Dorogobuzh (russian: Дорогобуж) is a historic

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

Dorogobuzhsky District Dorogobuzhsky District (russian: Дорогобу́жский райо́н) is an administrativeResolution #261 and municipalLaw #107-z district (raion), one of the twenty-five in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is located in the center of the oblast. ...

Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Oblast (russian: Смоле́нская о́бласть, ''Smolenskaya oblast''; informal name — ''Smolenschina'' (russian: Смоле́нщина)) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative centre is the city o ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, straddling the

Dnieper River } The Dnieper () or Dnipro (); , ; . is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. It is the longest river of Ukraine an ...

and located east of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest ...

, the administrative center of the

oblast An oblast (; ; Cyrillic (in most languages, including Russian and Ukrainian): , Bulgarian: ) is a type of administrative division of Belarus, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Ukraine, as well as the Soviet Union and the Kingdo ...

. Population:

Climate

Dorogobuzh has a warm-summer

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(''Dfb'' in the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

History

First mentioned in 1150, it was established as a fortress defending eastern approaches to

. It was located in the

Principality of Smolensk The Principality of Smolensk (eventually Grand Principality of Smolensk) was a Kievan Rus' lordship from the 11th to the 16th century. Until 1127, when it passed to Rostislav Mstislavich, the principality was part of the land of Kiev. The princi ...

, which in 1404 became part of Lithuania. It passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow after the

Battle of Vedrosha The Battle of the Vedrosha River was a battle in the course of the Russo-Lithuanian war of 1500–1503 which ended with a decisive Russian victory and proved to be of strategic significance. It was carried out on 14 July 1500, some 50 km to ...

in 1500. In 1508, Vasily III sent Italian masters to build a wooden fort there. During the

Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...

, Dorogobuzh passed between Lithuania and various Muscovite factions several times, and was ravaged, with its population reduced to ten people in 1614. It was captured by

in 1613, and then re-captured by Polish Prince

Władysław IV Vasa Władysław IV Vasa; lt, Vladislovas Vaza; sv, Vladislav IV av Polen; rus, Владислав IV Ваза, r=Vladislav IV Vaza; la, Ladislaus IV Vasa or Ladislaus IV of Poland (9 June 1595 – 20 May 1648) was King of Poland, Grand Duke of ...

in 1617. Within the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ru ...

, it was part of the

Smolensk Voivodeship Smolensk Voivodeship ( la, Palatinatus smolencensis, be, Смале́нскае ваяво́дзтва, pl, Województwo smoleńskie, lt, Smolensko vaivadija) was a unit of administrative division and local government in the Grand Duchy of Li ...

. During the

Smolensk War The Smolensk War (1632–1634) was a conflict fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia. Hostilities began in October 1632 when Russian forces tried to capture the city of Smolensk. Small military engagements produced mix ...

, in 1632, it was

besieged Besieged may refer to: * the state of being under siege * ''Besieged'' (film), a 1998 film by Bernardo Bertolucci {{disambiguation ...

and captured by Russia, however, it was restored to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by the

Treaty of Polyanovka The Treaty of Polyanovka ( pl, Polanów, also known as the ''Peace of Polyanovka / Polanów'') was a peace treaty signed on 14 June 1634 between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Tsardom of Russia in the village of Semlevo located near ...

in 1634. In 1667, it passed to Russia. During the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, it was captured by French troops in August 1812, and re-captured by Russia in October 1812. In the late 19th century, the town held an annual fair for grain, horses and cattle. Dorogobuzh was occupied by the German Army during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

first from October 5, 1941 to February 15, 1942 (when it was liberated by three partisan detachments and some Soviet troops), then again from June 7, 1942 to September 1, 1943. In 1942, the Germans established a forced labour camp in the town.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Dorogobuzh serves as the

.Resolution #261 As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Dorogobuzhsky District as Dorogobuzhskoye Urban Settlement. As a municipal division, this administrative unit also has urban settlement status and is a part of Dorogobuzhsky Municipal District.Law #107-z

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

*
Official website of Dorogobuzh

Dorogobuzh Business Directory
*Mojgorod.ru

{{Authority control Cities and towns in Smolensk Oblast Smolensk Voivodeship Dorogobuzhsky Uyezd Populated places on the Dnieper in Russia