An ancient small city was part of three states, until the fourth one became Belarusian. For more than a thousand years of history, Volkovysk has been captured and destroyed by foreign troops more than once. 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 Belarusian - Vaўkavysk) is the center of the district of the same name. The area of the territory is 23 sq. 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 handwritten book "The Bishop of Turov testament of blessed Vladimir", which is now accepted as the date of the founding of the city. For a long time, a record from 1252 in the Ipatiev Chronicle, about the military campaign of the Galician-Volyn princes of the brothers Daniel and Vasilko Romanovich in the lands of the Lithuanian king Mindovg, was considered to be a documented mention.
Origin of the name
There ismany 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 bands of Volok and Visek, who operated in this area in the ancient eighth century. In 738, a certain Vatislav Zaveiko managed to kill the robbers, after whose names the city was named. 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 Volkovyya. The river with this name flows through the territory of the city and flows into Ros, 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 knows many other stories related to the name of the city.
History
In the Middle Ages, the B alts and Slavs lived in the region. The townspeople were engaged in the usual trades for those times - blacksmithing and pottery, processed 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 until the first half of the 18th century it belonged to the Commonwe alth. During this time, Russian troops stormed and destroyed the city twice. Until Volkovysk was finally captured at the end of the 18th century, 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 factories were built.
From 1919 to 1939 was part of Poland, several industrial facilities were built, including two brick, cement and foundry plants, two sawmills. Since 1939, as part of the Byelorussian SSR. During the war years, it was under German rule, which built a concentration camp and a Jewish ghetto here. In subsequent years, the city successfully developed first in the Soviet Union, then in independent Belarus.
Population
It is not known for certain how many people lived in Volkovysk in the first few hundred years. In 1860, 492 residential buildings and 2 schools were counted in the city, a Catholic church, an Orthodox church, a synagogue and prayer houses worked. The city had a hospital, 58 shops, 2 mills, a brick factory. The population of Volkovysk was 3472 inhabitants.
The first official data in Russian sources date back to 1860, when a census was conducted in the Russian Empire. Then the population of Volkovysk was 10,323 people, of which 5,528 Jews, 2,716 Orthodox and 1,943 Catholics.
During the war years, a ghetto was organized in the occupied city by the Germans, in which the Nazis killed about 10,000 Jews. 1101 Volkovysk soldiers died at the front. According to the first post-war census in 1959, 18,280 people lived in the city. From 1959 to 1979 the average annual population growth was about 2.22%. In 1970 the population reached 23,270. Population growth was due to natural causes. In subsequent years, the city was improved, an engineering station was built.infrastructure, new residential buildings.
The growth rate of urban residents in the 80-90s rose to 3.34% per year. According to the latest post-Soviet data in 1989, the population of Volkovysk was 40,370 people. In the post-Soviet years, the number of inhabitants continued to grow, although the growth rate has decreased. The maximum number of 46,600 inhabitants was reached in 1999. Subsequently, the population slightly decreased, mainly due to the excess of mortality over births. In 2017, the city had just over 44,000 residents.
