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KNOWLEDGE OF Minsk
Legend has it that a giant called Menesk or Mincz had a mill on the banks of a river near the city. He used to grind stones for making bread in order to feed his warriors. The name "Minsk", also known as Mensk or Miensk, more likely comes from the name of river Menka (20 km from the present center of the city). The legend which derives the name "Minsk" from the word мена (miena, "barter" in English) is not approved by the toponymical tradition.
By the 10th century, Prince Rahvalod (Ragnvald in Norse), of Viking origin, ruled a principality named Polotsk, which included Minsk. The first recorded mention of Minsk dates from 1067, when a bloody battle between Polotsk and Kiev principalities took place on the banks of the Niamiha.
In 1326 Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a common Belarusian-Lithuanian state that after the Union of Lublin in 1569 formed part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Minsk received its town privileges in 1499.
In 1655 Minsk was conquered by Tsar Alexei of Russia but it was soon regained by Jan Kasimir, King of Poland (1648-1668). It was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland.
In the 19th century under Russian rule the city grew, becoming an important rail junction. In 1897 the city had 91,494 inhabitants, about one third of them Jews.
In 1919 and again in 1920 the city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic in the course of the Polish-Bolshevik war. Later it was occupied by Soviet Russia under the terms of the Peace of Riga and became the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, one of the constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Minsk was the center of Communist repressions in Belarus. The NKVD murdered people in Kamarouka, later in Kurapaty. After the German invasion the prisoners of Minsk were massacred on the way to Cherven.
The Minsk area became a centre of the Soviet partisan movement behind enemy lines during the Great Patriotic War, and therefore Minsk was awarded the communist title Hero City in 1974. During the war the city was almost completely destroyed and only a few historical buildings were standing. Most of the churches were destroyed during World War II and in the years after blown up by the communist authorities, there are just a few remaining ones, for example, the Catholic Kalvaryja.
The first section of the Minsk subway opened in 1984 and now the network, which is called the Metro as in many other European cities, consists of two lines. Presently, extensions to both of the lines are under construction along with two new lines to be built in the near future. In addition, Minsk has an extensive network of buses, trolleys and trams.
By the 10th century, Prince Rahvalod (Ragnvald in Norse), of Viking origin, ruled a principality named Polotsk, which included Minsk. The first recorded mention of Minsk dates from 1067, when a bloody battle between Polotsk and Kiev principalities took place on the banks of the Niamiha.
In 1326 Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a common Belarusian-Lithuanian state that after the Union of Lublin in 1569 formed part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Minsk received its town privileges in 1499.
In 1655 Minsk was conquered by Tsar Alexei of Russia but it was soon regained by Jan Kasimir, King of Poland (1648-1668). It was annexed by Russia in 1793 as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland.
In the 19th century under Russian rule the city grew, becoming an important rail junction. In 1897 the city had 91,494 inhabitants, about one third of them Jews.
In 1919 and again in 1920 the city was controlled by the Second Polish Republic in the course of the Polish-Bolshevik war. Later it was occupied by Soviet Russia under the terms of the Peace of Riga and became the capital of the Byelorussian SSR, one of the constituent republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Minsk was the center of Communist repressions in Belarus. The NKVD murdered people in Kamarouka, later in Kurapaty. After the German invasion the prisoners of Minsk were massacred on the way to Cherven.
The Minsk area became a centre of the Soviet partisan movement behind enemy lines during the Great Patriotic War, and therefore Minsk was awarded the communist title Hero City in 1974. During the war the city was almost completely destroyed and only a few historical buildings were standing. Most of the churches were destroyed during World War II and in the years after blown up by the communist authorities, there are just a few remaining ones, for example, the Catholic Kalvaryja.
The first section of the Minsk subway opened in 1984 and now the network, which is called the Metro as in many other European cities, consists of two lines. Presently, extensions to both of the lines are under construction along with two new lines to be built in the near future. In addition, Minsk has an extensive network of buses, trolleys and trams.
Chapi