We spent last Saturday (10th May) in the quiet and calm city of Mogilev.
The town is maybe best known for the fact that the Lukashenko was born there and grew up
in a small, nearby village called Shklov. You can drink from the spring that can
be found near to the young President’s favourite childhood place.
The city has approximately 360,000 inhabitants, lies on the western
bank of the Dnieper River and is close to the Russian border. It is one of the
main economic and industrial cities: e.g. tractor factories are to found here.
Sad but true fact, that as an aftermath of the Chernobyl
catastrophe, ~35% of the oblast’s territory was contaminated by radioactive
particles, though it has always been an important agricultural region. Even
today there are hot spots in the region (however, Grodno oblast was the most exposed to the radiation). It is exasperating,
since the region is known for its fascinating, green landscape.
Today the reorganization of the agricultural sector is under
way.
History:
The region and the city have a history of vicissitudes.
However, people were always fighting hard and were hard-working, so following
the negative events usually a relatively quick recovery took place and the
region developed to a great extent. Due to the ferocious battles fought in the
region there are many war memorials to be found.
Mogilev was visited by many famous people in the course of
history, among others Russian tsar Peter the Great, Austrian emperor Joseph II,
Pushkin and Russian emperor Nikolai II.
Quick historical facts about Mogilev:
- · Founded: 1267
- · Early 14th Century: became part of the Great Duchy of Lithuania
- · 16th Century: became an important centre for Eastern Orthodoxy
- · Time of the Great Patriotic War:
o
~25,000 volunteers from the oblast
o
After 23 days of fighting, the city fell to the
Nazis on 26 June 1941
o
5 concentration camps were created in the region,
where over 70,000 citizens died and further 30,000 were taken to Germany
o
28th June 1944: the city was at last
liberated
Our day in the city:
We took the night
train from Minsk and arrived quite early, around 5.30 AM to Mogilev, where
friends of Seval were waiting for us. In the course of the day they showed us
around. It’s been a peaceful day. We walked for a couple of hours in the
centre.
We walked along Leninskaya
street, which I really liked. It’s the main street and one can take a
stroll in calmness, since it’s been turned into a pedestrian street. As all the
other cities, Mogilev is also tidy. We see many people sitting on the terraces
of cafés and the restaurants. This city is coming to life from its winter
sleep.
There is a central square, where a sculpture of a stargazer can be found, made by the sculptor
Vladimir Zhbanov. Around the sculpture there are big chairs for all the zodiac
signs. Impressing work of art.
For me the other site worth seeing was the building of the Drama theatre. It was built in 1888,
and is an enchanting red-brick building with a nice sculpture about a lady and
her fluffy dog in front of it.
After having discovered the centre we had a nice barbeque in
a picturesque valley near the city.
Around 7 PM we got on our train back to Minsk.
Yet another well spent day.
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