Vitsebsk (Belarusian: Ві́цебск (Viciebsk); Russian: Ви́тебск (Vitebsk); Polish: Witebsk) is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia and Latvia. The capital of the Vitsebsk voblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city. Image File history File links Coat_of_Arms_of_Viciebsk,_Belarus. ... Categories: Stub | Regions of Belarus ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

History

Vitsebsk developed from a river harbour where the Vitba (Віцьба, from which it derives its name) flows into the larger Daugava (in Belarusian, Dzvina). Its mention in historical records dates from 1021, but its official founding year is 974, when Princess Olga of Kiev ordered a city to be founded on the site of an old Krivichi settlement. River Daugava flowing through Riga city into the Baltic Sea The Daugava or Western Dvina (Latvian: Daugava, German Düna, Belarusan: Заходняя Дзьвіна, Russian: За́падная Двина́, Finnish Väinä) is a river rising in the Valdai Hills, flowing through Russia and Belarus, and then Latvia, draining into the Gulf of Riga, an arm of... // Events Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, sixth Fatimid Caliph of Egypt disappears on a trip to al-Muqattam hills. ... Events Antipope Boniface VII succeeds Pope Benedict VI. The Byzantine Empire retakes Syria including Aleppo from the Abbasids. ... Olga of Kiev Olga (Russian: Ольга also called Olga Prekrasa, or Olga the Beauty, Old Norse: Helga) (died July 11, 969 in Kiev) was a Pskov woman of Varangian extraction who married the future Igor of Kiev, arguably in 903. ... A monument to St. ... Kriwi  album cover The Krivichs or (more correct) Krivichi (Кривичи́ in Russian, Крывічы́ in Belarusian ), one of the tribal unions of Early East Slavs between the 6th and the 12th centuries, which inhabited the upper reaches of the Volga, Dnieper, Western Dvina, the southern part of the Lake Peipus and parts of...

In the 12th and 13th centuries it was a well-established city on the crossroads of the river routes between the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean seas. In this period, it was governed by veche. In 1320 it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania; in 1569 it became a part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. In 1597 Vitebsk was granted the Magdeburg Rights. In 1772 it was taken over by Russia in the First Partition of Poland. (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (12th century - 13th century - 14th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 13th century was that century which lasted from 1201 to 1300. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53 deg. ... Map of the Black Sea. ... Satellite image The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. ... Removal of the veche bell from Novgorod to Moscow in 1478. ... Events January 20 - Dante - Quaestio de Aqua et Terra January 20 - Duke Wladyslaw Lokietek becomes king of Poland April 6 - The Scots reaffirm their independence by signing the Declaration of Arbroath. ... The presumable banner of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania with the coat of arms, called Пагоня in Belarusian, Vytis in Lithuanian and PogoÅ„ in Polish Another version of the Lithuanian banner The Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Lithuanian: Lietuvos Didžioji KunigaikÅ¡tystÄ—, Belarusian: Вялі́кае Кня́ства Літо́ўскае (ВКЛ), Ukrainian: Велике Князівство Литовське (ВКЛ), Polish: Wielkie KsiÄ™stwo Litewskie) was an... Events January 11 - First recorded lottery in England. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Events 17 January - A court case in Guildford recorded evidence that a certain plot of land was used for playing “kreckett” (i. ... The Magdeburg Rights (or Magdeburg law) were the laws of the Imperial Free City of Magdeburg during many centuries of the Holy Roman Empire, and possibly the most important set of Germanic medieval city laws. ... 1772 was a leap year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... The Partitions of Poland (Polish Rozbiór or Rozbiory Polski) happened in the 18th century and ended the existence of a sovereign state of Poland (or more correctly the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). ...

Vitebsk. Zamkovaya Street. Photo early 1900's. Boris Feldblyum Collection

Under Imperial Russia it was a significant shtetl in the Pale of Settlement, with around half its population Orthodox Jewish at the turn of the 20th century. ImageMetadata File history File links BFC_Vitebsk_Zamkovaya_str. ... Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start of... A shtetl or shtetele (Yiddish: , derived from German: , meaning little town/city) was typically a small town or village with a large Jewish population in pre-Holocaust Central and Eastern Europe. ... The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта оседлости - cherta osedlosti) was a western border region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residence of Jews was allowed, extending from the pale or demarcation line, to near the border with eastern/central Europe. ... Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud (The Oral Law) and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh (Code of Jewish Law). It is governed by these works and the Rabbinical commentary... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the...

In the years 1919-1991 it belonged to the Soviet Union; since 1991 it has been a part of independent Belarus. In 1941-1944 during World War II, the city was under German occupation, much of the old city being destroyed in ensuing battles with the Red Army. 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the movie, see 1941 (film) 1941 (MCMXLI) was a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1944 (MCMXLIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... Combatants Allied Powers Axis Powers Commanders {{{commander1}}} {{{commander2}}} Strength {{{strength1}}} {{{strength2}}} Casualties 17 million military deaths 7 million military deaths {{{notes}}} World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a military conflict that took place between 1939 and 1945. ... The short forms Red Army and RKKA refer to the Workers and Peasants Red Army, (in Russian: Рабоче-Крестьянская Красная Армия - Raboche-Krestyanskaya Krasnaya Armiya), the armed forces first organised by the Bolsheviks during the Russian Civil War in 1918. ...

In January 1991, Vitsebsk celebrated the first Marc Chagall Festival. In June 1992, a monument to Chagall was erected on his native Pokrovskaja street and a memorial inscription placed on the wall of his house. 1991 (MCMXCI) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Marc Chagall as photographed in 1941 by Carl Van Vechten. ... 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Since 1992, Vitsebsk has hosted the annual Slavic Bazaar, an international art festival. Its main programme is devoted to Slavic music. The main participants are artists from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, with guests from many other countries, both Slavic and non-Slavic. 1992 (MCMXCII) was a leap year starting on Wednesday. ...

Famous inhabitants

Vitsebsk is the birthplace of:

• Zhores Ivanovich Alferov, physicist
• S. Ansky, playwright, author of The Dybbuk.
• Marc Chagall, famous painter
• Joseph Günzburg
• Leon Kobrin, playwright
• Immanuel Velikovsky, psychiatrist/psychoanalyst and controversial author
• Kazimierz Siemienowicz, an engineer, pioneer of rocketry.
• Simeon Strunsky (born, 1879) author in New York City

Zhores Ivanovich Alferov Zhores Ivanovich Alferov (also Alfyorov) (Russian: Жоре́с Ива́нович Алфёров) (born March 15, 1930) is a Russian physicist who contributed significantly to the creation of modern heterostructure physics and electronics. ... A physicist is a scientist trained in physics. ... Shloyme Zanvl Rappoport (1863–1920), better known by the pseudonym S. Ansky, was a scholar who documented Jewish folklore and mystical beliefs. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... For information on the creature from Jewish folklore, see dybbuk. ... Marc Chagall as photographed in 1941 by Carl Van Vechten. ... A painter is a person who paints woodwork, walls, etc. ... Baron Joseph Günzburg (1812, Vitebsk – January 12, 1878) the first Baron Günzburg, Osip Gintsburg, or Iosif-Evzel Gabrielovich Gintsburg, was a Russian financier and philanthropist. ... Leon Kobrin (18731–1946) was a playwright in Yiddish theater, writer of short stories and novels, and a translator. ... A playwright, also known as a dramatist, is someone who writes dramatic literature or drama. ... Immanuel Velikovsky (June 10, 1895 (NS) – November 17, 1979) is best known as the author of a number of controversial books on pre-history, particularly Worlds in Collision 1950), Ages in Chaos 1952, and Earth in Upheaval 1956. ... Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that studies and treats mental and emotional disorders (see mental illness). ... Psychoanalysis is the revelation of unconscious relations, in a systematic way through an associative process. ... Picture of Kazimierz Siemenowicz from 20th century Kazimierz Siemienowicz (or Semenavicius) (born c. ... A rocket is a vehicle, missile or aircraft which obtains thrust by the reaction to the ejection of fast moving exhaust from within a rocket engine. ... Simeon Strunsky, A.B. (1879- ) was an American essayist, born at Vitebsk, Russia. ... Nickname: The Big Apple Motto: Official website: City of New York Location Location in the state of New York Government Counties (Boroughs) Bronx (The Bronx) New York (Manhattan) Queens (Queens) Kings (Brooklyn) Richmond (Staten Island) Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R) Geographical characteristics Area Total 468. ...

External links

• Official site of Vitebsk
• Vitebsk.com
• Vitebsk.net
• Official site of the Department of Internal Affairs Vitebsk executive committee
• Coat of Arms
• Photos on Radzima.org
• Shtetl: Vitebsk
• Historic images of Vitebsk
• Slavic Bazaar