Dovsk or Dowsk (; ) is an

agrotown An agro-town is an agglomeration in a rural environment with a population of several thousands but whose workforce's main occupation is agriculture. An agro-town also lacks the administrative, commercial and industrial functions that are usually ...

in Rahachow District, Gomel 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 serves as the administrative center of Dovsk

selsoviet A selsoviet (; , ; ) is the shortened name for Selsky soviet, i.e., rural council (; ; ). It has three closely related meanings: *The administration (''soviet (council), soviet'') of a certain rural area. *The territorial subdivision administered ...

. Clay deposits are located near town, and it is bordered by forest from east and west.

History

Before 1900

Burial mounds (27) discovered by archaeologists, on the southwestern outskirts date to the ancient times. After 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 ...

(1772) it became part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. In 1850, the

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

highway passed through the village. According to the revision of 1858, it was the property of D.P. Turcheninov. In 1860, the post office was moved to Dovsk from Yamnoye, at the crossroads of trade routes. In 1864, in the heart of the village at the old church site known since 1836, the brick Dovsk Holy Intercession Church was built. The center of spiritual life moved there from Malashkovichi village. An ongoing sugar production business began operating in 1876. The landowner owned over 2,200 acres of land and a tavern. A grain mill and an emergency grain warehouse have been operating since 1879. Dovsk was the center of the Dovsk

volost Volost (; ; ) was a traditional administrative subdivision in Kievan Rus', the Grand Duchy of Moscow, and the Russian Empire. History The '' Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary'' (1890–1907) states that the origins of the concept is unc ...

until 9 May 1923. In 1890, it included 52 settlements with 1,966 households. In 1898, the agricultural association of the

Rogachev Rahachow or Rogachev (, ; ; ; , ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Rahachow District. Rahachow is located between the Drut and Dnieper rivers. As of 2025, it has a population of 31,490. History The ...

district organized an exhibition of stallions.

Since 1900

In 1909, Dovsk consisted of 2,478 acres of land. In 1910 the village reached 91 settlements with 2,766 households. Nearby was the Dovsk ''

khutor A khutor ( ; rus, хутор, p=ˈxutər) or khutir (, ) is a type of rural locality in some countries of Eastern Europe; in the past the term mostly referred to a single- homestead settlement.Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

, 12

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

soldiers were killed. They are buried inside two mass graves. In 1930, a collective farm named after K. E. Voroshilov was organized, there was a working forge. In 1935, the Church of the Intercession of the Holy Mother of God was closed. On 14 August 1941, the village fell under

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

control. Until 1969, Staraya Serebryanka village was part of the Dovsk village council, and urban settlement Yanovka (no longer exists) was part of the same until 1975. In July 1990, the church building was handed over to the Orthodox community. The building is a monument of pseudo-classical architecture. In 2003, a cross was erected near the church in gratitude to the people of Belarus who helped people of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

fleeing the

Soviet famine of 1932–1933 The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. That cross is the only monument in Belarus commemorating the

Holodomor The Holodomor, also known as the Ukrainian Famine, was a mass famine in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine from 1932 to 1933 that killed millions of Ukrainians. The Holodomor was part of the wider Soviet famine of 1930–193 ...

Geography

It is located 31 km north-east from the regional center and the

railway station (on the

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, ...

Zhlobin Zhlobin (; ; ; ) is a town in Gomel Region, Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper River, and serves as the administrative center of Zhlobin District. It is situated from Gomel. As of 2025, it has a population of 76,304. The town is notable fo ...

line), 80 km from

Gomel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the List of cities and largest ...

Transport

The village hosts the intersection of

and

Bobruisk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina River. Babruysk o ...

—Moscow highways.

Structures

Local buildings mainly consist of wooden architecture. The city is densely built-up with buildings along the

-Dovsk road.

Demographics

* 1858 - 26 households, 180 inhabitants. * 1909 - 62 households, 489 inhabitants; on the farm Dovsk (aka Minina) 4 yards, 10 inhabitants; at the postal station there are 32 yards, * 192 inhabitants. * 1940 - 331 yards, 1303 inhabitants. * 1959 - 993 inhabitants (according to the census). * 2004 - 731 households, 1841 inhabitants

References

External links

* {{Cite web , last=Редакция , title=Рогачевский район. Агрогородок Довск – место, благоприятное для жизни , url=http://slova.by/ekonomika/25-selskoe-khozyajstvo/22345-rogachevskij-rajon-agrogorodok-dovsk-mesto-blagopriyatnoe-dlya-zhizni , access-date=30 March 2022, website=slova.by , language=ru-ru Populated places in Gomel region Agrotowns in Belarus Rahachow district