Mogilev

This article is about city in Belarus. For the city in Ukraine, see Mohyliv-Podilskyi.

Coordinates: 53°54′N 30°20′E / 53.9°N 30.333°E / 53.9; 30.333

Mogilev Mahilioŭ Магілёў Могилёв
Seal
Mogilev Mahilioŭ Location of Mahilyow, shown within the Mahilyow Voblast
Coordinates: 53°55′N 30°21′E / 53.917°N 30.35°E / 53.917; 30.35
Country Subdivision	Belarus Mahilyow Voblast
Founded	1267
Government
– Mayor	Stanisłaŭ Baradaŭka
Population (2007)
– Total	367,788
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
– Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
License plate	6
Website	http://www.city.mogilev.by

Mogilev (also spelled Mahilyow, also transliterated Mahiloŭ,Mahilioŭ, Mogilyov; Belarusian: Магілёў, pronounced [maɣʲiˈlʲou̯]; Russian: Могилёв, [məɡʲɪˈlʲof]) is a city in eastern Belarus, about 76 km from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km from the border with Russia's Bryansk Oblast. It has more than 367,788 inhabitants (2007 estimate).^[1] It is the centre of Mahilyow voblast and the third largest city in Belarus.

History

The city was founded in 1267. Since 14th century a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, after the Union of Lublin and creation of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, it was transferred to The Crown as Mohylew or Mogilew. The city flourished as one of the main nodes of the east-west and north-south trading routes. In 1577 king Stefan Batory granted it with city rights. After the First Partition of Poland it came into the hands of Imperial Russia and was the centre of the Mogilev guberniya. In years 1915–1917, during World War I, the Stavka, the headquarters of the Russian Imperial Army functioned in the city and the Tsar, Nicholas II, spent long periods here as Commander-in-Chief. In 1918 occupied by Germany and transferred to the short-lived Belarusian People's Republic. In 1919 captured by the forces of Bolshevist Russia and incorporated into Byelorussian SSR. Up to the Second World War and the Holocaust, like many other cities in Europe, Mogilev had a significant Jewish population: according to Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 41,100, Jews constituted 21,500 (so around 50% percent).^[2] Between 1941 and 1944 the city was under German occupation. During that period, the Jews of Mogilev were ghettoized and systematically liquidated.^[3] Since Belarus gaining its independence in 1991 Mahilyow remains one of its principal cities.

Economy

Mahilyow is one of the main economical and industrial centres of Belarus. After World War II a huge metallurgy centre with several major steel mills was built. Also, there were several major factories of cranes, cars, tractors and a chemical plant. The city is home to a major inland port at the Dnieper river and a domestic airport.

Main sights

The town's most striking landmark is the late 17th-century town hall. The grand tower of the town hall sustained serious damage during the Great Northern War and the Great Patriotic War. It was eventually demolished in 1957. The town hall was rebuilt in its pre-war form in 2008.

Another important landmark of Mahilyow is the six-pillared St. Stanislaw's Cathedral (picture), built in the Baroque style in 1738–52 and distinguished by its energetic murals. The convent of St. Nicholas (picture) preserves its magnificent cathedral from 1668, as well as original iconostasis, belltower, walls, and gates. It is currently under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.^[4]

Minor landmarks include the archiepiscopal palace and memorial arch, both dating from the 1780s, and the enormous theatre in the blend of the Neo-Renaissance and Russian Revival styles.

At Polykovichi, an urban part of Mahilyow, there is a 350 metre tall guyed TV mast, one of the tallest structures in Belarus.

Notable natives

• Leonid Isaakovich Mandelshtam, physicist
• Issai Schur, mathematician
• Modest Altschuler, orchestra conductor
• Otto Schmidt, scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, academician
• Matest M. Agrest, ethnologist and mathematician
• Mikałaj Sudziłoŭski, revolutionary and scientist
• Spiridon Sobol, Belarusian enlightener and printer, in 1631 he published the first ABC-book in Belarus
• Lev Polugaevsky, International Grandmaster of chess
• Irving Berlin, American composer
• David Pinski, Yiddish playwright
• Ilya Garelik, guitarist for The Delta Rasa
• Abe Anellis, microbiologist
• Petr Elfimov , musician

Twin towns – Sister cities

Mahilyow is twinned with:

• Kragujevac, Serbia ^[5]
• Gabrovo, Bulgaria
• Villeurbanne, France
• Bardejov, Slovakia
• Eisenach, Germany
• Kerch, Ukraine
• Tula, Russia
• Klaipėda, Lithuania
• Włocławek, Poland
• Denizli, Turkey
• Shymkent, Kazakhstan
• Sumgait, Azerbaijan^[6]

References

1. ^ Mahiljow – Stefan Helders www.world-gazetteer.com.Retrieved on 2007-08-10.
2. ^ Joshua D. Zimmerman, Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004, ISBN 0299194647, Google Print, p.16
3. ^ [1]
4. ^ St. Nicholas Monastery Complex in the city of Mahilyou – UNESCO World Heritage Centre
5. ^ "Kragujevac City Partners". © 2008 Information service of Kragujevac City. http://www.kragujevac.rs/en/city_partners.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-27. ^{[dead link]}
6. ^ "Sumqayıt şəhər icra hakimiyyəti. Beynəlxalq Əlaqələr [Sumgayit Executive Power. International Relations]". http://sumqayit-ih.gov.az/content.php?page=beynelxalq_elaqeler. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 

External links

• Mogilev city executive committee
• Photos on Radzima.org
• Historic images of Mogilev
• Mogilev Jewish Center
• Jewish Encyclopedia on Moghilef (Mohilev)

City and regional maps of Mogilev

• Best zoomable map of Mogilev and Belarus available, possible to see Voblasts, Rajons, cities and streets -> In page click KAPTbI up in the middle
• Zoomable map of Mogilev and in general from Belarus
• zoomable map of Belarus with low resolution
• Good overview map of roads and railways
• General overview of Baltics, Belarus and east-europe
• Belarus, topographic map
• Baltic countries full detail railway map. Belarus and Baltics in C1 sector
• General detail, downloadable PDF map of Belarus