The ancient small city was a part of three states, until the fourth became Belarusian. For more than a thousand years of history, Volkovysk has been captured and destroyed more than once by foreign troops. Currently, it is a green and cozy provincial town.
general information
The city of regional subordination is located on the banks of the Ross River, in the southeast of the Grodno region. Volkovysk (in Belorussian - Vaskavysk) is the center of the district of the same name. The area is 23 square meters. km The population density of Volkovysk is 1916.5 people / sq. km
The first written mention dates back to 1005 and is found in the manuscript book "The Turov bishop’s testament of Blessed Vladimir", which is now taken as the date of the founding of the city. For a long time, the record of 1252 in the Ipatiev Chronicle, about the military campaign of the Galician-Volyn princes of the brothers Daniil and Vasilka Romanovich in the lands of the Lithuanian king Mindovg, was considered a documented mention.
origin of name
There are many urban legends about the origin of the name. According to one of the most famous - that was the name of the famous leaders of the two robber gangs Volok and Visek, who wielded in this area in the ancient eighth century. In 738, a certain Watislav Zaveiko managed to kill the robbers, by whose names they gave the name to the city. Not far from the place of their burial, a settlement of 10 houses was built, which later became Volkovysk.
According to another version, the name of the city comes from the hydronym Volkovyy. A river with the same name flows through the city and flows into Russia, the left tributary of the Neman. The river was named so, due to the fact that in those days it flowed through impenetrable forest thickets, in which many wolves hid. The population of Volkovysk also knows many other other stories related to the name of the city.
History
In the Middle Ages in the region lived tribes of the Baltic and Slavs. The townspeople were engaged in crafts that were usual for those times - blacksmithing and pottery, worked fur, wove linen.
From the 12th to the 15th century, the city was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, in 1410 it was attacked and burned by the knights of the Teutonic Order. From the 16th century to the first half of the 18th century belonged to the Commonwealth. During this time, Russian troops stormed and destroyed the city twice. Until the end of the 18th century Volkovysk was finally captured, and it was included in the Russian Empire. In 1885, the railway came to the city, which stimulated the development of industry, 10 factories and plants were built.
From 1919 to 1939 was part of Poland, several industrial facilities were built, including two brick, a cement and foundry, two sawmills. Since 1939, as part of the Byelorussian SSR. During the war years was under German rule, which built a concentration camp here and the Jewish ghetto. In subsequent years, the city successfully developed first in the Soviet Union, then in independent Belarus.
