The first mention of Turov (in Belarussian - Turau) in written sources ("Povest vremennych let") was in 980. This time it was the center of Turau Principality. There are a lot of legendes connected with the name of this belarussian town. According to the one of the legends the name "Turau"  was created from the personal  name of  on the Variag (Scandinavian) dukes - Tur (or Tura).
Since the end of XIII - the beginning of XIV century Turau was in the squad of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ( in XV century - the possession of Lithuania Duke Skirgayla and afher his death- of famous belarussian Astrozhskiya family). In the middle of XVI century Turau was a part of Troky (today - Trakai in Lithuania) and in Pinsk povet of  Brest voevodstvo.
In the result of Tatarian invasion in 1502 and 1521 Turau suffered seriously. In 1535 Russian troops of duke Fedor Ovchina-Telepnev-Obolensky destroyed Turau  and  Turau region.
The first mention of jews in Turau was  the first quater of XVII century. According to the decision of Lithuanian Vaad ( a council of main Lithuanian rabbies and community leaders) since 1623  Turau jews  were under control of Pinsk kagal (community).
The inhabitants of Turau  gave their support to the insurrection of the Ukranian Kozaks of Bogdan Chmelnitsky. It was a period of awful tragedy for the Ukrainian and South Belarussian Jewry. Chmelnitsky kozaks and their supporteres organized bloody jewish pogroms.  The chief of the Grand Duchy army (vialiki getman litouski) famous Yanush Radzivil in 1649 attacked the kozaks in Turau.  The majority  of  kozaks and Chmelnitsky  supporters were killed. In 1655, during the war between Moscow of tsar Alexey Mikhailovich and Rech Paspalitaya (a union of the Polish kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania), Russian troops occupied Turau. Occupation and the policy of jewish pogroms of Moscow ruler were the continuation of the terrible epoch for Belarussian Jewry.
In 1695 Polish king and Lithuanian duke Yan III Sabeski gave to Pinsk and Turau catholic bishops a right for the  special taxes from the Turau inhabitants and kagal.  More then 316 jews lived in Turau in 1765.
In 1793 Russian troops occupied Turau. Turau bacame a part of Mozyr (in Belarussian - Mazyr) uezd in Minsk gubernia, the possession of  Sologub. In 1793  in Turau were about 500 houses, 7 churches abd a synagogue. In 1797-1800 English trade companies of Pitt and Forster had their business  in the forests of  Turau region. It was a very bad period for local ecology.
The main occupations of Turau  Jewry  in the XIX century  were  small trade. Their customers were belarussian  peasants. Jews sold them soap, candles, nails and other important  things. Also, Turau jewish community took an active part in the miastechka (Yiddish-  shtetl) wodden and fish trade.  On of the perculiarities of Turau region  jews was their role in agriculture. In 1886 more then 105 jewish farmers families lived  in Turau region.
Great damage for Turau economy was the  fire of 1834 : the major part of shtetl, two mills, several plants and so on were destroyed by the fire.
1447 jews lived in Turau in 1847. The results of the famous Russian census  of 1897 for Turau were: 4.290 inhabitants - 2.253 jews.
In the beginning of  XX centruy Turau jewish community had 3 prayer houses and a private female school. Also, in Turau were a post-office, water mill, a wharf on the river  Pripiat.  The great events in Turau  life were  two fairs: on the 17th of January and on the 29th of June.  .
After the World War I, February and Bolshevik Turau, since 1924 ,  was know as the center of  Turau region in  Mazyr  akruga. In 1925 the population of  miastechka  was about 25.070 people: 22.197 - belarussians, 2.808 - jews, 32 - poles, 25 - russians, 6 - germans, 2 - others. Turau had 32 stores, timber plant and so on. Turau Jewry had two synagogues and one rabbi. Soviet authoritites organized  in Turau  a professional and political ocorcles in Yiddish.
In 1926 miastechka  had 5.393 inhabitants. In 1931 Yurka Snitko wrote in his article in the newspaper "Shliachy kalektivizacii" (N8 - "The steps of collectivisation") about jewish agricultural settlement ("artel") in Turau region. Since 1930 Turau had a special region newspaper ("Leninskie zavety"  - Lenin`s testament).
On the 22th of June, 1941,  Nazi Germany invaded Soviet Union. They occupied Turau on the 14th of  July, 1941. The fascists destroyed  Turau jewish community.I On the 5th of  July, 1944,  Red Army liberated Turau.

Not far from Turau, between the marshes,  is situated a lake with two names "Kniaz "("Prince") and "Zhid" ("Jew").  This  lake was known as the  possession of prince Alel`kavich-Slutski, in the second half of XVII century - of famous magnat family - Radzivil, later -  of Vitgenshtein. A legend says, that  Alel`kavich-Slutski dukes hated his brother. He put him in a special castle on the lake. Later the flood destroyed  this castle.  Prince  died under the ruins of  the castle.  After this events the lake recieved a name "Prince".
Another legend says, that lake had only kosher fish:  pikes, perches and others.
Also, according to the next version of the legend  Radzivil  lived in the castle on a lake with his jewish  mistress. She died in the result of the flood. And the lake recieved a name "Zhid".

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