History

100-40 thousand years ago. First people.

Polotsk, Turov and Pinsk principalities

Polotsk was mentioned for the first time in the year 862. The city was a trade centre of the northern Slavs - Kryvichy, traditionally cituated at the junction of two rivers: Western Dvina and Polota, from which the city name was derived.

Turov is the oldest town founded in an area that was once populated by the Eastern Slavic tribe of Dregovichi. In the late 10th century the town became the center of Turov Principality. For the first time, Turov was mentioned in 980 as the spiritual centre of the principality. It was one of the first Slavic towns where an Orthodox Christian eparchy was founded.

Pinsk is mentioned for the first time in the chronicles of 1097 as a town belonging to Sviatopolk of Turau and is closely linked with the history of Turov. In 1320 Pinsk was conquered by the rulers of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. 1569–1793 the town belonged to Poland and Lithuania. Pinsk became a part of the Russian Empire in 1793 after the Third Partition of Poland. Pinsk became a part of Poland in 1920 after the Polish-Soviet War and was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1939. From 1941 to 1944, Pinsk was under Nazi Germany. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 Pinsk belongs to the Republic of Belarus.

Expansion of christianity on territory Belarus

Religious architectural monuments are tourist attractions in their own right: the gold-domed Orthodox Christian churches, gothic Roman Catholic cathedrals, wooden mosques, stone synagogues. Belarusian monasteries are a perfect historical source to study Catholic orders. There are places in Belarus connected with the name of St. Bruno who started the Cartesian Order in the 11th century in Burgundy, and also the Order of Malta.

 

 

The oldest extant Christian temple in the City of Grodno is St Boris and St Gleb’s Church, commonly referred to as Kalozhskaya Church as it was built in a sacred pagan settlement called Kolozhan.

One of the first Orthodox Christian fortified churches, St Sofia’s Cathedral in Polotsk is an architectural monument of the 11th―18th centuries.

 

 

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

 

The castle is an all-season tourist attraction: in the summertime the castle hosts knight tournaments, while in the winter the inner yard of the castle, which is 80 metres wide and 80 metres long, is converted into an ice skating rink.

Depicted on postcards, calendars and souvenirs, the Castle of Mir is justly regarded a trademark of Belarus.

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

 

Throughout its history, the castle has been growing and changing its shape and style. Now it is a harmonious ensemble of medieval architectural features, styles of late Renaissance, the Baroque and original stylish research of local masters.

 

Belarus in structure of the Russian Empire

Born in Belarus, Adam Bernard Mickiewicz is one of the best-known Polish poets and writers, considered the greatest Polish Romantic poet of the 19th century, alongside Zygmunt Krasinski and Juliusz Slowacki.

 

The war of 1812

 

The Fortress of Bobruisk, whose ruins are still to be seen lying around, emerged at the site of a former castle in 1807-1836 after the town became part of the Russian Empire. They started building the citadel by order of Tsar Alexander I dated August 1 1810 and on June 4 1811 there was the Russian three-colour flag waving in the air above the fortress. It was regarded a top-class unassailable fortress with state-of-the-art military ammunition. Before the war of the Year 1812 began they had built 5 major bastions, the banks and the ditches.

Tadeusz Kosciuszko — the great son of the Belarus ground, a cosmopolitan, the national Hero of Poland, the United States America, the honourable citizen of France.

 

 

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

One of the best known military historical monuments of Belarus — the Fortress of Brest is located in the western part of the namesake city.The legendary citadel was designed in 1830 by experts of the Russian Corps of Engineers.

Yama Memorial in Minsk - is a memorial in the contemporary capital of Belarus that reminds of the sad history of Jewish people — the Rakov Suburb. But at the time of WWII the Rakov Suburb used to be home to the Jewish ghetto.

 

Viskuli — the manor which is situated in the center of the Belovezhskaya Puscha. In 1950th years in Viskuli has been constructed complex of the buildings, which served by a residence of heads of the former USSR.

Belarus is a country of ancient history and architectural monuments. The world cultural treasury, however, is complete not only with objects of ancient archeology or medieval castles, but also examples of the 20th-century architecture — the so called Stalin Empire style, say UNESCO experts.

 

 

The Republic of Belarus at the present stage

	The new shell of the National Library of Belarus became the call card of Minsk hardly had the subcontractor companies laid the foundation stone.

 

— 100-40 thousand years ago — the territory of Belarus started to be populated

— 27-24 thousand years ago — the first settlements appeared on the territory.

— V-VII century AD — the Belarusian territory was inhabited by Slavonic tribes.

— 862 AD — the first manuscript mentioning of Belarusian city — Polotsk.

— X century AD — the spread of the Christianity.

— The second half of the X century AD — the foundation of Polotsk Duchy

— 1067 — the first mentioning of Minsk in connection with the battle on the Nemiga river.

— 1230-es — the Belarusian lands and duchies took part in the creation of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was necessitated by the threat from the Crusaders and Mongols and Tartars. In the second half of the XIII century it annexed Belarus. Novogrudok became the center city.

— 1 July, 1569 — The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland united into a federal state called Rzecz Pospolita to struggle against the Principality of Moscow.

— 6 October, 1596 — Brest Church Unia. Brest Church Unia under which the Orthodox Church of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania recognised the supremacy of the Pope and the Catholic dogmas, while preserving its own rituals.

— 1772, 1793, 1795 — as a result of Rzecz Pospolita divisions belarusian lands were included in the Russian Empire. Rzecz Pospolita seized to exist as a state. Belarus was subjected to territorial-administrative division according to the Russian pattern, Russian taxes and duties were introduced.

— 1812 — the Patriotic war against Napoleon I invasion. The territory of Belarus was the main theatre of the war action.

— 1830-1831 — a national liberation rebel of shliahta (the nobility) revolt for the restoration of Rzecz Pospolita within the boundaries of 1772 but was cruelly defeated by Russia.

— 1863-1864 — the rebel led by Kastus Kalinovsky.

— 1917 (October-November) — February and October Revolutions — Soviet power claimed its power over the unoccupied territory of Belarus.

— 1918 (November-December) — Belarusian territory was liberated from the German occupation. The independence of Belarus is proclaimed and Belarusian People’s Republic is created.

— 1 January, 1919 — the Revolutionary Workers and Peasants’ Government of Byelorussia proclaimed the formation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (the BSSR).

— 18 March, 1921 — Treaty of Peace was signed in Riga, according to which Western Belarus becomes a part of Poland.

— 1939 (September) — the Red Army crossed the soviet-polish border. Western Belarus is re-united with Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.

— 1941 — 1944 — the fascist Germany occupation of Belarus.

— 1991 — the Supreme Soviet of the BSSR adopted the Declaration “On the State Sovereignty of the BSSR” signed by the heads of states and governments of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.

— 8 Decmber,1991 — the BSSR Supreme Soviet ratified the Agreement on the disintegration of the USSR, denouncing the Union treaty of 1922, and creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) signed by the leaders of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine at Viskuli in Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The USSR seized to exist. The Republic of Belarus became an independent sovereign State.

— 15 March,1994 — the Constitution of the Republic of Belarus was adopted by the Supreme Soviet.

— 1999 (December) — the Treaty on the Establishment of the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the Program of Actions were signed.