drowned town of Lake Svityaz
Belarusian legend says a town on Lake Svityaz near Navahrudak sank to escape an enemy army, its women turning into water flowers that kill whoever picks them; Adam Mickiewicz put the tale into his ballad 'Świteź' (1822).
1822 CE · 53.43, 25.92 · status: legend
The account
Mickiewicz grew up nearby and heard the story locally. The ballad tells how the lake's lady reveals the fate of the town to a fisherman. Similar sunken-town legends are attached to many Belarusian lakes.
The sceptical view
A folk legend; no sunken settlement has been found.