What's in the mold. Lepel - Belarusian median. Prices for travelers to Lepel

April 19th, 2015 , 09:31 pm

Lepel (emphasis on the first syllable) is the second Belarusian city after Dokshitsy that we visited in the hot summer of 2012. Lepel looks larger and more impressive than Dokshitsy, which looks more like a village. There are more people and more interesting things here. In Lepel there is a modestly preserved piece of the old town and dead-end railway station. Among other things, Lepel stands on the shore of a picturesque lake.

See how the average middle-sized Belarusian province lives approximately in the middle of the country - below the cut.

1. The central square of Lepel - Svoboda is an intersection with a large roundabout, inside of which there is a public garden with flower beds and Lenin, and outside, along the circle, there are administrative buildings.
One of them is the district executive committee, local administration:

2. Wikipedia claims that people lived in the vicinity of Lepel 9 thousand years BC. In the Lepel region, archaeologists have discovered sites from the Mesolithic era.
In addition to the administration on the central square there is a cultural center:

3. On a warm August evening, after rain, a rainbow appeared over the wet Lepel asphalt and Lenin:

4. The history of Lepel is generally similar to the history of neighboring Dokshitsy and is typical for these regions. It began its existence as a village in the Principality of Polotsk, and later in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
Along the central square there is also a local branch of Belarusbank and several shops, including the obligatory Belwest.
In the photo, in the middle of a flowerbed in front of a two-story pink government building, you can see a monument to the Lepelchanin. For some reason I didn’t take a closer picture of it, apparently I didn’t notice:

4a. That's why I'm bringing photos from the web. The monument is completely new, from 2011. In Lepel, as they say, a peculiar tradition has appeared to erect new monuments almost every year, on the city day. A couple more monuments from this series will be below. Many people are surprised why the Lepelchanin is represented as a kind of selyuk, riding a sheep, with a pig and a chicken under his arm.
Photo taken from here: http://www.lepel.by/news_396.html

5. The first mention of Lepel dates back to 1439. Like most of Belarus, which is in the path of military attacks on Russia, Lepel was attacked and looted many times.
One of the main attractions of Lepel is the post office building from 1902 (brick, on the right), which is still used for its intended purpose. To the left, the building of the education department of the Lepel district executive committee is closely adjacent to it.

6. We visited Lepel twice - on a weekend evening, when the streets were quite crowded, and on a weekday, when the streets of Lepel were a little less than completely deserted. I asked the same question - where did everyone go - in the story about Dokshitsy.
View of the square, located inside the traffic circle in the central square. The flower beds there, by the way, are gorgeous. As you can guess from the number of people, this is a weekend evening:

7. Initially, Lepel was located on an island in Lake Lepel and partly on the western shore, where today the village of Stary Lepel is located.
There, on the main square, there is a school of art, which apparently means an art school:

8. In 1558-1583 there was a Lepel castle. The status of the city has been since 1563. In 1586, Lepel was sold to the famous philanthropist, Hetman Lev Sapega. With him, Lepel was somewhat more fortunate than the Dokshitsy, whom the Polish-Lithuanian landowners endlessly sold, transferred, inherited and divided. Sapieha gave the city a certain impetus in terms of development, including industrial development. Plus, it was he who founded the town of Bely Lepel, or New Lepel, in the village of Belaya, on the shore, in 1586, where a shopping center, a church and a church were moved. It is this Lepel that has already survived to this day. Therefore, in some places Sapega is called the founder of Lepel, although the city already existed before him for more than a century.
From the central square along the cozy Lepel streets we head towards the lake:

9. Since 1793, Lepel has been part of Russia. In 1805, by decree of Alexander I, the city received district status. Lepel became a significant trade and cultural center; a pharmacy, a school, an Orthodox cathedral and a Catholic church appeared in the city. After the fire of 1833, the city began to be built according to a regular plan.
A small number of beautiful pre-revolutionary buildings have been preserved on Leninskaya Street. This building is occupied by the district executive committee, which does not fit into the new one shown in photo 1. On the right you can see the yellow transition between them, i.e. in fact they have grown together:

10. By the end of the 19th century, Lepel had grown to 6 thousand people. There are 3 Orthodox churches and 4 synagogues in the city. There are 4 factories. The large Transfiguration Cathedral was built in 1844 and dismantled after the war.

11. At the beginning of the 20th century, Lepel, like the whole of Belarus as a whole, found itself under the rink of a continuous series of wars, occupations and conquests, including the German occupation during the First World War, the Polish one in 1919-1920.
Former shopping arcades, which are now occupied by local union printing and insurance:

12. But the worst thing, of course, was the Great Patriotic War. The Nazis occupied the city on July 3, 1941, bombing it. He was released only in June 1944.
In 1941, a ghetto was organized in Lepel, where Jews from all over the city and its environs were resettled. In the ghetto, Jews were subjected to inhumane conditions, many died. Already at the beginning of 1942, they were all killed. In total, the Germans killed more than 5,000 people in Lepel.
In the photo - the building of the editorial office of the newspaper "Lepelsky Krai":

13. At the end of Leninskaya Street, almost on the shore of the lake, stands the Church of St. Casimir - a characteristic Catholic cathedral. Built in 1857-1876 at the expense of a local citizen. In 1935, the church was closed and the priest was arrested. At first the building was abandoned, but in the 70s and 80s it housed a garage and a transformer substation. Worship services resumed in 1993.

14. Catholicism was developed in Lepel long before the construction of the Church of St. Casimir. The parish was founded in 1602, when Lev Sapieha ordered the construction of a Catholic church here.

15. In 2010, a predictable monument to Lev Sapieha was erected near the walls of the church. This is exactly one of those monuments that laid the foundation for the above-described Lepel tradition of annually installing new sculptures. During the Time of Troubles, Lev Sapega participated in the preparation of the intervention of Polish troops in Russia and supported both False Dmitrievs.
Already in 2013, after our trip, a monument to Tsmok, a legendary creature living in Belarusian swamps and lakes, in particular in Lepelskoye, was erected in the city.

16. Belarus, and especially the Vitebsk region, is a land of picturesque lakes. And the image of Lepel as a typical Belarusian city is complemented by Lake Lepel, on the shore of which it is located.Lake Lepelskoye is quite large and ranks third in the country in terms of coastline length.

17. You can go to the picturesque shore of the lake a five-minute walk from the central square - at the local PKiO, filled with nice Soviet artifacts.

18. Sunday Lepel is relatively crowded in the evening. There are a lot of young people. The guys hang out in groups, talk loudly, and drink. Some dead BMWs with roaring mufflers are rolling along the roads. There is a feeling of slight danger in the air, which is not what you would expect from Belarus, the image of which is filled exclusively with blueberries, storks, sanatoriums and Soviet nostalgia. The atmosphere is more like in Ukrainian towns. The feeling of Ukraine was enhanced by the abundance of dark-haired girls with characteristic facial features. Still, Belarusian women are very recognizable, and they differ greatly from Ukrainian women.

19. Lepel unexpectedly turned out to be related to what we recently visited in the Tver region - in the vicinity of Lepel at the end of the 18th century, the Berezinsky water system of canals, similar to Vyshnevolotsk, was built, connecting the Dnieper (Black Sea basin) and the Western Dvina (Baltic).
Unlike Vyshny Volochok, the canals of the Berezinsky system do not pass directly through the city, and they are much worse preserved than the canals of the Vyshny Volochyok system, so this is not noticeable in the city. However, Lake Lepel is part of this waterway, and outside the city, in the Lepel district, there are still abandoned canals.
The mermaid on the shore of the lake is another “annual” monument. It should refer to the Copenhagen sculpture of a mermaid, but given her build and the stump on which she sits, I rather remember the cartoon “Ivan Tsarevich and the Gray Wolf”:

20. Also on the Ulla River, flowing from Lake Lepel, not far from the city there is a small hydroelectric power station built in 1958. During the construction of the hydroelectric power station, a small area was dammed, as a result of which the water in the lake rose by 3.5 meters, which is why Lake Lepel is sometimes called a reservoir. In the 70s, the hydroelectric power station was abandoned, in 2003 it was reconstructed and restarted, and two turbines from the 50s, which had not lost their usability during 30 years of downtime, were put back into operation.
A pleasant fact about the revival of once abandoned objects. Maybe someday the water system will be put in order.
Summer scene in the park:

21. The Soviet era in the history of Lepel was marked by a large-scale restoration of the war-ravaged city, as well as the emergence of most of the Lepel industry.
Lepelchanki bathe at sunset:

22. If my memory serves me right, these three houses on the western shore of the lake are located exactly at the historical location of Lepel.

23. In Lepel there are touches, in addition to the goofy youth, that somewhat knock him out of the beautiful image of the blue-eyed one. For example, outright dirt and garbage on a couple of streets, abandoned houses.

24. And also, forgive me for the details, in Lepel there is the worst station toilet ever seen, which by chance I had to use. It didn’t occur to me to take a photo of him. In the photo - a toilet in the park:

25. However, back to the good stuff. On Leninskaya Street there are bathhouses of a standard Soviet design. The project, however, was quite successful. In other industrial towns, this building may well be the most beautiful in the city.
Twins of these baths have been seen in many places, for example, in Novoulyanovsk.

26. We entered this establishment with the intention of drinking a cup of coffee and the timid hope of some pastries. There is a cafe on the ground floor. It seemed open, but the girls said they were no longer working and sent us to the second floor, to a restaurant.
In the restaurant, three Belarusian beauties gathered in a group and indulged in communication. Having with difficulty taken away their simple menu, we found the coveted coffee in it, but never got the opportunity to order. The girls did not look in our direction at all; they responded to our requests with indifference. As a result, we managed to get into a catering company in the Russian Federation, in the Smolensk region.

27. In my opinion, the longest and most mind-blowing acronym I have ever seen is:

28. From the center we slowly move away to the outskirts.
Church of the Nativity 2000s:

29. Near the station square is the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, built in 2004. Too lazy to come closer:

30. Next door is the Seventh Day Adventist Church:

31. An infantry fighting vehicle (?) was installed on the station square “in memory of the soldiers who honorably fulfilled the sacred duty of defender of the homeland”:

32. Station of the dead-end railway line "Orsha - Lepel", built in 1925. Suburban communication with Orsha is represented by two and a half pairs of trains:

33. Beautiful building on the street. Soviet - like a school:

34. One of the most interesting buildings in the city is a pre-revolutionary distillery, also called the “wine purification warehouse” (1897):

35. Opposite the market square is a department store, respectable for Lepel, with a rare Soviet sign. By the way, this is the middle of a weekday - not a soul on the street:

36. As in, a significant part of the city is the private sector. As in Dokshytsy, water is obtained in buckets from pumps:

37. Unlike Dokshitsy, Lepel has at least some kind of industry that creates jobs in the city. This, in addition to the railway and the restored hydroelectric power station, is a dairy plant, the products of which I even had a chance to try, a bakery, an electromechanical plant that produces gear wheels and for some reason furniture, a forestry enterprise and some other small things.

38. The private sector in Lepel is also very picturesque - nice bright houses, well-groomed front gardens, neat fences:

39. I heard somewhere that the wheel covers above the entrance are not just decoration, but a tribute to the ancient religious tradition of these places - the circle should symbolize the sun:

40. New high-rise buildings in Lepel are not architectural masterpieces, but they have a right to life. They resemble those in other regions of Russia - for example, in Mordovia.

Lepel is a nice, neat town, not devoid of attractions. It’s quite possible to come here to get a general impression of the provincial towns of the center and north of Belarus. The main thing is to take food and a thermos with coffee or tea...

Center of the Lepelsky district of the Vitebsk region. The city is located on the shores of Lake Lepel, 115 kilometers from Vitebsk. Connected by roads with Polotsk, Minsk, Vitebsk, Orsha and Ula. Here is the final station of the Orsha-Lepel railway line.

Lepel was first mentioned in written sources in 1439, in this year the Lepel land was given to the Vitebsk Church by Prince Mikhail Zhigimontovich. In 1541, Zhigimont I the Old transferred the Lepel Island to the Vilna Chapter.

During the Livonian War, a castle was built on the island. The castle burned down in 1563, and the “place” of Lepel arose next to the ashes in the same year. Today this is the village of Stary Lepel.

In 1568, Lepel was part of the possession of the Polotsk church priest Zenovich, and later it was owned by the Polotsk governor Dorogostaisky. In 1586, the Lepel lands were bought by Lev Sapega, who founded Bely (or New) Lepel, three kilometers from the “place,” a city that we know today. A shopping center was moved here, a castle, a church and a church were built.

In 1609, Old and New Lepel were donated by the Sapiehas to the Vilna Monastery of Bernandines.

On July 3, 1812, Lepel was captured by the French and burned. After 40 years, the city received its own coat of arms, reminiscent of the “Pursuit” - a silver horseman on a red field.

From July 7, 1941 to August 26, 1944, the city was occupied by German troops, who killed more than 1,000 of its inhabitants. The day of Lepel's liberation from the Nazi invaders is celebrated as a city holiday.

Lepel residents and guests of the republic are invited to take part in the July folk festivals “Kupalye”, which regularly take place on lakes Lepelskoye and Svyatoe.

In modern Lepel there is a local history museum, founded in 1954. The exhibition area is 237 sq. meters, about 14 thousand exhibits of the main fund are presented. Six halls house exhibitions dedicated to the history of the Lepel region. Among the exhibits are objects of labor, jewelry from the 8th-12th centuries AD, found during excavations of ancient settlements in the region, documents and materials about the revolutionary movement of the 19th - early 20th centuries, civil war, industrialization, and repressions of the Soviet period. A special place is occupied by the exhibition dedicated to the Great Patriotic War. Work and household items, pottery, national clothing, and folk musical instruments are on display. In the nature section, stuffed animals and birds of the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve are exhibited.

There is also a House of Crafts in the city, specializing in pottery and sewing national costumes. Visitors are given the opportunity to craft under the guidance of experienced mentors.

Guests of Lepel can stay in the private sector of the city or take advantage of the offer of the hospitable hosts of the Priozernaya estate, located in the village of Stary Lepel. In addition, a few kilometers before Lepel, there is a hotel complex on the highway where you can not only drink coffee and have a snack, but also visit a small “museum” of old cars. In the Berezinsky Nature Reserve, which is also nearby, there are cozy houses for tourists.

Billiards, the Volna restaurant, and the Na Lune cafe, where discos are held, are open until late at night in Lepel. Roadside service is well developed, there are private cafes. Near the city there are specialized parking lots for heavy vehicles, parking lots for passenger cars, and service stations. Tourist equipment can be rented at the Community Center and the health and fitness center.

The city has several parks, and on the shores of lakes there are beaches - changing rooms, gazebos, wooden statues of animals. There is an open amphitheater and a dance floor. An arboretum with exotic trees and plants has been established.

The legendary Tsmok, the cool “Piglet”, a giant oak tree, a stone with footprints and paw marks in the “land of yellow water lilies and gray boulders”

Everyone spends their summer vacation differently. Some people go abroad to bask in the waves of the warm sea, some attend concerts and exhibitions, and some don’t mind getting to know each other better. Moreover, the latter option is becoming more and more popular: it does not require any special financial expenses, vivid emotions and unforgettable impressions are guaranteed, and sometimes you even manage to find something interesting.

One of these routes could be “the land of yellow water lilies and gray boulders” - Lepel. The city was first mentioned in historical chronicles in 1439, although human settlements appeared here in the Mesolithic era.

The history of the city is inextricably linked with the name of the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, who founded a new one (the district center is located on this site today) and moved the center of the settlement to it from Stary Lepel (today the village in).

Monument to Lev Sapieha at the entrance to the city park. Photo by Sasha Mai

The origin of the city's name itself is also of interest. Some associate the toponym “Lepel” with the Belarusian word “lepei”; others - with pottery, common in this area (modeling, sculpting); others - with the Lithuanian “lepele” and the Latvian “lepe”, which means “yellow water lilies”; the fourth - with the word “leppa” (alder) of Finno-Ugric origin...

Today we offer five reasons why you need to visit this cozy regional center.

Reason one. Lakes

What could be better than a summer vacation on the lake? Only relaxation on Lake Lepelskoe - local residents are sure. And it doesn’t matter what you choose: a well-maintained beach, rental of catamarans and boats, a boat trip or fishing - a great time is guaranteed.

By the way, Lepel, following Braslav and Glubokoe, is also called the lake region. There are about 140 lakes in the region, the largest of which, occupies an area of ​​more than 10 square kilometers, and the length of its coastline reaches almost 40 kilometers.

Lepel Lake is the pearl of the region. Photo by Sasha Mai

The Mermaid sculpture adorns the city park. Photo by Sasha Mai

The two-meter Lepelsky Tsmok is distinguished by its enviable good nature: it takes pictures with all tourists with a smile and even invites you to the international mythology festival, which traditionally takes place in August.

Good-natured Tsmok on the shore of Lake Lepel. Photo by Sasha Mai

By the way, Tsmok in the city park is not the only dragon-like character in Lepel. A year ago, a sculpture of a dragon appeared near the building of the local city gas station (RGS).

Such a cute dragon “lives” near the gorgaz building. Photo by Sasha Mai

Reason four. Natural monuments of the area

Perhaps the most famous natural monument in the region can be called the “Tsar Oak” in the village of Tadulino. The height of the giant oak, which, by the way, is protected by the state, is about 26 meters, and its age is 300-400 years.

Lepelshchyna is also famous for its boulders. In the village of Toronkovichi, on the site of a pagan temple, an altar stone was discovered, the length of which exceeds four meters.

And not far from the village of Bolshoy Polsvizh there is the so-called Holy Stone, which is the only one found in the Lepel region. Its remarkable feature is that on the stone you can see impressions of animal paws and human feet.

Reason five. Museum of Local Lore

The local history museum was opened in the 50s of the last century. Today, residents and guests of the city can visit six exhibition halls. Among them: the nature hall, where stuffed animals and birds are exhibited, and the historical past hall, which displays materials from archaeological excavations, coins, medals, seals, tools, musical instruments, dishes and other items. A special place in the museum is given to materials dedicated to

The building of the local history museum in Lepel. Photo by Sasha Mai

One of the most unique exhibits is the horn of an aurochs, an animal that became extinct in the 17th century. A future exhibit 60 centimeters long was found at the bottom of Lake Okono.

Getting to Lepel is not difficult. The city is located slightly away from the Vitebsk-Minsk highway. The journey will take no more than an hour and a half (the distance to Lepel is about 110 kilometers). And from the Vitebsk bus station, minibuses and buses run almost every hour to the regional center.

Lepel Center. Photo zamnoy.com

Everyone spends their summer vacation differently. Some people go abroad to bask in the waves of the warm sea, some attend concerts and exhibitions in the festival Vitebsk, and some don’t mind getting to know the unknown Vitebsk region better. Moreover, the latter option is becoming more and more popular: it does not require any special financial expenses, vivid emotions and unforgettable impressions are guaranteed, and sometimes you even manage to find something interesting.

Lepel. View from a helicopter. Photo lepel.by

One of these routes could be “the land of yellow water lilies and gray boulders” - Lepel. The city was first mentioned in historical chronicles in 1439, although human settlements appeared here in the Mesolithic era.

The history of the city is inextricably linked with the name of the Chancellor of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania Lev Sapega, who founded the new Lepel (the district center is located on this site today) and moved the center of the settlement to it from Stary Lepel (today a village in the Lepel district).

Monument to Lev Sapieha at the entrance to the city park. Photo by Sasha Mai

The origin of the city's name itself is also of interest. Some associate the toponym “Lepel” with the Belarusian word “lepei”; others - with pottery, common in this area (modeling, sculpting); others - with the Lithuanian “lepele” and the Latvian “lepe”, which means “yellow water lilies”; the fourth - with the word “leppa” (alder) of Finno-Ugric origin...

Today we offer five reasons why you need to visit this cozy regional center.

Reason one. Lakes

What could be better than a summer vacation on the lake? Only relaxation on Lake Lepelskoe - local residents are sure. And it doesn’t matter what you choose: a well-maintained beach, rental of catamarans and boats, a boat trip or fishing - a great time is guaranteed.

By the way, Lepel, following Braslav and Glubokoe, is also called the lake region. There are about 140 lakes in the region, the largest of which is Lepelskoye, which covers an area of ​​more than 10 square kilometers, and the length of its coastline reaches almost 40 kilometers.

Lake Lepel is the pearl of the region. Photo by Sasha Mai

The Mermaid sculpture adorns the city park. Photo by Sasha Mai

The two-meter-tall Lepelsky Tsmok is distinguished by its enviable good nature: it takes pictures with all tourists with a smile and even invites you to the international mythology festival “Visiting Lepelsky Tsmok,” which traditionally takes place in August.

Good-natured Tsmok on the shore of Lake Lepel. Photo by Sasha Mai

(Darechy, forged book for soaking made by Beshankovitsky cavalry Andrey Trubetskoy .http://site)

By the way, Tsmok in the city park is not the only dragon-like character in Lepel. A year ago, a sculpture of a dragon appeared near the building of the local city gas station (RGS).

Such a cute dragon “lives” near the gorgaz building. Photo by Sasha Mai

Reason four. Natural monuments of the area

Perhaps the most famous natural monument in the region can be called the “Tsar Oak” in the village of Tadulino. The height of the giant oak, which, by the way, is a natural monument of republican significance and is protected by the state, is about 26 meters, and its age is 300-400 years.

Giant oak in Tadulino. Photo holiday.by

Lepelshchyna is also famous for its boulders. In the village of Toronkovichi, on the site of a pagan temple, an altar stone was discovered, the length of which exceeds four meters.

A huge boulder near the village of Toronkovichi. Photo holiday.by

And not far from the village of Bolshoi Polsvizh there is the so-called Holy Stone, which is the only trace found in the Lepel region. Its remarkable feature is that on the stone you can see impressions of animal paws and human feet.

Reason five. Museum of Local Lore

The local history museum was opened in the 50s of the last century. Today, residents and guests of the city can visit six exhibition halls. Among them: the nature hall, where stuffed animals and birds are exhibited, and the historical past hall, which displays materials from archaeological excavations, coins, medals, seals, tools, musical instruments, dishes and other items. A special place in the museum is given to materials dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.

The building of the local history museum in Lepel. Photo by Sasha Mai

One of the most unique exhibits is the horn of an aurochs, an animal that became extinct in the 17th century. A future exhibit 60 centimeters long was found at the bottom of Lake Okono.

Getting to Lepel is not difficult. The city is located slightly away from the Vitebsk-Minsk highway. The journey will take no more than an hour and a half (the distance to Lepel is about 110 kilometers). And from the Vitebsk bus station, minibuses and buses run almost every hour to the regional center.

How to get to Lepel.