Lepel is a town located in the center of the Lepiel District in the Vitebsk Province of Belarus

Belarus

Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

 near Lepiel Lake. Lepiel is situated at about 54°52′N 28°40′E and its population in the 1998 census was 19,400.

The coat of arms

Coat of arms

A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...

 of Lepel incorporates the Pahonia

Pahonia

The Pahonia , transliteration: Pahonya, , Lithuanian: Vytis, Pagaunė, is a historical symbol of Grand Duchy of Lithuania, of which the eastern part later became known as Belarus...

 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 fifteenth century, the town belonged to the Grand Lithuanian Dukes. In 1439 thanks to efforts of a Roman Catholic priest, Kucharski, Grand Lithuanian Duke Sigismund Kęstutaitis

Sigismund Kestutaitis

Sigismund Kęstutaitis was the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1432 to 1440. Sigismund was his baptismal name; Sigismund's pagan Lithuanian birth name is unknown. He was son of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Kęstutis and his wife Birutė....

' son Michael gave Lepel to the Vitebsk Roman Catholic church. King Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I the Old

Sigismund I of Poland , of the Jagiellon dynasty, reigned as King of Poland and also as the Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1506 until 1548...

 subsequently confirmed the gift and in 1541 by approbation of pontiff, the townlands were gifted to the Vitebsk Cathedral.

After Polatsk

Polatsk

Polotsk , is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. It is the center of Polotsk district in Vitsebsk Voblast. Its population is more than 80,000 people...

 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

Grand Duchy of Moscow

The Grand Duchy of Moscow or Grand Principality of Moscow, also known in English simply as Muscovy , was a late medieval Rus' principality centered on Moscow, and the predecessor state of the early modern Tsardom of Russia....

. The decision was made to donate Lepel to King Sigismund II Augustus

Sigismund II Augustus

Sigismund II Augustus I was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, the only son of Sigismund I the Old, whom Sigismund II succeeded in 1548...

 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

Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River. Situated west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history since it was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk...

. After Yury Zenovich died, Sigismund gave the town to Michael Daragastaisky and it then came into the hands of Stefan Batory

Stefan Batory

Stephen Báthory was a Hungarian noble Prince of Transylvania , then King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania . He was a member of the Somlyó branch of the noble Hungarian Báthory family...

. Batory eventually returned the property to the Vitebsk government when Polatsk

Polatsk

Polotsk , is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. It is the center of Polotsk district in Vitsebsk Voblast. Its population is more than 80,000 people...

 was liberated.

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

Lew Sapieha . He was born in Astrouna , near Vitsebsk, Belarus. He became Great Secretary of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1580, Great Clerk of the Grand Duchy in 1581, Court Chancellor of the GDL in 1585, Grand Chancellor of the GDL from 1589 until 1623, Voivode of Vilnius in 1621, Great...

, a leading politician. Sapieha eventually donated Lepel in 1609 to Bernardine nuns in Vinius (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

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...

 in 1793, Lepel was joined to Russia and in 1802 the town became the center of the region. The town suffered greatly in the 1812 French invasion of Russia

French invasion of Russia

The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...

 thanks to passing troops razing many buildings to the ground. On the 9th of September 1852 Lepel was awarded its own coat of arms. Jan Czeczot

Jan Czeczot

Jan Czeczot of Ostoja was a noble of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth of Belarusian origin, romantic poet and ethnographer. Fascinated by folk lore and traditional folk songs of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania, confederal part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, he recollected hundreds of...

 worked for the direction of channels in Lepel during the period 1833-1839.
In 1880 population of Lepel consisted from 5284 people, including 2458 Jews, 2281 Orthodox, 536 Roman Catholics.

By 1913 Lepel had lost its strategy and trade concernment and was a quiet and typically regional town center.

On Nov.10th 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 penetrating the region. The fighting was successfull for the Poles still the commanding officer - leuthenant Stanisław Jacheć was the only Polish victim of the clash. Heavy fightings between the bolshevik troops and the Polish Army (30th regiment of the Rifles of Kaniów of XX brigade) continued all the November 1919 and the Polish-Soviet frontline was established there till spring 1920.

Transportation

Lepel is situated on a highway connecting Minsk

Minsk

- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...

 and Vitebsk

Vitebsk

Vitebsk, also known as Viciebsk or Vitsyebsk , is a city in Belarus, near the border with Russia. The capital of the Vitebsk Oblast, in 2004 it had 342,381 inhabitants, making it the country's fourth largest city...

; 115 km from Vitebsk, 155 km from Minsk. Also there is a road to Polatsk

Polatsk

Polotsk , is a historical city in Belarus, situated on the Dvina river. It is the center of Polotsk district in Vitsebsk Voblast. Its population is more than 80,000 people...

. Connected by the railway to Orsha

Orsha

Orsha is a city in Belarus in Vitebsk voblast on the fork of the Dnieper and Arshytsa rivers.-Facts:*Location: *Population: 125,000 *Phone code: +375 216*Postal codes: 211030, 211381–211394, 211396–211398-History:...

.

External links

• Photos on Radzima.org
• http://www.newlepel.com - unofficial site
• http://www.mylepel.info - history of the town, community
• Lepel in Geographical Dictionary of Polish Kingdom and Other Slavic Countries(Polish)