Places of interest

WORLD WAR II was a very serious trial испытание for Vitebsk people. Soviet Army soldiers and people's voluntary detachments отряды did their best to save the town. It was captured by Hitler's invaders but never subdued.

subdue-покорять

On the June 26, 1944 Red Army troops cleared the town off fascist occupants. The city lay in ruins and ashes and only 118 people survived in the basements подвалы from about 170 000 of population before war. Only at the end of the 60s the population of Vitebsk achieved the level of 1939. Since then every year Vitebsk people have been celebrating the date. In its centuries long history Vitebsk had never been devastated like that.

devastate-разорять

The town's new life began after the liberation. It was the selfless toil of the citizens/residents of Vitebsk that rebuilt the city anew. New factories, plants, dwelling houses, schools, hospitals, streets and wide avenues lined with trees, spacious squares, theatres and palaces of culture were built in the place of the charred обугленных ruins.

Vitebsk today is one of the major industrial, scientific and cultural centers of the republic.

Vitebsk is an INDUSTRIAL center of the region. The city’s enterprises produce modern metal cutting machine tools металлорежущие станки and TV sets, textile, clothing, footwear, carpets, and other articles, which enjoy a high reputation and are in good demand not only in Belarus. (The Carpet Factory, The Kirov Machine-tool plant, The Vitebsk TV plant, The Belwest Footwear Factory, the Marco enterprise).

Vitebsk is an EDUCATIONAL center of the country. By all standards it’s a city of students and schoolchildren. There are 37 secondary, 9 gymnasia, and several vocational schools and colleges in the city (Vitebsk State Music school after I. I. Sollertinsky) There are 5 state higher educational institutions in Vitebsk: Vitebsk State University after P. M. Masherov, Vitebsk State Academy of Veterinary Medicine, Vitebsk State Medical University and Vitebsk State Technological University, subsidiaries of the Moscow Institute of Present Knowledge and the International Institute of Labor and Social Relations of the Federation of Trade Unions of Belarus Витебский филиал Международного института трудовых и социальных отношений (ВФ УО ФПБ «МИТСО»).

Vitebsk is a fast growing city. A number of newly built streets, wide and spacious, lined with trees and flowers have come out recently. The city is being made comfortable for its dwellers. New residential areas are being constructed. The city is being dotted with small cosy cafes and restaurants, where one can rest their feet, sit by the river and admire the beauty of the place as well as enjoy a talk over a cup of tea or have a snack.

The seasons transform the city. In spring the emerald greenery and a carpet of flowers in the parks and avenues lend a new delight to familiar sights.

The most valuable of the city’s assets is its people with the energy of the youth and the wisdom and experience of the older generations. Vitebsk is sure to meet you with a friendly smile, cordial hospitality, care and attention.

PLACES OF INTEREST

The city honours its outstanding people and heroes of wars who glorified our country and pays tribute to their unprecedented courage, sacrifice and heroism. People set up streets, bridges, avenues, parks and name them after the historic figures and events.

Every sightseeing tour of a city takes in visits to places of historic interest.

One of the most popular places is VICTORY SQUARE. It is a memorial complex in honour of Vitebsk soldier-liberators, partisans and members of the underground organizations. In the shadow of the monument THE ETERNAL FIRE burns every day and night commemorating the heroes who didn't kneel before the occupants and sacrificed their lives for our freedom. The famous three BAYONETS symbolize the three years under the Nazis occupation and the unity of the Army, Partisan and Undergroundв movements. The Red colour of the ground in the square stands for the blood of the fallen soldiers. Two monuments were erected to pay tribute to the mothers who lost their children in the Great Patriotic War.

BLOHIN BRIDGE not far from the square is named after Fedor Timofeevich Blohin, Hero of the Soviet Union, who took part in the liberation of Vitebsk. In 1944 a group of soldiers with Blohin at its head imperceptibly незаметно came up to the bridge which had to be dynamited and killed the fascists who stood guard over the bridge. It was Blohin who rendered armless обезвредил the blasting mechanism.

THE TOWN HALL is the landmark of Vitebsk. It was built in 1775 in the late baroque style with a through passage under it. A two-storied building was a `pedestal for a multi-tiered (многоярусной) tower, with the upper tier with a clock and a bell-ringing completed with a hipped roof, a spire and a wing с покатой крышей, шпилем и флигелем. THE TOWN MUSEUM OF REGIONAL STUDIES is housed here nowadays.

Next to it stood ST. NICOLAS AND ST. ANTHONY CHURCHES which were destroyed. Nowadays St. Anthony church has been rebuilt anew. A grandiose network of pre-revolutionary telephone communications was discovered in the basement of Town Hall. During the probing of the Northern wall the architects discovered a great number of plaster busts of Stalin, some broken, some in a good state. They were walled into when the cult of Stalin was dethroned with the purpose of preserving them in case the situation changed.

THE ART MUSEUM is in FREEDOM SQUARE. It is housed in the building of the district Court, built in 1883 in the tradition of late classicism by Kaminsky.

HOLY RESURRECTION CHURCH ^{Свято-Воскресенская Церковь}

(1772—1777, restored in 2009)

THE MARK CHAGALL MUSEUM is a must that should be included into a (guided) tour for a first-time visitor, which is sure to help a newcomer get the feel for the city. In 1918 Mark Chagall founded an art school in Vitebsk. He invited a lot of gifted artists to teach (Yuri Pan, his teacher, Kazimir Malevich and others). Later the school became a specialized art secondary school and now it's the art department of Vitebsk State University, the graduates and the teachers of which are brilliant at creating wonderful works of art.

Mark Chagall belonged to the galaxy of early-twentieth century artists who opened a new era in the world artistic culture. For almost 80 years Chagall created a pictorial world of his own, where he whimsically blended biblical subjects, characters of Russian folk tales, objects of everyday life, representing in unusually new dimension (аспекте), stirring our consciousness by the shifting (сменой) of habitually logical and visual notions.

THE PALACE OF CULTURE is recognized as the most popular art complex offering most exciting entertaining facilities. It caters to anybody's tastes in music, ballet and theatre. A lovely bridge intended only for pedestrians leads from the Palace to an eye-catching fountain "Three Rivers" which is thought to be a perfect place for dating.

CASTLE STREET derived its name from a Castle mountain, one of the most ancient places of Vitebsk, which according to the town’s authorities was leveled to the ground in 1800.

There remained only small slopes (спуски) in the yard of VITEBSK CITY EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE BUILDING. However, for more than 150 years there has lived a legend about a princess-enchantress (красавице) who lived on the top of the mountain. She was perfectly beautiful (of an unmatched (несравненной) beauty) and she was hidden from people in a majestic palace that was illuminated with numerous lights and guarded by lions. There was a heap (груда) of diamonds to the left of the palace and a heap of gold to the right. Once a year on the night of Ivan Kupala the princess got out of the mountain to show people her riches throwing jewels around herself. But the very moment someone touched them gold and diamonds turned into dust and the princess herself disappeared.

In ancient Belarusian lands there developed a peculiar architecture incorporating the ideas and technical methods of ancestors and those of Visantum, Armenian, Bulgarian and Roman schools of architecture. In Vitebsk architectural forms borrowed from other schools acquired a larger simplicity and lucidity (ясность), became more constructive and not so heavily decorated.

One of the first remarkable constructions of those days THE RUSSIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ST. MICHAEL built on Castle Mountain in the first part of the 12th century on the order of SVIATOSLAV VSESLAVOVICH.

It was common of Byelorussians to erect churches in honour of St. Michael - an assistant in war.

12TH CENTURY ANNUNCIATION CHURCH ^{Благовещенская Церковь} in MILLENNIUM SQUARE was built in the second quarter of the 12th century. It was built on the bank of the Western Dvina to attract the attention of people living on the other side of the river. It was built of "plinfa" and bricks. There was also a market there. Every church in those days had a market attached to it for standard scales were always kept in a church.

DORMITION CATHEDRAL -['dɔ:mɪʃ(ə)n]^{Успенский собор.} On entering the city, you can’t but notice the sparkling golden domes of Dormition Cathedral. They tower above ancient Vitebsk and symbolise the city’s revival. Now, those of Baroque-style Holy Resurrection Church — rebuilt in the former Market Square close to the Town Hall — echo those of the Cathedral. The church has been resurrected after many years of silence. Narrow Suvorov Street leads from Holy Resurrection Church; nearby, old-style lanterns, comfortable benches and flower pyramids add charm.

Meanwhile, a new public garden has appeared at the foot of the church, with a path leading along the right bank of the River Vitba (from which Vitebsk assumes its name). Even though the garden rests below Vitebsk’s hills, it offers a beautiful panorama of the city. It’s impossible not to look at majestic Dormition Cathedral — being the largest in Belarus (at 50m tall and just under 50m wide).

Near MILLENNIUM SQUARE in Zamkovaya Street is a monument to PYOTR MIRONOVICH MASHEROV, erected in 1980. Born in the village of Shirki of Sennensky region, Masherov was one of the organizers and leaders of the Communist underground and partisan movement in Belarus during the Great Patriotic War. He was First Secretary of the Byelorussian Communist Party Central Committee (1965-1980).

A WOODEN CHURCH OF ALEXANDER NEVSKY stands next to it. It was built only a couple of years ago and was consecrated освящена by Alexei the II, Patriarch of the Orthodox church of Russia and Moscow. Alexander Nevsky was married to the daughter of the Vitebsk Prince and often visited the town.

Near the church there is a stone, commemorating the entry of the city into the third millennium.

On the high hill of the Zapadnaya Dvina bank a MONUMENT TO THE HEROES OF THE PATRIOTIC WAR OF 1812 was erected to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the heroic battle between the Russian and Napoleon armies in October 1812 outside Vitebsk. It was made to a design of the famous sculptors Fomin and Kibardin. The monument is made of high quality granite brought from Russia. It presents a tetrahedral четырёхгранный OBELISK, the pedestal is divides into rectangular прямоугольные blocks by intermediate supports so that there are light apertures отверстия between the bar плита of the obelisk and the pedestal which attaches a certain lightness to the monument. The monument is surrounded by cannon from the time of THE NORTHERN WAR. Four cast-iron cannon at the foot of the OBELISK commemorate the visit of Peter the First to Vitebsk at the beginning of the 18^th c.

USPENSKY HILL is also a memorial place to the 15 heroes of the Great Patriotic War who are buried here in THE MILITARY CEMETERY. One of them is the celebrated commander of the partisan detachment "Death to Fascism" FATHER MINAI. The fascists promised a very high ransom for his head but it didn't work. Then the fascists took prisoners his five young children, his mother and his wife. Father Minai was promised life for his family if he came to the fascist garnison on his own. His eldest 14-year old daughter Lisa wrote not to come to the fascists, because they all then would be killed. She only asked to take revenge on them. After six months in a torture chamber пыточной камере the fascists put the family of the celebrated partisan to death.

One can see A GOVERNOR'S HOUSE ON USPENSKY HILL (THE RUSSIAN GOVERNOR'S PALACE, where Napoleon celebrated his 43rd birthday in 1812). It used to be the headquarters of Napoleon’s Army in 1812. Until 1806 the building belonged to landowners - THE KULDINOVS. The building comprises a rectangular three-storied body and a two-storied wing attached to it in 1811 and which forms an inner yard. This resulted in an asymmetrical composition apprehended close by and from far away. There was a square for marches in front, which answered the tendencies of classicism. The ground floor of the main building was occupied by a vestibule with the adjacent service premises смежные сервисные помещения. The first floor comprises the reception hall, a drawing room and the governor's cabinet. The third floor was occupied by private apartments of a governor and his family. There were a dining-room with a big concert hall, a church and an office in the wing. Now it’s an administrative building.

First time visitors to any city are usually eager to see the famous places they have read or heard about. This is natural. But there are more attractions that would be a pity to miss and which are most likely to help you get a better idea of the city. ……

VITEBSK’S MUSEUMS

Музей-усадьба И. Е. Репина «Здравнёво»

Музей современного искусства

Дом-музей Марка Шагала

Арт-центр Марка Шагала

Музей истории витебского трамвая

Витебский областной краеведческий музей

Музей частных коллекций

Художественный музей

Витебский литературный музей

Музей воинов-интернационалистов

Музей М. Ф. Шмырёва (посвящён Великой Отечественной войне)

be worth visiting

be a not-to be-missed place

attraction

be a must to visit in person

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be of special interest

should be included into a tour around the city

would be a pity to miss for a sightseer

be sure to arrest one’s attention

catch one’s fancy

stir one’ imagination

leave no one indifferent

be bound to leave unforgettable impressions

get the feel for

get the idea of

owe much of one’s appeal to

add a lot to the charm of the city

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