Vitebsk is a city situated in the North-East of Belarus, near the border with Russia, in the land of glacier lakes on the picturesque banks of the three rivers: the Western Dvina, the Vitba and the Luchesa river. It is one of the oldest settlements in Europe. The capital of the Vitebsk region, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city.

History

Vitebsk developed from a river harbor where the Vitba River, from which it derives its name, flows into the larger Western Dvina, which is spanned in the city by the Kirov Bridge.

Its official founding year is 947, based on an anachronistic legend that it was founded by Olga of Kiev, but the first mention in historical record is in 1021, when Yaroslav the Wise of Kiev gave it to Bryachislav Izyaslavich, Prince of Polotsk. It had sprung up on a busy road "from Varangians to Greeks" and stood witness to a great number of glorious events and heroic deeds. Since early times the town had been known as a "warrior". So it is not by chance that its ancient emblem featured a horseman holding a spear and shield.

In the 12th and 13th centuries Vitebsk was the capital of an appanage principality which thrived at the crossroads of the river routes among the Baltic and Black seas. In 1320 the city was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a dowry of the Princess Maria, the first wife of Algirdas. In 1597, the townsfolk of Vitebsk were privileged with the Magdeburg Rights. However, the rights were taken away in 1623 after the citizens revolted against the imposed Union of Brest and killed archbishop Josaphat Kuntsevych. . In XVI-XVII centuries Vitebsk much suffered from aggressive wars of the Moscow Principality (later Kingdom) against the GDL. About every year numerous but poorly armed hordes of Muscovites ruined Eastern Belarus. Vitebsk was burned to a crisp by soldiers of Ivan the Terrible (XVI century), of the czar Alexei Mikhailovich (XVII century) and of Peter the First (1708). During the First Partition of Lithuanian-Polish Commonwealth in 1772, Vitsebsk was annexed by Russian Empire. After unification with Russia (1772) Vitebsk became an ordinary provincial town of a huge military empire. Culture, public education, science and health service developed at a rapid pace. Under Imperial Russia the historic centre of Vitebsk was rebuilt with the Neoclassical architecture.

During the Napoleon campaign in Russia (1812) Vitebsk noblemen supported Frenchmen because the latter promised to restore self-government in the former Polish - Lithuanian kingdom, but Belarusian peasants were mobilizing by Russian army. In 1812 Vitebsk was burned again. After the war Russian czar ordered to put in Vitebsk the monument in honor of the battles.

By the Second World War, like many other cities in Europe, Vitebsk had a significant Jewish population: according to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 65,900, Jews constituted 34,400 (so around 52% percent). The most famous of its Jewish natives was the painter Marc Chagall.

In 1919, Vitebsk was proclaimed as a part of the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia, but soon transferred to the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and later to the short-lived Litbel. In 1924, it was returned to Belarus.

The World War II was a very serious trial for Vitebsk people. Soviet Army soldiers and people's voluntary detachments did their best to save the town. It was captured by Hitler's invaders but never subdued. During World War II, the city was under the Nazi occupation (10 July 1941 - 26 June 1944). Much of the old city was destroyed in the ensuing battles between German and the Red Army soldiers. Most of the local Jews perished in the Vitebsk Ghetto massacre.

The town's new life began after the liberation. New factories, plants, dwelling houses, schools, hospitals, streets and avenues were built in place of the charred ruins. Vitebsk today is a major industrial, scientific and cultural center of the Republic of Belarus.

Cultural life flourishes in Vitebsk as well. The Belarusian State Academic theatre named after Yakub Kolas is one of the oldest in the state. Picturesque neighborhood of Vitebsk and its ancient streets were always attractive for painters.