A statue of the Lithuanian Grand Duke Gediminas is to be erected in the Belarusian town of Lida.

The 6-metre bronze sculpture weighs three tons and will be put in the reconstructed medieval Castle of Lida. It was designed by the Belarusian sculptors Sergey Aganov and Olga Niachay.

The unveiling ceremony is planned for September 7, TVR reports.

Grand Duke Gediminas – Гедымін in Belarusian – was a fourteenth-century Lithuanian ruler credited with founding the city of Vilnius in 1323. His grandson Jogaila, or Jagiello, started the Jagiellonian dynasty of Polish-Lithuanian kings.

Under Gediminas' rule, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania covered parts of present-day Belarus, including Lida.

The Castle of Lida was built circa 1330 on Gediminas' orders. It was reconstructed in 1982 and last underwent major repairs in 2010.