Maladzyechna

Coordinates: 54°19′15″N 26°51′26″E / 54.32083°N 26.85722°E / 54.32083; 26.85722
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Maladzyechna
Маладзечна (
Lenin
UTC+3 (MSK)
Postal code
222301-10
Area code+375 176
License plate5
WebsiteOfficial site

Maladzyechna or Molodechno (Belarusian: Маладзечна, romanized: Maladziečna,[a] IPA: [maɫaˈdzʲetʂna]; Russian: Молодечно; Polish: Mołodeczno) is a town in Minsk Region, Belarus.[1] It serves as the administrative centre of Maladzyechna District (and formerly of Molodechno Region from 1944 to 1960).[1] Maladzyechna is located 72 kilometres (45 mi) northwest of Minsk. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 98,514 inhabitants.[2] As of 2024, it has a population of 89,068.[1]

Located on the Usha River, it has been a settlement since 1388 when it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It was also home to the Cold War facility Maladzyechna air base.

History

The

Jogaila and Jadwiga of Poland
.

In 1501, the Maladzyechna was donated by King Sigismund I the Old to certain Michael of Mstislav, on the condition that the latter provided a safe river passage for the nobles and hunters dwelling in the area. The privilege was further confirmed on July 12, 1511[4]

After Michael's heirless death, the locality passed through different hands until finally in 1567 it was acquired by Prince

Aleksander Gosiewski, the Voivod of Smolensk, the town remained a property of the Gosiewski family. During their ownership of Maladziečna the fortifications were extended and strengthened significantly by addition of several bastions. Around that time Maladziečna started to be referred to as a town, even though it was officially a village and was not granted with a city charter. Nevertheless, it served as a centre of trade and commerce for the surrounding villages and also gained significant profits from transit between Lithuania and Poland. In 1708 the castle was one of the headquarters of the Swedish Army of King Charles XII of Sweden
, which led to its partial devastation in the effect of a battle between the Swedes and the Russian forces.

On September 18, 1711, Bishop

Ogiński family. Among the owners of the area were Kazimierz Ogiński and Tadeusz Ogiński, the Castellan of Trakai (Lithuania). The Ogiński family became the main benefactors of the area, as they made it one of the main centres of their domain. They erected a new, classicist palace with notable frescoes, as well as a late renaissance church. It was also them to ask the king Sigismund II Augustus to grant the town with a city charter. Although it was not granted, in 1730 the monarch granted the town with the privilege of organization of two fairs a year and 2 markets every week. In mid-18th century the Ogiński's also founded a monastery of the Trinitaries
there.

Within the

Marshal Victor
. In the effect of the fights the town was completely demolished, as were the monastery and the castle. Because of that, in mid-19th century the town had not more than 500 inhabitants.

It was not until the later part of the century that the town started to gradually recover. In 1864 a Russian-language school was opened there and in 1871 an

Vilna railway, which sparked a period of economic recovery of the entire region. In early 20th century an additional rail line was opened, linking Saint Petersburg and Polotsk with Lida and Siedlce
. This made the town a major railway junction and attracted many new settlers, in large part Jewish. By the outbreak of World War I the town had already over 2,000 inhabitants.

During the war, the town was the headquarters of the Russian 10th Army of the Western Front. Between February and December 1918 it was under German occupation, but was then seized by the

city rights
.

On 17 September 1939, Maladziečna was

concentration camps
there.

From 25 June 1941 until 5 July 1944, Maladziečna was

Generalbezirk Weißruthenien of Reichskommissariat Ostland. The new German authorities sent most of the local Jewish inhabitants to the German concentration camps throughout occupied Europe. In addition, the German Wehrmacht has set up the infamous Stalag 342 for the Soviet prisoners of war there, in which at least 30,000 people were killed.[3]

On 5 July 1944, the advancing

Vileyka suffered during the war made it unsuitable to perform the role of the administrative centre, thus Maladzyechna, which was located only 20 kilometres away from Vileyka, became the new administrative centre when the civilian control was restored in the BSSR on 20 September 1944. Molodechno Region also survived the 1954 reform which halved the amount of regions in the BSSR, but on 20 January 1960, the Region was disestablished, and the town of Maladzyechna became part of the modern Minsk Region
, in which it remains today as part of the Republic of Belarus.

Church of the Holy Virgin

Sport

HC Dynama-Maladzechna of the Belarusian Extraleague is the local pro hockey team.

Partner cities

Sights

Near Maladziečna there is a VLF-transmitter for transmitting time signals.

Notable residents

Notes

  1. ^ Official transliteration.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  2. ^ Stefan Helders (2005). "Maladziečna". World Gazetteer. Archived from the original on 2013-02-09. Retrieved 2006-06-02.
  3. ^ a b c Piotr Bielerzewski (2004). "Mołodeczno". Rzeczpospolita Wirtualna (in Polish). Retrieved 2006-05-16.
  4. ^ (in English and Polish) Filip Sulimierski; Bronisław Chlebowski; Władysław Walewski, eds. (1885). Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich. Vol. VI. Warsaw: Wł. Walewski. p. 960. Archived from the original on 2006-02-21. Retrieved 2006-05-16.
  5. ^ "Jan Stanisław Sapieha". www.ipsb.nina.gov.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 2022-01-11.

See also

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Maladzyechna.

54°19′15″N 26°51′26″E / 54.32083°N 26.85722°E / 54.32083; 26.85722

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