Travelling in Belarus: Vitebsk

Photos:  Vitebsk - picasa

My primary aim is to focus on my Russian studies, but I’m a born traveller, so I cannot remain in one place for too long. I’m reached my “half-life” in Belarus (2 more months to go), so it was just about time to get out of Minsk and start exploring the rest of the country. I was warned beforehand that it may not be the easiest thing to buy a train ticket here, but in fact it is quite simple. The website is very easy to handle (available in English as well), you can buy your ticket online and then you can fetch your ticket at the train station (for that of course you need to have a command of Russian).

So, on Saturday (29th March) we woke up early and headed for the train station and departed to Vitebsk (RUS: Витебск). The journey takes around 4, 5 hours. This was my first time on these (for me) retro-looking and adorable trains. It was love at the first sight. You can transform the seats into beds and you can have a nice rest while you reach your destination.

Before boarding, you have to show your ticket and your documents for the conductor. There is one conductor per each cabin. He or she is the one who is responsible for the „well-being” of the cabin, thus it is better to approach them kindly. Each conductor has a leather case, where they keep the tickets (each bed/seat has its numbered case) and just before you have to get off, they give the ticket back to you. This way they can keep track of the people.

You can “rent” bedlinen for ~1 EUR, which you have to remove and give back at the end of you journey. I have one of my sleeping bags with me, so I didn’t take the opportunity to try them.

Opposite me a nice old lady sat on the train, with whom we had a nice chat. She was just very friendly and really flattered that we spoke in Russian.

We arrived to Vitebsk around 13.10. We then set out to explore the city.

 

Vitebsk is a small city in Eastern Belarus, with a population of ~ 360.000. According to a legend, Princess Olga of Kiev was so baffled by the beauty of the hill at the junction of the two rivers, Dvina and Vitba, that she ordered a city to be founded in that post. This town is today Vitebsk. Due to the popularity of the legend, 974 is the official year of foundation of the city.

Throughout history, Vitebsk has suffered great losses and damages due to different wars and battles (e.g. Northern Wars, WWII, etc.).

The city was annexed by Russia in 1772, which brought some improvements, but when Napoleon invaded the county in 1812, Vitebsk was in the line of the march to Moscow. The city was the scene of some bloody battles. Napoleon established his HQ in the Governor’s Palace. It can be visited today. It is where he held his 43^th birthday.

At the end of the 19^th century Vitebsk had a revival and became a city of arts and culture. Among others, Marc Chagall himself lived in Vitebsk for a while.

The World Wars brought just further deprivation. In both wars a military garrison was established at the city and there were some fierce fights. In WWII the Germans established a huge garrison and the locals were brutally repressed. The Red Army returned to reclaim the city and thus Vitebsk has seen one of the bloodiest of battles. Only 15 main buildings and 186 civilians survived.

Today Vitebsk is most known for being the cultural capital and each year the popular Slavianski Bazaar takes place there, a popular summer festival.

This one day was enough to see the main sites of the city. First we took a look at a huge monument (you will see on the pics), again a typical Soviet-style one. It commemorates all the heroes of the city. Next to the memorial we found a Soviet-style playground. There are many weapons of artillery on display, with tanks, helicopters and other vehicles. Children were playing all over them. One funny scene was, when 2 boys tried to start the propeller of one of the helicopters.

After this we walked around in the centre and what seemed to be the main street. We peeped in one of the enormous Orthodox churches. On the main, touristy street we found a nice, older man, who was selling all kinds of old relics. There were a tremendous amount of pins, old coins and banknotes. We were given many gifts and we purchased some interesting and unique pieces of history, e.g. Postcards, pins.

After lunch we just walked around. We went to Chagall Museum, then to the City Hall and saw the exhibition about WWII. It was quite interesting. Later, in the evening we found the house, where Marc Chagall lived. It was getting cold, so we returned to the train station and waited for our night train.

It was my first time ever on a night train. Couldn’t have been better. I felt like lying on a massage bed. Slowly I was shaken to sleep…

We were woken up at 5.30 AM. The train arrived around 6 at Minsk.

More adventures to follow!

Пока

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Source:

Nigel Roberts: Belaurs