Minsk

Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, the administrative center of the Minsk region and the Minsk district, which it is not a part of, since it is an independent administrative-territorial unit with a special (metropolitan) status. The largest transport hub, political, economic, cultural and scientific center of the country. The tenth most populous (excluding suburbs) city in Europe, the fifth — after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Tashkent on the territory of the former USSR. The city is located near the geographical center of the country and stands on the Svisloch River. The area is 348.84 km2, the population is 1,996,553 people excluding suburbs.

The earliest settlements on the territory of the modern city date back to the IX century. The valley of the Svisloch River was inhabited by two East Slavic tribes: the Krivichi and the Dregovich. Around 980, the territory of the modern city became part of the Principality of Polotsk.

Minsk was founded in 1067 year.

The abundance of archaeological material of the 9th-11th centuries and analysis of chronicle data suggest that the name of the city of Minsk (Mensk) is associated with the hydronym Menka - a small river 15 kilometers from the modern city center. In the 11th century the town on the Menka River was destroyed and burned and moved to a modern location.

There is also a legend that Minsk was founded by a glorious heroic healer nicknamed Menesk, who settled in ancient times near the bridge on the Svisloch River near the road. Menesk built an amazing stone mill on Svisloch with seven wheels. At his mill, flour was milled not from grain, but from huge stone boulders. The rumble of unusual millstones was heard far away - thus Menesk frightened unkind people and attracted the attention of the strong and inquisitive. At midnight, Menesk rode around the villages in his mill and recruited a squad of brave and strong people, who later formed a whole nation and settled near the mill. And so the city arose, named after the hero Menesk.

The real history of Minsk (Mensk, Meneska, Mineska) begins with the annals. The first mention of the city in the "Tale of Bygone Years" dates back to March 3, 1067 and is associated with a bloody battle on Nemiga. Translated into modern language, the chronicle text reads as follows: “In the year 6575 (1067). Raised an army in Polotsk (started the war) Vseslav (Polotsk), the son of Bryachislav, and occupied Novgorod. Three Yaroslavichs, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, having gathered soldiers , went to Vseslav in severe frost. And they approached Mensk, and they did not shut me up in the city. These brothers took Mensk and killed all the husbands, and captured the wives and children and went to Nemiga, and Vseslav went against them. And the opponents met on the Nemiga in the month of March on the 3rd day; and the snow was great, and they went against one another. And there was a fierce slaughter, and many fell in it, and defeated Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Vseslav fled.

The most likely founder of Mensk is Prince Vseslav of Polotsk (nicknamed the Enchanter), at whose direction in the 11th century a fortress was erected on the site at the confluence of the Nemiga with the Svisloch.

The existence of the ancient city was unthinkable without a castle. Minsk Castle was founded in the 11th century as a powerful fortress on the southern borders of the Polotsk principality. It had the shape of an irregular oval (300x120 m). The castle was surrounded by a moat and surrounded by an earth rampart 8-10 m high, on the crest of which stood wooden walls with towers. It was possible to get into medieval Minsk by passing through the castle gate - a 12-meter-high fortress gate with several pairs of oak doors and lifting bars. An additional obstacle for the enemy was the logs fixed on the roofs of the towers and walls - during the assault, the defenders of the castle threw them on the heads of the attackers. Considering also that on the outside the slope of the earthen rampart was almost vertical, and on the left flank, not far from the gate, a tower was moved forward a little, it is not surprising that the fortress, built in the 11th century, retained its military significance until the 16th century.

Throughout the 12th century, Minsk did not have peace and, due to civil strife, passed from hand to hand. Despite frequent wars, Minsk became one of the largest cities in the former Principality of Polotsk. As early as the beginning of the 12th century, a stone castle church was built in the Minsk castle - Zamchische, and a city settlement was formed around the castle with the oldest street in Minsk - Nemiga. Later, settlements arose on the left bank of the Svisloch - near the Trinity Mountain. Favorable geographical position helped turn Minsk into a major trade and craft center.

In the XIV century, the Minsk principality became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In March 1499, according to the charter of King Alexander Jagiellonchik, Minsk received the Magdeburg Law - the right of city self-government. Minsk was ruled by a magistrate - two burgomasters, a council and a voit, appointed by the Grand Duke of Lithuania. Minsk got rich. Two large trade routes went through it - the northern road through Logoysk, Borisov, Orsha and Smolensk to Moscow and the southern road through Slutsk to Volyn to Constantinople. There was also a road to the west, through Brest.

In 1505, the Crimean Khan Mengli Giray went with a large army to the Lithuanian and Belarusian lands. Minsk was looted and burned, but the castle could not be taken. The Tatars left with the loot, leaving behind a plague that brought a lot of trouble to the people of Minsk.

In the 16th century, a new center of Minsk was created on the Upper Market; the town hall was built there. In the middle of the 16th century, there were about 2,000 inhabitants in Minsk, 35 streets, 80 crafts, craft workshops were created. Minsk merchants traded meat, resin, wax, iron, glass, leather, furs, brought salt, spices, wine, fabrics.

As a result of the administrative-territorial reform of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1565-1566, the Minsk Voivodeship was formed with the center in Minsk. At the end of the 16th century, the highest judicial body of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the main Lithuanian tribunal, sat here.

In 1591, Minsk received its coat of arms: in the blue field of the baroque shield, the Virgin Mary between two angels and cherubs.

The 17th century began quite successfully for the city: its appearance changed, social and cultural life became more diverse. Since the end of the 16th century, church brotherhoods began to operate in Minsk - original religious, cultural and political associations of Orthodox philistines who sought to take church life under their control. A Jewish community appears, united by a kahal - a body of Jewish self-government. At the same time, the first Tatar mosque was built. However, the Uniate Church and the Roman Catholic Church had a particularly noticeable influence on the life of Minsk.

You can learn about the life of Minsk at the beginning of the 17th century from old documents that have been preserved thanks to the first city archive created under the magistrate. During this period, a printing house was founded in the city, the first productions of the city theater took place.

However, other times were approaching - the Russian-Polish war (1654-1667). After the war, there were about two thousand inhabitants in Minsk - approximately 10% of the pre-war population.

In 1700 a new war began. Belarusian lands have become the scene of clashes between Swedish, Russian and Saxon troops. During the hostilities, Russian and Swedish troops passed through Minsk several times in 1706-1708 and 1720, and each time they demanded provisions and monetary contributions from the inhabitants. In 1708, a plague broke out in Minsk and a severe fire broke out.

A sharp decline in population and wars, economic decline could not stop the development of the city. Churches are built in it, a new pharmacy is opened, decorated with the royal coat of arms. In 1717, a permanent postal service appeared, which connected Minsk with the largest cities of the state. In 1786, the magistrate decided to number the city buildings - a rare occurrence for Belarus at that time. Since the 1780s Minsk has been regularly visited by touring theater troupes from Vilnius, Warsaw and other cities of the country.

Since 1793, Minsk has been part of the Russian Empire, the center of the viceroy, and since 1796 - the provincial city of the Minsk province. At the end of the 18th century there were 6,000 inhabitants and 1,000 houses in Minsk.

The population of Minsk held on to old traditions and was wary of the new Russian government. In 1798, Emperor Paul I and his heir Alexander visited Minsk. He allowed the restoration of the Lithuanian Tribunal, city and subcomorean courts and the Lithuanian Statute. In 1802, Emperor Alexander I visited Minsk, with whom they pinned hopes for obtaining the autonomy of the region within the boundaries of the empire. At the end of 1811, well-known representatives of the local aristocracy discussed this issue at their congress in Minsk.

On June 16, 1812, the war between Russia and France began, and already on June 26, Minsk was occupied by the French corps of Marshal Davout. Wealthy townspeople welcomed the French as liberators from Russian domination. Minsk became the center of the department of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania restored by Napoleon. The administrative council of the department, which consisted of the local aristocracy, ensured order in the city, but was forced to take more care of providing Napoleon's army with recruits, food and fodder. Minsk became the central food warehouse and the largest evacuation point for the wounded in the rear of the French army. Residents of Minsk suffered not only from constant extortions and taxes, but also from looting, which acquired a huge scale. Many relatives and friends fought both on the French and on the Russian side. On November 17, 1812, the Russian army entered Minsk, and the city again became the provincial center of the Russian Empire.

Minsk began to recover in the middle of the 19th century. Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846, the Moscow-Warsaw road was laid through Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava (Liepāja) was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and a mosque. According to the 1897 Russian census, the city had 91,494 inhabitants, with some 47,561 Jews constituting more than half of the city population

During the years of the revolution of 1905-1907, Minsk became one of the important centers of the anti-government struggle. For the first time all-Russian parties of the center-right wing - monarchists, Octobrists, Cadets - created their own party structures here. But in terms of their influence, they were significantly inferior to the left-wing party organizations. The RSDLP had the largest number of adherents. In the suburban Komarovsky forest (now Chelyuskintsev Park), the Socialist-Revolutionary Party founded the All-Russian terrorist training base, which was led by the Minsk doctor G. Gershuni. Assassination attempts on Stolypin and the governor of Yekaterinoslav Zholtanovsky were being prepared near Minsk.

In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, enemy aircraft subjected Minsk to massive bombardments. The city was especially affected by the raids on June 24, 1941. Minsk was completely destroyed, the water supply system, the power grid were disabled, the access railway tracks were damaged, part of the rolling stock was destroyed. In these difficult conditions, the city was evacuated, the district military commissariats carried out mobilization into the Red Army.

Since the 1980s, Minsk has been growing in southwestern and western directions. Residential areas of the South-West, Vesnyanka, Malinovka, Uruchche, Krasny Bor, Kuntsevshchina, Sukharevo appeared on the map of the city.

In 1984, the first line of the Minsk Metro was put into operation, in 1990 the stations of the second line were opened from the Traktorny Zavod station to the Frunzenskaya station. And today the Minsk metro, which has become the most popular type of public transport, is being built and developed.

Since 1991, Minsk began to acquire the features of a modern capital city. The construction of many objects of the previous period was completed, a new building of the railway station was erected.

So, at the beginning of the 21st century, Minsk is the capital of independent Belarus, the largest industrial and cultural center. The city has about 300 industrial enterprises, several dozen universities, more than 150 educational institutions.

Minsk began to recover in the middle of the 19th century. Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846, the Moscow-Warsaw road was laid through Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava (Liepāja) was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and a mosque. According to the 1897 Russian census, the city had 91,494 inhabitants, with some 47,561 Jews constituting more than half of the city population

The city grew and developed. It had several printing houses and bookstores. They had special reading rooms, and in 1836 a public library was opened. Soon, the official newspaper "Minsk Gubernskiye Vedomosti" began to appear regularly.

A big impetus to the development of Minsk was given by the creation of two railways that passed through Minsk in 1871-1874 - Moscow-Brest and Libavo-Romenskaya. Roads connected Minsk with the central provinces of Russia, with Ukraine, Poland, and the Baltic states.

During the second half of the 19th century, the area of ​​Minsk increased 10 times. About 30 thousand people lived in Minsk. More than half of the streets were paved, a quarter of the city houses were stone, 2- and 3-story. A noble 5-class school, a religious school, a 2-class parish school, a Catholic and Orthodox theological seminary, a provincial gymnasium, a public library, and a private printing house published the Minsk Provincial Gazette.

Minsk began to recover in the middle of the 19th century. Minsk's development was boosted by improvements in transportation. In 1846, the Moscow-Warsaw road was laid through Minsk. In 1871, a railway link between Moscow and Warsaw ran via Minsk, and in 1873, a new railway from Romny in Ukraine to the Baltic Sea port of Libava (Liepāja) was also constructed. Thus Minsk became an important rail junction and a manufacturing hub. A municipal water supply was introduced in 1872, the telephone in 1890, the horse tram in 1892, and the first power generator in 1894. By 1900, Minsk had 58 factories employing 3,000 workers. The city also boasted theatres, cinemas, newspapers, schools and colleges, as well as numerous monasteries, churches, synagogues, and a mosque.