Vitebsk

History

Middle Ages

Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Vitebsk functioned as the capital of the Principality of Vitebsk, an appanage principality which thrived at the crossroads of the river routes between the Baltic and Black seas. In 1320 the city was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as dowry of the Princess Maria, the first wife of Grand Duke of Lithuania Algirdas.^[5] By 1351 the city had erected a stone Upper and Lower Castle, the prince's palace. In 1410 Vitebsk participated in the Battle of Grunwald.

Modern era

From 1503 it was the capital of the Vitebsk Voivodeship. In 1569 it became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1597 Vitebsk was granted Magdeburg rights and a coat of arms by Sigismund III Vasa. However, the rights were taken away in 1623 after the citizens revolted against the imposed Union of Brest and killed Archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevych of Polotsk. In 1641 Władysław IV Vasa restored Magdeburg rights.^[5] The city was almost completely destroyed by the Russians in 1708, during the Great Northern War. In the First Partition of Poland in 1772, the Russian Empire annexed Vitebsk.^[5]

Under the Russian Empire, the historic centre of Vitebsk was rebuilt in the Neoclassical style.

The Battle of Vitebsk was fought west of the city on 26–27 July 1812 as Napoleon attempted to engage decisively with the Russian army. While the French were to occupy the town for over three months (the emperor celebrating his 43rd birthday there) the Russian army was able to slip away with minimal losses towards Smolensk.^[6]

Before

In the first postwar five-year period the city was rebuilt. Its industrial complex covered machinery, light industry, and machine tools.

In 1959, a

The city has one of the oldest buildings in the country: the

Churches from the Polish-Lithuanian period were likewise destroyed, although the Resurrection Church (1772–77) has been rebuilt. The Orthodox cathedral, dedicated to the Intercession of the Theotokos, was erected in 1760. There are also the town hall (1775); the Russian governor's palace, where Napoleon celebrated his 43rd birthday in 1812; the Neo-Romanesque Roman Catholic cathedral (1884–85); and an obelisk commemorating the centenary of the Russian victory over Napoleon.^{[citation needed]}

Vitebsk is also home to a lattice steel TV tower carrying a horizontal cross on which the antenna mast is guyed. This tower, which is nearly identical to that at Grodno, but a few metres shorter (245 metres in Vitebsk versus 254 metres at Grodno) was completed in 1983.^{[citation needed]} The city is also home to the Marc Chagall Museum and the Vitebsk regional museum.

Geography

Climate

Vitebsk has warm summer humid continental climate, Köppen: Dfb. Summers are generally warm, while winters are relatively cold but still warmer than in Moscow due to a stronger influence of maritime air from the Baltic Sea. Approximately 724 mm (28.5 in) of precipitation falls here per annum.

Education

The main universities of Vitebsk are Vitebsk State Technological University, Vitebsk State Medical University and Vitebsk State University named in honor of Pyotr Masherov.

Sport

HK Vitebsk of the Belarusian Extraleague is the local pro hockey team.

Twin towns – sister cities

Vitebsk is twinned with:^[14]

The city was previously twinned with:

Notable people

• Zhores Alferov (1930–2019), physicist, 2000 Nobel Prize Winner for Physics
• S. Ansky (1863–1920), playwright (The Dybbuk)
• Anatol Bahatyroǔ (Anatoly Bogatyrev) (1913–2003), Belarusian composer^[15]
• Vladimir Bourmeister (1904–1971), ballet choreographer
• Marc Chagall (1887–1985), artist
• Sam Dolgoff (1902–1990), anarcho-syndicalist housepainter
• Tanya Dziahileva (born 1991), model
• Mark Fradkin (1914–1990), composer
• Leon Gaspard (1882–1964), artist
• Joseph Günzburg (1812–1878), Russian financier and philanthropist
• Isser Harel (1912–2003), Israeli intelligence chief
• Lazar Khidekel (1904–1986), artist, architect
• Franciszek Dionizy Kniaźnin (1750–1807), poet and collector of Belarusian folklore^[16]
• Tomasz Bohdanowicz-Dworzecki (1859-1920), architect
• Leon Kobrin (1873–1946), playwright
• Marcelo Koc (1918–2006), Argentinian composer
• Sergei Kornilenko (born 1983), footballer
• Lazar Lagin (1903–1979), writer
• El Lissitzky (1890–1941), artist
• Oleg Markov (born 1996), AFL premiership player
• Hasidic Rebbe
• Anna Missuna (1868–1922), geologist
• Yehuda Pen (1854–1937), artist
• Aliaksei Protas (born 2001), ice hockey player
• Kazimierz Siemienowicz (1600–1651), engineer, pioneer of rocketry
• Ivan Sollertinsky (1902–1944), polymath, critic, and musicologist
• Joseph Solman (1909–2008), American painter
• Simeon Strunsky (1879–1948), author in New York City
• psychoanalyst
  and author
• Alexander Vvedensky (1889–1946), one of the leaders of the Living Church movement

Artistic tributes

In 1928, the American composer Aaron Copland composed the piano trio Vitebsk: Study on a Jewish Theme, and the work was premiered in 1929. Based on a Jewish folk song from S. Ansky's play The Dybbuk, Copland's piece is named for Vitebsk Governorate, where Ansky was born, and where he first heard the tune.^[17]

Sources

• Shishanov V. A. (2007). Vitebsk Museum of Modern Art: history of creation and collection. 1918–1941. Minsk: Medisont. p. 144. In Russian. eastview.com
• Любезный мне город Витебск.... Мемуары и документы. Конец XVIII — начало XIX в. / Вступ. ст., науч., коммент., сост., публ. В. А. Шишанова. Мн.: Асобны Дах, 2005. 40 с. ^[18]
• Шишанов В. 947 или 914?^{[permanent dead link]} // Витебский проспект. 2005. No.45. 10 нояб. С.3.
• Изобразительное искусство Витебска 1918 – 1923 гг. в местной периодической печати : библиограф. указ. и тексты публ. / сост. В. А. Шишанов. – Минск : Медисонт, 2010. – 264 с. ^[19]

Notes

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "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 12 April 2024.
2. ^ "Vitsyebsk". www.britannica.com.
3. ^ "Cities & Towns of Belarus". 2024-04-15.
4. ^ History Archived 2007-09-22 at the Wayback Machine, Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee
5. ^ ^{a b c} Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIII (in Polish). Warszawa. 1893. p. 631.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
6. ^ Liskovich, Alexandre (2012). "Historical Review". Vitebsk City. Retrieved August 5, 2021.
7. ^ Joshua D. Zimmerman (2004). Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality. Univ of Wisconsin Press. p. 16.
   ISBN 0-299-19464-7
   .
8. ISBN 9781496210791
   . Retrieved 2022-07-18.
9. ^ "Gefängnis Vicebsk". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 16 March 2024.
10. ^ "SD-Lager Vicebsk". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 16 March 2024.
11. ^ "Zivilarbeitslager Vicebsk". Bundesarchiv.de (in German). Retrieved 16 March 2024.
12. ^ Rappoport, P.A. "Зодчество Древней Руси" [Architecture of Ancient Rus]. russiancity.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 8 February 2023.
13. ^ "Weather and Climate- The Climate of Vitebsk" (in Russian). Weather and Climate (Погода и климат). Retrieved 8 November 2021.
14. ^ "Города-побратимы". vitebsk.gov.by (in Russian). Vitebsk. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
15. ^ Anatol Vasilevič Bahatyroǔ (Анатоль Васільевіч Багатыроў)
16. ^ U. Arloǔ. Country Belarus. Grand Duchy of Lithuania. - KALLIGRAM, 2012. P. 296 (Арлоў У. Краіна Беларусь. Вялікае Княства Літоўскае. — KALLIGRAM, 2012. С. 296)
17. ^ "Vitebsk (1928) | Works". 5 August 2019.
18. ^ "Ljubeznyj mne gorod vitebsk 2005 by linkedin63". Issuu. 2013-08-01. Retrieved 2022-07-18.
19. ^ "Shishanov izo vitebsk2010 demo by linkedin63". Issuu. 2013-07-02. Retrieved 2022-07-18.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vitebsk.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Vitebsk.

• Vitsyebsk, Belarus at JewishGen