Uniqueness: This is one of the smallest nature reserves in Belarus, which however attracts tourists from around the world. The actual magnet is the most mysterious lake in the country steeped in legends and myths – Svitjaz – with exceptionally clear water. This is one of the most beautiful reservoirs in Belarus and the largest in the Grodno Oblast. The area of the lake is 1.76 sq.km; its depth is about 15 meters. Its basin was formed as a result of sediment sinking into underground voids about 13 thousand years ago. Not a single river flows into the lake surrounded by a dense ring of forest, and no river flows out of it. Svitjaz Lake is the only lake where amazing molluscs – Planorbis Stelmachticus –are found outside of freshwater lakes of Belgium, France and Germany. Scientists do not know how these organisms got into the isolated bowl of the lake. There are many relict plants growing in the lake: Lobelia Dortmanna, Nayas Flexilis, Lake Quillwort, etc. The Nature Reserve is the only place where the rare Littorella Uniflora has been recorded. Another surprising fact is the presence in the lake of the mysterious algae Tetradinium Javanicum, which is characteristic only of the Island of Java.
The vegetation cover of the Nature Reserve is dominated by spruce, oak and pine forests. A distinct feature is the over 300-year-old Three-Trunk Oak natural monument.
There are six species of rare and endangered wild animals listed in the Red Data Book in the Nature Reserve – Black Stork, Lesser Spotted Eagle, Eurasian Hobby, Little Owl, Ural Owl, Badger.
Ecotourism services: Tours of the Nature Reserve, parking lot services; a bathing beach on the lake; an Environmental and Information Centre for children with the Adventures by the Lake plant club (http://novtour.by/chto-posetit/ekologo-informatsionnyj-tsentr-na-oz-svityaz/ ); camping site services.
Ecological routes: nature trail (1.2 km); Svitjaz Ring walking route (5 km).
Places of interest: In the territory of the Nature Reserve, there is a group of ancient mounds (archaeological sites); not far from the Nature Reserve, there is the ancient city of Novogrudok, one of the main centres of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the past.
