Vitebsk

The name Vitebsk received from the Vitba River. There are different versions regarding the origin of hydronym:

• from Slavic curl ^{[7] [8] [9]} ;
• from pan-Indo-European ud “water” ^[7] ;
• from the term “wet place, swamp” ^{[10] [11]} ;
• from the Baltic * vid-up- “middle river” ^[12] ;
• from Lithuanian vytis, vytinė “rod, vine” ^[12] ;
• from the Finno-Ugric vit “water” ^[13] ;
• from the Ural wetti “path, road, trail” or vit “water” and ba “river, water” ^[14] ;
• from the Finnish viettävä “sloping, sloping, steep” ^[15] ;
• from the Finnish viedä , the Libyan viid “drive, lead” ^[15] ;
• from the ancient root vit- , meaning "water", "moisture" ^[16] .

The history of Vitebsk covers more than a millennium. According to legend, the city was founded by Kiev Princess Olga in 974. In Vitebsk, 2 unilateral horny crests dating from the border of the 9th-10th centuries were found ^[17] . The first mention of Vitebsk is in the Moscow Chronicle vault under 1021 , which says that Yaroslav the Wise transferred two cities (“ Vosvyach and Vidbesk”) to Prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich .

With the death of Vseslav Bryachislavich in 1101 and the division of his possessions into seven sons, a specific principality was formed with the capital in Vitebsk. Vitebsk went to Svyatoslav, who became the first Vitebsk prince. After the land of Polotsk was ravaged by Mstislav the Great , Svyatoslav was sent to Byzantium, and the throne of Vitebsk passed to his son Vasilko. In 1132, taking advantage of the situation, he also occupied Polotsk and remained the Prince of Polotsk until 1144.

In 1139, the exiled princes returned to Polotsk land, and the Vitebsk Vasilkovichi began the struggle for Polotsk with the Minsk Glebovichs and the Drutsk Rogvolodovichs . In this struggle, the princes of Vitebsk managed to keep Polotsk longer than others: in the 12th century, 4 representatives of Vitebsk reigned in Polotsk.

In 1165–1167, due to feudal strife, the Principality of Vitebsk gradually began to lose importance and came under the power of the Smolensk princes . However, this submission was short-lived, and Vitebsk regained its independence.

At the end of the XII - the first half of the XIII centuries, the Vitebsk land fell into the sphere of influence of the Lithuanian princes, and in the middle of the XIII century - the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . It is not known exactly who became the successor to Prince Bryachislav Vasilkovich when he became Prince of Polotsk in 1232. When Bryachislav died, the Lithuanian prince Tovtivil began to rule in Polotsk, and his son Konstantin in Vitebsk. Although later the former princes returned to Vitebsk, dynastic ties with the great princes of Lithuania became permanent.

The last unitary prince of Vitebsk was Yaroslav Vasilkovich. Yaroslav Vasilkovich died in 1320, having no male heirs, after which the Principality of Vitebsk, having lost independence, was included in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania (see Vitebsk War ).

Vitebsk under the name "Vidbesk" is mentioned in the annals " List of Russian cities near and far " (end of the XIV century). The turn of the XIII – XIV centuries dates back to the Vitebsk birch bark letter , which was accidentally found in 1959 on Freedom Square during the analysis of the blown up Nikolaev Cathedral ^[18] .

In 1508, the Vitebsk Voivodeship was formed. In 1566, during the administrative reform, the voivodship was divided into 2 districts (counties) - Vitebsk and Orsha . In 1582, the Velizh Volost was joined to the Voivodeship. In 1623, the townspeople raised a Vitebsk uprising , protesting against the imposition of Uniate . For the assassination of the Uniate Archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevich, the authorities of the Commonwealth deprived the city of Magdeburg law and executed 19 people, including 2 Burmeseurs (78 people were sentenced to death in absentia). In addition, the city was forced to pay 3079 zlotys, and the town hall was destroyed.

The richest landowners of the Vitebsk Voivodeship were Sapieha . In 1676, Vitebsk governor Jan Khrapovitsky built a Bernardine monastery in the city with the church of St. Anthony of Padua.

As a result of the first division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, the Vitebsk Voivodeship went to Russia (only a small part of the Orsha Povet remained in the Commonwealth until the second section of 1793 ).

On July 28, 1812, in occupied Vitebsk, Napoleon decided to end the campaign : “ Here I will stop! Here I have to look around, rest the army and organize Poland. The campaign of 1812 is over, the campaign of 1813 will complete the rest ^[19] . ” However, the unification of the Russian armies in Smolensk on August 3 forced Napoleon to change plans and resume the campaign against Moscow .

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  Uniate Church and Church of St. Anthony, J. Pawn

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  Vitebsk Town Hall in watercolor by Yu. Peshka

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  Bridge over Vitba, watercolor by Yu. Peshka

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  The drawing of Vitebsk 1664

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  Uniate Church and Church of St. Anthony, drawing by N. Horde

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  Trinity Markov Monastery, late 19th century

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  Postcard of the beginning of XX century.

According to the First General Census of the Population of the Russian Empire (1897) out of 65,871 residents of the city, the Jewish language (Yiddish) was called the mother tongue of 33,455. (50.8% of all city residents), Great Russian (Russian) language - 19,024 people. (28.9%), Belarusian language - 8037 people. (12.2%), Polish - 3303 people. (5%), German - 970 people. (1.5%), the Latvian language - 771 people. (1.2%) ^[20] .

As of January 1, 2019, 378,459 people lived in Vitebsk ^[4] , which makes the city the 4th most populous city in Belarus . The population grew most intensively after World War II , reaching the pre-war level by 1964 ^[3] .

In 2017, 3468 were born in Vitebsk and 3,770 people died. The birth rate is 9.4 per 1000 people (the average in the Vitebsk region is 9.6, the country is 10.8), the mortality rate is 10.2 per 1000 people (the average in the Vitebsk region is 14.4, across the country - 12.6). In terms of the number of births in 2017, Vitebsk is in last place among all the regional centers of the country, in terms of the number of deaths - in third place after Minsk and Gomel. The birth rate in Vitebsk is the lowest among all regional centers, the mortality rate is the highest ^[21] .

83 religious communities of 16 faiths are registered in the city, including:

• 47 communities of the Belarusian exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church ;
• 6 communities of the Roman Catholic Church ;
• 2 communities of the Belarusian Greek Catholic (Uniate) Church ;
• 2 communities of Old Believers ;
• as well as communities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church , Christians of the Evangelical Faith , Evangelical Christians-Baptists , Seventh-day Adventists and other Protestant churches, Jewish communities, communities of Hare Krishnas , Baha'is , Mormons , Jehovah's Witnesses .

About 80% of believers consider themselves to be Orthodoxy ^[23] .

Vitebsk is located on the banks of the Western Dvina River and its tributaries Vitba and Luchosa . The city is located on a hilly area, in the western part of the Vitebsk Upland , cut by ravines, with a depth of 10-12 m, in places up to 40 m. The oscillation of heights in the city is about 80 m.

Elevations

Vitebsk is located on several hills, which from time immemorial have been called “mountains” by the townspeople. The most famous:

• Dukhovskaya mountain ;
• Castle Hill ;
• Kstovsky mountain ;
• Sharp Grave ( Ostro-Spasskaya Gora );
• Flat mountain ;
• Assumption Mountain ;
• St. George's Hill .

Vitebsk City Council of Deputies is a local representative body of power. Residents of the city elect 40 deputies to the Council for single-mandate constituencies for a term of 4 years.

Deputies from their composition elect a presidium consisting of the chairman of the City Council, his deputies and chairmen of standing committees. The chairman of the city council of the current convocation is V.I. Belevich.

The executive power in Vitebsk is represented by the Vitebsk city executive committee, the chairman of which is appointed by the president and approved by the deputies of the city ​​council.

Since April 21, 2009 he has been headed by the City Executive Committee V.P. Nikolaykin ^[24] .

Administratively, the city is divided into three regions: Zheleznodorozhny , Oktyabrsky , Pervomaisky .

The average monthly nominal accrued salary (before deduction of income tax and certain deductions) in 2017 in Vitebsk amounted to 744.9 rubles. The average salary in Vitebsk is the lowest among the regional centers of the republic. The city takes the 20th place in terms of wages among 129 districts and cities of regional subordination of the Republic of Belarus and the 2nd place in the Vitebsk region after Novopolotsk (933.4 rubles) ^[25] .

The industrial potential includes more than 300 enterprises of machine-building, metalworking, light and food industries, the production of electrical appliances, building materials and woodworking. Outside the republic, the products of enterprises are known ^[26] : Vityaz , Marco , Belvest , Vitba . In 2009, city enterprises produced industrial products at actual selling prices (including tolling) in the amount of 2.966 trillion rubles. The city has a brewery " Dvinsky Brovar ."

The largest enterprises ^[27] , machine-building and metal-working industries: JSC Vizas Plant, JSC Vistan, JSC Vitebsk Plant of Electrical Measuring Instruments, JSC Vitebsk Instrument-Making Plant, JSC Vityaz, JSC Vitebsk Radio Parts Plant Monolith ”, LLC“ PO “Energocomplekt” ”, LLC“ SoyuzKabel ”, OJSC“ Vitebsk Motor Repair Plant ”,“ Vitebsk Pilot Experimental Plant ”, RUE“ BELTEI ”.

Light industry: OJSC “Banner of Industrialization”, OJSC “Silk Fabric Combine”, OJSC “Vitebsk Carpets”, SOOO “Marko”, SOOO “Belvest”, OJSC “Red October”, RPUE “Vitebsk Fur Combine”.

Food industry: Vitebsk Meat Processing Plant OJSC, Milk OJSC, Vitebskkhlebprom RUPP, Vitebsk Confectionery Factory Vitba OJSC, Vitebsk Oil Extraction Plant OJSC, Vitebsk Pridvinie Distillery OJSC, Dvinsky Brov LLC ".

Manufacturers of building materials: Keramika OJSC, Dolomit OJSC, Large-panel house-building plant of the RUE “Vitebsk House-Building Plant”.

Timber and woodworking industry: OAO Vitebskdrev, OAO Vitebskles.

According to the inspection of the Ministry of Taxes and Duties of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk region, the 5 largest taxpayers of Vitebsk in January - August 2018 were RUE “Vitebskenergo”, UE “Vitebskoblgaz”, SOOO “Belvest”, OJSC “Vitebsk distillery” Pridvinie “”, Vitebsk branch of RUE Beltelecom ^[28] .

The city has tram , trolleybus and bus routes. There is a river transport. The first tram system in Belarus , the only one in the BSSR remained until 1929, until the tram system was opened in Minsk ; 5th in the Russian Empire . Vitebsk tram was commissioned in 1898, a year earlier than in Moscow and 9 years earlier than in St. Petersburg . The largest tram system in Belarus (according to the length of the contact network and the total length of routes). Many long-distance trains run from Vitebsk station to all major cities of Belarus, to large Russian cities, including Moscow and St. Petersburg, cities of Western and Central Ukraine , Poland , and the Baltic states . Suburban trains run to Polotsk , Orsha , Jezerische and Rudnya .

In the fourteenth and eighteenth centuries, schools existed in Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant churches and monasteries, Jesuit and PR schools (1775), Orthodox brotherhoods, Basilian schools, and others functioned. In the second half of the sixteenth century, a school was founded by Calvinists. From 1641 to 1820, the Vitebsk Jesuit Collegium operated. In the late XVIII - early XIX centuries, Roman Catholic orders opened women's schools and boarding houses.

After the annexation of the territory of modern Belarus to the Russian Empire at the end of the 18th century, Russian schools, colleges and gymnasiums were opened in Vitebsk. The first Russian school was opened in the late 1770s (in 1784, 76 children attended it). A male gymnasium was opened in 1808, and on September 6 ( 18 ), 1834, a seminary was opened in Vitebsk to train parish teachers ^[29] . In 1870, the Mariinsky Gymnasium was also opened in Vitebsk. Since 1872, Vitebsk feldsher school trained secondary-level medical workers. In 1890, a theological seminary was opened, and in 1902 - a diocesan female school. К 1891 году в Витебске было 22 учебных заведения, в которых занималось около 3500 учащихся. В 1905 году открыта также женская Алексеевская, в 1906 году — частная мужская гимназия Неруша.

Научно-исследовательский экономический институт Министерства экономики и Институт технической акустики ^[30] Национальной академии наук представляют научно-исследовательские учреждения Витебска.

В городе расположены 5 высших учебных заведений:

• Витебский государственный университет имени П. М. Машерова ( ВГУ );
• Витебский государственный технологический университет ( ВГТУ );
• Витебский государственный медицинский университет ( ВГМУ );
• Витебская государственная академия ветеринарной медицины ( ВГАВМ );
• Витебский филиал Международного университета «МИТСО» .

В городе расположено высшее духовное учебное заведение:

• Витебская духовная семинария .

Средние специальные учебные заведения:

• Витебский государственный политехнический колледж ;
• Витебский государственный технический колледж ;
• Витебский государственный технологический колледж ;
• Витебский государственный профессионально-технический колледж лёгкой промышленности ;
• Витебский государственный станкоинструментальный колледж ;
• Витебский государственный индустриально-педагогический колледж ;
• Витебский филиал УО « Высший государственный колледж связи »;
• Витебский государственный музыкальный колледж имени И. И. Соллертинского ;
• Vitebsk State Medical College ;
• Vitebsk State College of Culture and Arts ;
• Vitebsk State Vocational and Technical College ;
• Vitebsk State School of Olympic Reserve .

There are 49 ^[31] comprehensive schools and gymnasiums (there are specialized classes for learning the Chinese language ^[32] ), 9 gymnasiums , 5 vocational schools and lyceums ^[23] .

Until 2010, Vitebsk had the status of “the cultural capital of Belarus” ^[33] . In Vitebsk and its immediate suburbs, the villages of Ruba and Verkhovye function 22 libraries. The city has three main theaters: the National Academic Drama Theater. Yakub Kolas , Belarusian Puppet Theater "Lyalka" and Youth Theater "Wheel" .

There are several museums in the city - the regional museum of local lore , the museum of Marc Chagall , the museum of M. Shmyryov , the museum of internationalist warriors, the Vitebsk Center for Contemporary Art. The local history museum has 4 branches (the museum of the history of private collecting, the Vitebsk Art Museum, the museum estate of I. Repin "Zdravnevo" in the Vitebsk region, an independent exhibition "In memory of the Vitebsk patriots 1941-1945"), the center of contemporary art - 2 branches (Tolstoy 7 Art Space and the Museum of the History of the Vitebsk Folk Art School), at the Marc Chagall Museum - 2 branches (house museum and art center of Marc Chagall) ^[34] . In 2016, the regional museum of local lore was visited by 138.3 thousand people, the center of contemporary art - 44.7 thousand people, the Marc Chagall museum - 34.2 thousand people, the Minay Shmyrev museum - 12.1 thousand people, the warrior museum - integrationists - 8.8 thousand people ^[35] .

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  Theater named after Yakub Kolas

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  Philharmonic

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  Palace of creativity of children and youth

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  Art school

The city regularly hosts:

• International Festival " Slavic Bazaar " (main venue - Summer Amphitheater );
• City festival-holiday of the author’s song “ Vitebsk leaf fall ” ^[36] ;
• Competition of fashion designers “ White Amphora ”;
• International Festival of Contemporary Choreography IFMC ;
• International Ballroom Dance Dance Tournament Vitebsk Snowflake ;
• International Tribal Festival Moon Sensation ^[37] ;
• International Music Festival named after I.I. Sollertinsky ;
• International Shagal days;
• Vitebsk festival of children's creativity ^[38] ;
• Purimshpile Festival;
• Corporate festival of OJSC Gazprom Fakel ^[39] ;
• Guitar Music Festival "Minstrel";
• Exhibition of visual arts of students of art specialties of higher educational institutions of the city of Vitebsk “Art session”;
• Orthodox youth festival "Hodegetria".

Vitebsk Zoological Park was founded on March 30, 1992 ^[40] on the basis of the theater of animals. It consists of 2 parts, the first with an area of ​​1.3 hectares in the central part of the city, the second with an area of ​​87 hectares in the Bilevo microdistrict.

In the center of Vitebsk, the historically developed complex of buildings partially bounded by the streets of Lenin, Y. Kupala, Suvorov, Polytechnic and L. Tolstoy partially survived. Within this region, one can see the continuity of the planning network of streets of the late XVIII - the first half of the XIX centuries, which in turn inherited the features of the pre-regular era.

see also: Town Hall , Summer Amphitheater , National Academic Drama Theater. Yakub Kolas , Zdravnevo , Victory Square , Old Ulanovichsky cemetery .

Temples of Vitebsk

The city has religious architectural structures: the Assumption Cathedral , Intercession Cathedral , Annunciation Church , Trinity Markov Monastery , Holy Spirit Monastery , Resurrection Church, St. Barbara's Church .

Squares

In modern Vitebsk - ten squares ^[41] :

• Victory Square - the largest in the city and country;
• Freedom Square ;
• Lenin Square ;
• Town Hall Square (formerly Voskresenskaya);
• Assumption Square ;
• Castle Square ;
• Station square ;
• Proletarian Square ;
• Smolenskaya Square ;
• Millennium Square of Vitebsk .

Housing

Between 2000 and 2017, the total area of ​​the city’s housing stock increased from 6376.1 thousand m² to 8441.9 thousand m² (32%), the provision of housing to the population from 18.7 to 22.3 m² per person. In terms of the total area of ​​housing stock, the city with a slight lag takes the last place among the regional centers of the Republic of Belarus, in terms of housing provision - the penultimate, ahead of Gomel (20.1 m² per person) ^{[42] [43]} .

In 2014, residential real estate prices in Vitebsk were the highest of the country's major cities after Minsk and exceeded $ 1,000 per 1 m². In 2017, the average price of 1 m² of housing was $ 525; by 2019, it had risen to $ 582. By this indicator, Vitebsk is more than twice behind Minsk, a little bit behind Brest, Grodno, Salihorsk and Molodechno, and it is on a par with Gomel and Mogilev ^{[44] [45] [46]} .