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Vitebsk

Сoat of Arms of Vitebsk is a combination of religious (the image of the Savior) and defensive (a sword) symbols. It is significant that the Savior is represented in profile looking towards the West. This can be explained by the fact that, when Vitebsk was granted the Magdeburg Right in 1597, together with the rest of Belarus it was incorporated into the Commonwealth of Poland and Lithuania (Czech Pospolita). Czech Pospolita was a catholic state. So it is likely that the image of the Savior implied the desire of the Vatican to subordinate Orthodox population in Belarus to its influence. The background of the Coat of Arms represents a blue Spanish Shield. Cherub is a shield –bearer and left and right of the Coat of Arms there are figures of angels standing on the red cartouche holding the blue ribbon. There is a laurel wreath at the bottom. Since ancient times a laurel wreath has been a symbol of glory, victory and peace.

Old Vitebsk, end of the 19th century, painter Napoleon Orda (1807-1883) 

 About Vitebsk:

Vitebsk is a city in the northeast of Belarus, an administrative center of Vitebsk district and Vitebsk region. Today’s Vitebsk is the fourth largest city in the Republic of Belarus with the population of 376 226 people (as of 1 January 2016). Its area is 124.538 sq. km.  (Wikipedia).

An ancient history of Vitebsk can be divided into two main periods: Russian and Lithuanian. According to the legend the city was founded by Kiev princess Olga in 974. Having defeated the rival tribes she was travelling along the Western Dvina River and was so much impressed by the beautiful surroundings that she ordered a castle to be built on the top of the hill and later in the 10^th century after Belarus adopted the Christianity two churches were built: St. Mikle on the hill next to the castle and the other one dedicated to the good news for the Virgin Mary at the bottom of the hill – the Annunciation church. However, the first mention of the city is referred to the year of 1012, when its ruler was Russian prince Yaroslavl the Wise.  It was at that time that Yaroslav the Wise joined Vitebsk together with the Russian cities of Usvich and Pskov to the Grand Duchy of Polotsk. The cities were situated on the very important trade route from the “Varangians to the Greeks”. Trade and crafts were developing very fast in Vitebsk at that time.

One hundred years later the ruler of the city became a Lithuanian prince Olgerd. In 1345 the city was incorporated in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and so prince Olgerd became the first Grand Duke of Lithuania, thus the Lithuanian period in the history of Vitebsk started.  It was during his rule that the Belarusian language became the state language in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the territory of the state was increased twice at the expense of the annexation of the Northern Ukrainian lands. In 1410 Vitebsk regiments distinguished themselves in the “Grunvald” battle while in the city itself two stone castles with 15 powerful towers had been already built. The total length of the Vitebsk fortifications was 2 370 meters, for comparison the length of the Kremlin walls in Moscow was 2 235 meters, 40 meters shorter. However, it was thanks to Russian tsars and first of all to Ivon the Terrible and Peter the Great that no trace was left from the former unapproachable walls.

A new period stared in the history of the city when it was joined to the Imperial Russia. New handicraft shops appeared in the old and new parts of the city, the river Vitba was bridged, streets were paved and new houses built. So, by the end of the 19^th century Vitebsk was already a big city with the population of 100, 000. 

After the October Revolution of 1917 the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed on the 1^st of January 1919 and the city found itself within this new republic. The industrial development of Vitebsk was developing tremendously but at the same time a great number of people fell victims to a new regime.

Peaceful life of the city was interrupted on the 22 of June 1944, when the Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The Nazi established the regime of terror on the occupied territories. Gallows were spread all over the city. In the village of Luchosa, which was near Vitebsk, the Nazi created a concentration camp for war prisoners.  However, the reisidents did not surrender: 66 underground organizations and 39 partisan detachments were functioning in Vitebsk and in the Vitebsk region during the war. The city was liberated from the Nazi on the 26^th of July 1944. The population of the city before the war was 287 thousand while on the day of liberation only 118 people remained alive.

After the war the city was raised out of the ashes incredibly fast, but since then till the year of 1991 there had been the period of the construction of industrial enterprises, hotels, sport facilities, cinemas and apartment houses. However, that was also the period of indifference towards the national culture and heritage and intolerance to religion.

After Belarus proclaimed its independence on the 25^th of August 1991 the reconstruction of the old churches and historic buildings on the unprecedented scale was launched. National traditions and crafts have been revived.  Today some beautiful churches and cathedrals of the past adorn the city: the Assumption Cathedral, being 45 meters high – natural and geographic dominant of the city with its façade facing the Western Dvina, the Resurrection Russian Orthodox church (18^th century) built in the extreme baroque, the 12^th century Annunciation church. The city has acquired the features of the modern European city that attracts a lot of tourists who are never bored in such an old and so modern city.

Tourist Attractions No.1 in Vitebsk are the Art centre of Marc Chagall and the House-Museum of Marc Chagall

Every city or town has its own  main sight or people  that make  the  city known far beyond its borders. You might have guessed that it is because of Marc Chagall tourists are coming into this city.  It is not by chance that in 2016 two museums of Marc Chagall have ranked the first in the list of tourist attractions as far as the number of visitors are concerned.

Art – Centre of Marc Chagall

Original works (colored lithographs, xylographs, etchings) with Chagall’s famous images: flying lovers, a fiddler on the roof, acrobats, and animals will bring you into a bright and magic world of the artist. You will have a remarkable experience of the presence of Vitebsk during the whole tour because it is everywhere: either in a small corner or at the background of some famous sights. This is Chagall!  

House-Museum of Marc Chagall

The interior of the house which was recreated thanks to  the artist's drawings,  alongside with the drawings representing his mother, father, closest relations and himself will allow you to feel the spirit of both the family and of the time. Photographs of Marc Chagall with Pablo Picasso in Paris and others made in Germany, France and USA will certainly remind you that you heard about him long ago but never guessed he was from Belarus. 

Discription of other sights of Vitebsk can be forund in the section of the website "Excursions and museums"

Interesting facts about Vitebsk and Vitebsk region:

• Vitebsk is the second oldest city in Belarus (974) after Polotsk (862);
• Vitebsk is the birthplace of the world famous artist Marc Chagall. He was born on the 7 of July 1887 and had lived in the city until he was 33 years old. He went to Moscow in 1921 and then he left for Paris. The last years of his life he spent in San Pol de Vance in the south of France. In spite of the fact that he was separated from his Motherland for the rest of his life he was the only artist in the world who loved his native city to such an extent that he depicted it nearly on each of his works.  A. Lunacharsky, the then People’s Commissar of Education & Art remembered: …” was in Chagall’s workshop in Paris, viewing the sights of Vitebsk” and when Chagall wanted to say something good about Paris he used to say “Paris, you are my second Vitebsk”.
• The first in Belarus art school “Vitebsk People’s Art School” was opened in Vitebsk in January 1919 on the initiative of Marc Chagall. Celebrated artists from all over Russia came to live in Vitebsk and teach at the school. Those included Casimir Malevich (author of the famous “Black Square)”, I. Puni, K. Boguslavskaya, and M. Dobuzhinsky. Today works of the students of the School adorn many prestigious collections of the world.
• "Slavyanskiy Bazar in Vitebsk” Art festival is a visiting card of the city. The festival has long ago crossed the boundaries of the Slavic world.  Since 1992 representatives of 63 countries from 5 continents have participated in the festival. The main stage for concerts is the Vitebsk Amphitheater – a unique stage accommodating 6, 200, the largest in Europe. The motto of the Festival is “Through Art to Peace and Understanding”. The emblem of the Festival is a wild cornflower grown on a stave reminding a microphone in its shape.  A blue cornflower is the national flower of Belarus.
• In Vitebsk, the most ancient letter written on birch bark was found in 1959. It is supposed that the letter was written in the 12th century, which proves that already in the 12th century Vitebsk residents could read and write.
• Victory square in Vitebsk occupies 72, 000 square meters and is the largest square in Belarus and one of the largest in Europe.
• The tram is a symbol of Vitebsk. The tram appeared in the streets of Vitebsk in 1898, one year earlier than in Moscow and 9 years earlier than in St. Petersburg. There is a museum of  a tram in Vitebsk, the only one of this kind in Belarus.