Vitebsk province- administrative-territorial unit of the Russian Empire; together with , and formed the Northwestern Territory. Provincial city - Vitebsk.

History of Vitebsk province

Having come to power, Paul I carried out a new administrative-territorial reform. On December 12, 1796, the Belarusian province was formed with the center in Vitebsk, consisting of 16 counties: Belitsky, Velizhsky, Vitebsk, Gorodoksky, Dinaburgsky, Lyutsinsky, Mogilev, Mstislavsky, Nevelsky, Orshansky, Polotsky, Rogachevsky, Sebezhsky, Sennensky, Chaussky, Cherikovsky. It included the lands of the Polotsk and Mogilev governorships.

It was difficult to manage such large provinces, and in 1801 Alexander I carried out a new reform. According to it, the Belarusian province in 1802 was divided into Mogilev and Vitebsk provinces, which became part of the Belarusian Governor General.

Counties of Vitebsk Governorate

At the time of formation, in 1802, Vitebsk province It was divided into 12 counties: Velizh, Vitebsk, Gorodok, Dinaburg, Drissen, Lepel, Lutsinsky, Nevelsky, Polotsk, Rezhitsky, Sebezhsky and Surazhsky.

In 1866 the Surazh district was abolished. In 1893 the Dinaburg district was renamed into Dvina.

After the October Revolution Vitebsk province became part of the RSFSR. In 1919, Senno uyezd was transferred from Mogilev to Vitebsk gubernia, and a year later Orsha uyezd was transferred from Gomel gubernia. In the same year, the Dvina, Lutsinsky and Rezhitsky counties were ceded to Latvia. In 1923 Gorodok, Drissen and Senno counties were abolished, and Lepel was renamed Bocheikovsky.

Vitebsk province was formed under Alexander the First in 1802 as a result of the division of the previously existing (since 1796) vast Belarusian province into Vitebsk and Mogilev. The lands that became part of the Vitebsk province during its formation were previously part of the Pskov, then Polotsk province (once the Principality of Polotsk). Until the 17th century these territories were dependent on the Commonwealth and Lithuania. According to the Decree of the Governing Senate dated February 27/March 11, 1802, the new Vitebsk province was made up of twelve counties: Velizh, Vitebsk, Gorodok and others. In 1823-1856. - sequentially - during the corresponding reorganizations, as part of Vitebsk, Smolensk and Mogilev (with the administrative center in Vitebsk), in 1856-1869. - Vilna Governor Generals. Together with the provinces of Vilna, Kovno, Grodno, Minsk and Mogilev, the Vitebsk province formed the North-Western Territory, part of the western outskirts of the Russian Empire.

Vitebsk province in whole or in part
There are the following maps and sources:
(with the exception of those indicated on the main page of general
all-Russian atlases, where this province can also be)

2-layout survey (1780s - 1790s)
Map-dvuhverstka survey - non-topographic (latitude and longitude are not indicated on it), a hand-drawn map of the last decades of the 18th century, very detailed - on a scale of 1 inch 2 versts or in 1 cm 840 m. A separate county was drawn in fragments, on several sheets, shown on a single composite sheet.
The purpose of the survey map is to indicate the boundaries of private land plots (so-called dachas) within the county.

Vitebsk province - military 3-layout of the 19th century
Military trehverstka - a detailed military map of the Vitebsk province topographic surveys of the 1880s. and editions of the early 1900s. Scale - in 1 cm 1260 m.

Download map of Vitebsk province trehverstka >>>

Vitebsk province - list of populated places in 1906
The list of populated places is a universal reference publication containing the following information:
- the status of the settlement (village, village, village - owner or state, i.e. state);
- the location of the settlement (in relation to the nearest tract, camp, at a well, pond, stream, river or river);
- the number of households in the settlement and its population (men and women separately);
- distance from the county town and camp apartment (centre of camp) in versts;
- the presence of a church, a chapel, a mill, etc.
Total 86 pages.

Economic Notes to the General Land Survey of the Vitebsk Governorate

Seven of the twelve districts of the new province, Velizhsky, Dinaburgsky, Drissensky, Lucinsky, Nevelsky, Rezhitsky and Sebezhsky, were part of the Pale of Settlement, the boundaries of which were determined in 1791 after the second partition of the Commonwealth. In the reign of Alexander the Second, in 1866, the Surazh district was abolished, and its lands were unevenly redistributed between the counties of Vitebsk, Velizh and Gorodok. Under Alexander the Third, in 1893, in connection with the renaming of Dinaburg to Dvinsk, the Dinaburg district was renamed Dvinsky. During the entire subsequent pre-revolutionary period in the history of the province, there were no changes in its composition and configuration of its internal and external borders. The Vitebsk region today is located within the Republic of Belarus and occupies the southern part of the Vitebsk province, plus parts of the Vilna, Minsk and Mogilev provinces.

After the 1st partition of the Commonwealth (1772), most of the Vitebsk and Polotsk Voivodeships of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania were annexed to the Russian Empire. At first, the lands were included in the Pskov province, and from 1776 into the formed Polotsk province (in 1778-1796 - the Polotsk governorate). After the 2nd partition of the Commonwealth (1793), the Lepel district was formed from the newly annexed territories of the former Polotsk Voivodeship. In 1796, the former Polotsk and Mogilev governorships were merged into the Belorussian province, which was abolished on February 27, 1802, and its territory was divided into Vitebsk and Mogilev provinces. Vitebsk province administratively divided into 12 counties: Velizhsky, Vitebsk, Gorodok, Dvinsky, drissensky, Lepelsky, Lucinsky, Nevelsky, Polotsk, Rezhitsky, Sebezhsky and Surazh (abolished in 1866, its territory is divided between Velizh, Vitebsk and Gorodok counties).

In 1917-19, Vitebsk Governorate was part of various administrative entities (Western Region, Western Commune), the BSSR, and was finally annexed to the RSFSR. In July 1919, the Senno district of the Mogilev province was transferred to the Vitebsk province, in November 1920 - the Orsha district of the Gomel province (a newly formed administrative unit from the counties of the abolished Mogilev province). According to the agreement of the RSFSR with Latvia in 1920, the former Dvina, Lucinsk and Rezhitsa counties were ceded to Latvia. In February 1923, the Gorodok, Drissen, and Senno counties were abolished; Lepelsky district was renamed Bocheikovsky. Vitebsk province was abolished on March 10, 1924. Vitebsk, Gorodok, Drissen, Lepel, Polotsk, Senno and Surazh districts became part of the BSSR, and Velizh, Nevelsky, Sebezh - in the Pskov province of the RSFSR.

The population of the Vitebsk province

According to the 1897 census, the population of the province was 1486.2 thousand people. According to the estate: nobles - 30,509, priests and members of their families - 4216, merchants and members of their families - 5236, philistines - 277,574, peasants - 1,164,444. According to religion: Orthodox - 825,524, Catholics - 356,939, Jews - 175,586, Old Believers - 82,968, Lutherans - 46,139. ​​Belarusians - 788,599 people. In 1914, there were 666 churches on the territory of the Vitebsk province ( see the list of Orthodox parishes of the Vitebsk and Polotsk diocese for 1906), 149 churches, 53 synagogues, 262 Jewish and 81 Old Believer prayer houses, 14 churches.

In 1848, in the Vitebsk province, among the educational institutions were the Polotsk cadet corps, 2 gymnasiums, a seminary, 6 county schools, 10 parish and 10 rural schools. In 1914 there were 228 educational institutions (gymnasiums, progymnasiums, real schools, seminaries, etc.), 1814 public schools, 365 parochial schools and 57 writing schools.

Oryol-Vitebsk, Riga-Dinaburg, Dinaburg-Vitebsk railways and Vitebsk-Velizh, Vitebsk-Lepel, Nevelsko-Velikoluksky, Velizhsko-Smolensk postal roads passed through the territory of the province. In addition to county towns, there were 42 townships. By the end of the 19th century, industry in the Vitebsk province was poorly developed, distilleries predominated; there were expanded forestry - deforestation for sale, tar race, etc.

Messages:

2019-12-24 Alexander Anatolievich Leontiev Marchenki, village (Velizh district)

My mother Ivanova Tatyana Fominichna and uncle Ivanov Alexander Fomich come from the village of Marchenki. My uncle fought on the Karelian front, and my mother and her mother were driven to Germany. Maybe that's why they survived. After the war, they lived in Karelia, where they were buried. 6csc4 ... > > >

2019-12-22 Larisa Zakrevskaya Dymanovo, village (Vitebsk district)

https://www.moypolk.ru/svobodnyy/soldiers/demidenko-pavel-nazarovich... > > >

2019-12-18 Pozdnyakov Dmitry

Sincerely, Dmitry Pozdnyakov [email protected].Hello. I would very much like to know my descendants from Belarus. My Volkovs left Belarus after 1910 for Russia. As they called it. Volkov with his wife Maria Konovnaya, sons Stepan 1892. Dorotheus 1907. Emelyan. Afanasy. Philip. and daughters Nastya. Dusya. children from the second marriage. From the first in the village of Dudoreva, an adult dossier remained, which he left his small estate. The daughter seemed to be already married.

2019-12-17 Pozdnyakov Dmitry Dudarevo, village (Gorodok district)

2019-12-14 Igor Gorokhov Lutovye, village (Polotsk district)

Zenkov Alexey Prokhorovich
Zenkova Maria Vasilievna... > > >

2019-12-13 Igor Logunov Zaborovki, village (Gorodok district)

Note from the "Polotsk Diocesan Gazette" for 1893. About donations. The parishioners of the Mekhovskaya Church - the peasants of the Zaborsky society, the Obolsky volost, ten villages, according to their verdict, dated May 15, 1892, built a chapel (at the village of Skobin) in memory of the event on April 29, 1891 (at the village of Skobin) with a length of 4 and a width of 3 sazhens, on a stone foundation, with one a porch with 4 windows, it is covered with a board, the dome is covered with iron and painted, 4 icons of the Mother of God Hodegetria, the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, St. Apostles Peter and Paul and St. Nicholas, candlesticks were placed for the icons, in the designated chapel by the peasant of the village of Andreenok Mikhail Stefanov, village. Skobin Stefan Vasiliev and the village of Moskalev Mikhail Lukianov... > > >

2019-12-12 Maganov Gennady Lubanevka, village (Gorodok district)

Our family, on the line of my mother Fadeeva, comes from the village of Lobanevka, which was located on the southern shore of Lake Zavesno. It is known that in 1932 Fadeev Konstantin Gavrilovich and another Fadeev (probably a relative) were repressed from this village. My grandfather Fadeev Vasily Konstantinovich was born in the village of Lobanevka (?) and my mother was also born in the village of Lobanevka (according to the metric). But in the criminal case of 1932, which is stored in the archives of the KGB of the Vitebsk region, according to employees, there is no information about the relationship of Vasily Konstantinovich Fadeev (born 1900 - died in 1965 in Karelia) and his father (according to my assumptions) Konstantin Gavrilovich Fadeev, born 1872 - repressed in 1932 as part of an organized anti-Soviet group of illiterate peasants. So I'm looking for a birth certificate... > > >

2019-12-10 Vladimir Gavrilov Shilino, village (Gorodok district)

Good afternoon I am interested in the origin of my great-grandfather Stefanov Gavriil Stefanovich, born in 1858, the village of Shilino. Perhaps he had the surname Ternova.
... > > >

2019-12-02 Andrey Ostankov Korchagi, village (Polotsk district)

I am interested in an extract from the birth register of Sofya Vasilievna Pivinskaya, who was born in 1886 in the BSSR, the village of Korchaga!... quoted1 > > >

2019-12-02 Lev Zimbitsky Novka, settlement (Vitebsk district)

Good afternoon Please tell me where to find the population census of 1900-1940?... > > >

It was the exact establishment of the boundaries of land holdings of both individuals and peasant communities, cities, churches and other possible land owners.

Sample of Babinovichi county

Vitebsk province

Vitebsk district 2 versts

1.2 versts

2 versts

1 verst

2 versts

2 versts

Nevelsk district 2 versts

Polotsk district 2 versts

2 versts

Sebezh district 2 versts

2 versts

Minsk province

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

2 versts

Mogilev province

Belitsky district 2 versts

2 versts

Klimovichi district 2 versts

Kopyssky district 2 versts

Mogilev district 2 versts

Mstislav county 2 versts

Orsha district 2 versts

Rogachev county 2 versts

Senno county 2 versts

Starobykhovsky district 2 versts

Chaussky district 2 versts

Cherikovsky district 2 versts

3-verst maps of Belarus.

F.F. the scale is three versts, which in translation into the modern system of calculation will be 1:126000, that is, 1 cm - 1.260 km. These old cards date back to the second half of the 19th century, maps were printed starting from 1860. and up to the beginning of 1900.

All maps with good detailing of objects, churches, mills, cemeteries, relief, type of terrain and other objects are shown.

Sample 3-layout

Maps can be downloaded.

Special Map of European Russia.

is a huge cartographic publication, calculated on 152 sheets and covering a little more than half of Europe. Mapping lasted 6 years, from 1865 to 1871. Map scale: in 1 inch - 10 versts, 1:420000, which in the metric system is approximately 1 cm - 4.2 km.

Maps can be downloaded.

Maps of the Red Army.

(Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army) were compiled and printed both in the USSR in the period from 1925 to 1941, and in Germany, in preparation for the war, in the period 1935-41. On maps printed in Germany, the German name is often printed next to the Russian name of a village, river, etc.

250 meters.

Poland (Poland) 1:25 000

500 meters.

kilometers.

Maps can be downloaded.

Polish maps WIG.

The cards were published in pre-war Poland - Military Institute of Geography (Wojskowy Instytut Geograficzny), the map data scale is 1:100000 and 1:25000 or, to put it simply, 1 cm - 1 km and 1 cm -250 m the quality of the maps is very good - 600 dpi, respectively, and the size of the maps is also not small, in fact, everything is more than 10 megabyte.

Explanatory, detailed and search engine-friendly maps. All the smallest details are visible: manors, dungeons, farms, manors, taverns, chapels, mills, etc.

Kilometer.

WIG map sample.

250 meters

One-verst map of Belarus.

A one-verst map of the western border area in a scale of 1 verst in an inch (1:42000) was published from the 1880s until the First World War, and was reprinted until the end of the 1930s.
Maps in scale 1:42000.

Military topographic 2-verst map of the Western Border Space.

Maps on a scale of 1:84000 (two-verst). Two-verst maps of the western border area began to be printed in 1883. Also, the maps were the basic topographic maps during the First World War in the Russian army.

All materials on the Vitebsk province are available for free download!

Historical information on the province

Vitebsk province, formed in 1802, corresponds to the northeastern part of the modern Vitebsk region of Belarus, as well as the eastern part of Latvia (including the cities of Dvinsk-Daugavpils, Rezhitsa-Rezekne and Lutsin-Ludza) and some regions of Russia (Nevel and Sebezh - Pskov region, Velizh - Smolensk region).

Administrative-territorial division
There are 12 cities, 41 towns, 19750 villages in the province.
Counties: Vitebsk, Velizh, Gorodok, Dvina (formerly Dinaburg), Drissen, Lepel, Lucinsk, Nevelsk, Polotsk, Rezhitsky, Sebezhsky.

Territory
At the beginning of the 20th century: 38649.5 sq. verst (according to Brockhaus-Efron) or 39700 (according to Pavlenkov).

Pnatural conditions
The surface is undulating, the most elevated strip stretches from the Pskov province to Nevel and Gorodok (up to 952 feet in height), then along the watershed of the Western Dvina and the Dnieper; the western part (Dvinsky, Lutsinsky and Rezhitsky counties) is low-lying; many lakes (about 2500), swamps and forests; the soil is infertile, clay and sandy loam.

Rivers
The Western Dvina is navigable throughout, its tributaries Mezha, Kasplya (or Kisplya) and Ulla are navigable; the main raftable rivers: Luchessa, Ushach, Usyacha, Poloto and Drissa.

lakes
Of the lakes, the following are significant: Luban (112 sq. versts), Razno (75 sq. versts) and Osveiskoe (49 sq. versts); swamps occupy up to 4000 square meters. verst.

Climate
It is milder in the west than in the east; The Western Dvina near Dvinsk is ice-free 247 days a year.

Population
1.669 million (1904) or 1.74 million (not later than 1910), of which 237 (255) thousand in cities.

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