Cherykaw (; ; ) is a town in Mogilev Region,

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. It is located in the east of the region, on the

Sozh River The Sozh (, ; ; ) is a river flowing in Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. It is a left bank tributary of the Dnieper. The Sozh passes through Gomel, the second largest city in Belarus. The river is crossed by the Sozh Floating Bridge at Karma, Kar ...

, and serves as the administrative center of Cherykaw District. In 2009, its population was 8,177. As of 2024, it has a population of 7,800.

History

Cherykaw was first mentioned in 1460. At the time, it was a part of

Kingdom of Poland The Kingdom of Poland (; Latin: ''Regnum Poloniae'') was a monarchy in Central Europe during the Middle Ages, medieval period from 1025 until 1385. Background The West Slavs, West Slavic tribe of Polans (western), Polans who lived in what i ...

, and

Casimir IV Jagiellon Casimir IV (Casimir Andrew Jagiellon; ; Lithuanian: ; 30 November 1427 – 7 June 1492) was Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1440 and King of Poland from 1447 until his death in 1492. He was one of the most active Polish-Lithuanian rulers; under ...

, the king, ordered to have an Orthodox church to be built in Cherykaw. In 1604, Cherykaw was granted the town status, and in 1641, it was granted a coat of arms. In 1772, as a result of the

First Partition of Poland The First Partition of Poland took place in 1772 as the first of three partitions that eventually ended the existence of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth by 1795. The growth of power in the Russian Empire threatened the Kingdom of Prussia an ...

, it was transferred to

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In the 19th century it belonged to

Mogilev Governorate Mogilev Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Northwestern Krai of the Russian Empire. The governorate bordered the Vitebsk Governorate to the north, the Smolensk Governorate to the east, the Chernigov Gover ...

. In 1919, Mogilev Governorate was abolished, and Cherykaw was transferred to Gomel Governorate. On July 17, 1924 the governorate was abolished, and Cherykaw became the administrative center of Cherykaw Raion, which belonged to Kalinin Okrug of

Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...

. In July, 1927, Kalinin Okrug was abolished, and Cherykaw was transferred into Mogilev Okrug. On January 15, 1938 the raion was transferred to Mogilev Region. During the Second World War, the town was occupied by German troops and severely damaged. In 1986, it was considerably affected by the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

Economy

Industry

There are timber industry and textile industry enterprises in Cherykaw.

Transportation

The town is located on the highway connecting

Roslavl Roslavl (, ) is a town and the administrative center of Roslavlsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia. It is a road and rail junction and a market town. Population: History Roslavl was founded as Rostislavl in the 1130s or 1140s. The name is ...

in Russia with Bobruysk. There are also road connections with

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

via Chavusy and with Kastsyukovichy.

Culture and recreation

In Cherykaw, several buildings survived from the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. In particular, the Catholic church was built in 1869, and in the Soviet times was used as a

Palace of Culture Palace of Culture (, , ''wénhuà gōng'', ) or House of Culture (Polish: ''dom kultury'') is a common name (generic term) for major Club (organization), club-houses (community centres) in the former Soviet Union and the rest of the Eastern bloc ...

. One of the mansions from the 19th century is currently used as a church.

References

External links

The murder of the Jews of Cherykaw
during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...

website. {{Authority control Holocaust locations in Belarus