Lyepyel ( be, Ле́пель, Liepieĺ; pl, Lepel; russian: Ле́пель, Lepel, ; yi, ליעפּליע, Li'epli'e) is a town located in the center of the
Lyepyel Raion (district) in the
Vitebsk Province of
Belarus
Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...
near
Lyepyel Lake
Lyepyel ( be, Ле́пель, Liepieĺ; pl, Lepel; russian: Ле́пель, Lepel, ; yi, ליעפּליע, Li'epli'e) is a town located in the center of the Lyepyel Raion (district) in the Vitebsk Province of Belarus near Lyepyel Lake. Lyepy ...
. Lyepyel is situated at about and its population in the 1998 census was 19,400.
The
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
of Lyepyel incorporates the
Pahonia
The coat of arms of Lithuania consists of a mounted armoured knight holding a sword and shield, known as (). Since the early 15th century, it has been Lithuania's official coat of arms and is one of the oldest European coats of arms. It is als ...
symbol.
Name
There are three theories about the origin of the name ''Lepel''. The first is that the name 'Lepel' come from the word "lepene" which means "lake between the lime-groves". The second is that the name comes from the Belarusian word "лепей" meaning "the best place to live in". The third theory for the name ''Lepel'' is that it derives from the Belarusian word "ляпiць" meaning "well-developed pottery".
History
The first known mention of Lepel dates back to 1439. In the 15th century, the town belonged to the
Lithuanian Grand Duchy. In 1439, thanks to efforts of a Roman Catholic priest, Kucharski,
Grand Lithuanian Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis' son Michael gave Lepel to the
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...
Roman Catholic church.
King Sigismund I the Old subsequently confirmed the gift and in 1541 by approbation of pontiff, the townlands were given to the
Vitebsk Cathedral.
After
Polatsk
Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...
was captured by the Russian army in 1563, the Vitebsk government was no longer able to protect its property from the attacks of the
Grand Duchy of Moscow. The decision was made to donate Lepel to
King Sigismund II Augustus on the erroneous assumption that the king would return the gift by awarding the Vitebsk government with other property of the same value. Instead, the king gave the property by way of life tenure to Yury Zenovich, the mayor 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 ...
. After Yury Zenovich died, Sigismund gave the town to Michael Daragastaisky and it then came into the hands of
Stefan Batory
Stefan may refer to:
* Stefan (given name)
* Stefan (surname)
* Ștefan, a Romanian given name and a surname
* Štefan, a Slavic given name and surname
* Stefan (footballer) (born 1988), Brazilian footballer
* Stefan Heym, pseudonym of German writ ...
. Batory eventually returned the property to the Vitebsk government when
Polatsk
Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...
was liberated.
![Lepiel, kaścioł (13](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Lepiel%2C_ka%C5%9Bcio%C5%82_%2813.08.2008%29.jpg)
It remained difficult for the Vitebsk authorities to protect their holdings in Lepel and thus the decision was made in 1586 to sell the townlands to
Lew Sapieha
Lew Sapieha ( lt, Leonas Sapiega; be, Леў Сапега or Lieŭ Sapieha; 4 April 1557 – 7 July 1633) was a nobleman and statesman of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Gr ...
, a leading politician. Sapieha eventually donated Lepel in 1609 to
Bernardine nuns in
Vilnius
Vilnius ( , ; see also other names) is the capital and largest city of Lithuania, with a population of 592,389 (according to the state register) or 625,107 (according to the municipality of Vilnius). The population of Vilnius's functional urb ...
(Wilno) who lived next to St. Michael's Church.
After the annexation of Belarus to Russia in 1772, Lepel remained in Lithuania due to the border being traced by the river
Dvina. After the second division of 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 ...
in 1793, Lepel was annexed by Russia and in 1802 the town became the center of the region. The town suffered greatly in the 1812
French invasion of Russia due to the passing troops razing many buildings to the ground. On 9 September 1852 Lepel was awarded its own coat of arms.
Jan Czeczot
Jan Czeczot of Ostoja ( be, Ян Чачот, ''Jan Čačot,'' lt, Jonas Čečiotas, 1796–1847) was a Polish romantic poet and ethnographer. Fascinated by the folklore and the traditional folk songs of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, a c ...
worked as an engineer on the
Berezina Canal in Lepel between 1833 and 1839. In 1880, the population of Lepel consisted of 5,284 people, including 2,458 Jews, 2,281 Orthodox, and 536 Roman Catholics.
By 1913 Lepel had lost its strategic and economic importance and was a quiet regional town center.
On November 10, 1919 in the neighbourhood of Lepel there was a clash between the company of the 13th infantry regiment of the Polish Army sitting in an ambush and the Soviet troops advancing into the region. The fighting was successful for the Poles though their commanding officer, lieutenant Stanisław Jacheć, was the only Polish victim of the clash. Heavy fighting between the Bolshevik troops and the Polish Army's 30th regiment of the Rifles of Kaniów of the XX brigade continued through November 1919 and the Polish-Soviet frontline was established there until spring 1920.
On 22 June 1941,
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...
, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began. Lepiel was captured by the rapidly advancing German troops on 3 July. While the Lepel's Jewish population had once been as high as 3,379 (53.7%) in 1897,
by 1941 this had dwindled to only 1,919, or 13.6 percent of the townspeople. The German occupation authorities created a ghetto and appointed a Jewish elder. On February 28, 1942, almost all of the 1,000 residents remaining in the ghetto were shot
by an
Einsatzgruppe
(, ; also 'task forces') were (SS) paramilitary death squads of Nazi Germany that were responsible for mass murder, primarily by shooting, during World War II (1939–1945) in German-occupied Europe. The had an integral role in the imple ...
. During
Operation Bagration
Operation Bagration (; russian: Операция Багратио́н, Operatsiya Bagration) was the codename for the 1944 Soviet Byelorussian strategic offensive operation (russian: Белорусская наступательная оп ...
, the summer 1944 Soviet strategic offensive in Belarus, Lepiel was liberated on 3 July.
Education
Lepel has:
* 4 secondary schools
* An agrotechnical college
* A professional college
Transportation
Lepel is situated on a highway connecting
Minsk
Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...
and
Vitebsk
Vitebsk or Viciebsk (russian: Витебск, ; be, Ві́цебск, ; , ''Vitebsk'', lt, Vitebskas, pl, Witebsk), is a city in Belarus. The capital of the Vitebsk Region, it has 366,299 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth-largest c ...
, and is 115 km from Vitebsk and 155 km from Minsk. The town is connected by road to
Polatsk
Polotsk (russian: По́лоцк; be, По́лацк, translit=Polatsk (BGN/PCGN), Polack (official transliteration); lt, Polockas; pl, Połock) is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina River. It is the center of the Polotsk Dist ...
and by rail to
Orsha
Orsha ( be, О́рша, Во́рша, Orša, Vorša; russian: О́рша ; lt, Orša, pl, Orsza) is a city in Belarus in the Vitebsk Region, on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers.
History
Orsha was first mentioned in 1067 as Rsha ...
.
Notable people
People from Lyepyel:
*
Yawhen Kalinin
Yawhen Kalinin ( be, Яўген Калінін; russian: Евгений Калинин; born 15 August 1993) is a Belarusian professional footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of ...
(born 1993), footballer
*
Ivan Matskevich (born 1991), handballer
*
Anastasiya Mazgo (born 1995), handballer
*
Vladimir Motyl
Vladimir Yakovlevich Motyl (russian: Влади́мир Я́ковлевич Моты́ль; 26 June 1927 – 21 February 2010) was a Soviet and Belarusian film director and screenwriter.
Vladimir Motyl was born in Lepiel, Belarus. His fa ...
(1927-2010), director
*
Yauheni Zharnasek (born 1987), weightlifter
References
External links
Photos on Radzima.orgUnofficial siteHistory of the town, communityLepelin
Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and Other Slavic Countries(Polish)
The murder of the Jews of Lepielduring
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 ...
, at
Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...
website
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Belarus
Populated places in Vitebsk Region
Polotsk Voivodeship
Lepelsky Uyezd
Holocaust locations in Belarus