Vileyka

History

In the 10th–13th centuries, the territory was under the Principality of Polotsk, and in XIV–XVII under Grand Duchy of Lithuania as manor house Kurenets. The city was first mentioned in 1460 as a borough center of the Vileyka Starostwo of the Ashmyany county in Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

• 1635 – Władysław IV Vasa bestowed Vileyka upon Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski "for exclusive service to the state".
• 1765 – Vileyka has 30 houses, 165 inhabitants, and became a county center.
• 1793 – during the Second Partition of Poland the town is ceded to the Russian Empire.
• 1795 – under the decree of Catherine II of Russia the town receives the status of a city and becomes a center of Vileyka uyezd in Minsk Governorate, then Vilna Governorate (1842–1917).
• 1810, May 24 – almost the entire city is destroyed by the fire.
• 1861 – 2931 inhabitants, 1880 – 3450, by the end of 19th century – more than 3500 inhabitants.
• 1906 – big sawmill started.
• 1907 – the city acquires a branch of Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway and a city station.
• 1915, September 14 – occupied by the German Army, but several days later recovered by the Russian Army during the Sventiany Offensive.
• 1917, November 8 – Soviets come to power during the October Revolution
• 1918, December – occupied by German Army

• 1919 – ceded to Poland in the Peace of Riga following Polish–Soviet War, becoming the center of the Wilejka county in the Wilno Voivodeship (1923–1939)
• 1939 – annexed back to Soviet Union during the Soviet invasion of Poland in accordance with the conditions of the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Becomes center of the Vileyka Voblast of BSSR
• 1941, June 24-25 – following the German invasion of the USSR over 1,000 inmates from Vileyka prison were forcibly marched eastward towards Barysaw. During the march, an estimated 500 to 800 prisoners died at the hands of guards.
• 1941, June 25 – occupied by troops of the German Army Group Centre during the first stage of Operation Barbarossa and placed under the administration of the Generalbezirk Weißruthenien of Reichskommissariat Ostland. Over 15,000 civilians massacred including 6,972 Polish Jews. See also: Belarusian Home Defence (BKA) pacification actions
• 1941, July 12 and 30 – German SS forces murder the remaining Jewish citizens in Vileyka (over 500 people).
• 1944, July 2 – Vileyka recaptured by troops of the 3rd Belorussian Front of the Red Army during the Minsk Offensive.
• 1944 – the center of the Vileyka Raion formed
• 1954 – furniture plant started
• 1959 – repair plant opened
• 1973 – "Zenit-BelOMO" optical plant started
• 1973 – Vileyka reservoir started
• 1994 – Vileyka voted for Zianon Pazniak in the 1994 Belarusian presidential election
• 1998 – Vileyka hydropower station started

Geography

The modern city is located on the right bank of the river Viliya, in the northwest part of the Minsk region, 100 kilometers from Minsk. The town's population numbers 30,000 people. There is a railway station of the Maladzyechna–Polotsk line in the city. The roads to Maladzyechna, Smarhon, Myadzyel, Dokshytsy, Plyeshchanitsy run through the city. The town's industry is represented by the Zenit plant, wood processing enterprises (including a furniture factory), a motor repair plant, building materials plants, light and food enterprises. Vileyka also houses the Museum of Regional Studies.

The territory of the Vileyka district is 2400 km2. Forests account for 41% of the territory. The main part of the district is situated within the borders of Narach-Vileyka lowland. In the year 1974, near the town of Vileyka Belarus's largest artificial reservoir was built — Vileyka reservoir with a total area of 63.3 km2 and a volume of 238 e6m3.

Demography

| 1897| 3600 | 1921| 3417 | 1931| 5848 | 1939| 7500 | 1959| 8200 | 1970| 12200 | 1979| 20747 | 1989| 28077 | 2006| 28103 | 2018| 26760 | 2023| 26811 | 2024| 26625 | 2025| 26375 According to the 1921 census, the town's population was 62.8% Polish, 27.4% Belarusian and 8.1% Jewish.

Notable residents

• Alaksandar Ułasaŭ (1874–1941), Belarusian politician, a founder and the first editor of the newspaper Naša Niva, and a victim of Stalin's purges
• Vitaly Artist (born 1977). A founder and leader of the musical band Bez Bileta https://www.experty.by/category/artisty/artist-vitalii.

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Vileyka is twinned with:

• Russia Mozhaysk, Russia
• Ukraine Pereiaslav, Ukraine
• USA Willmar, Minnesota, United States

Notes

References

References

1. "Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа".
2. (1997). "Zbrodnicza ewakuacja więzień i aresztów NKWD na Kresach Wschodnich II Rzeczypospolitej w czerwcu – lipcu 1941 roku. Materiały z sesji naukowej w 55. rocznicę ewakuacji więźniów NKWD w głąb ZSRR, Łódź 10 czerwca 1996 r.". Główna Komisja Badania Zbrodni przeciwko Narodowi Polskiemu – Instytut Pamięci Narodowej.
3. Dr. Smilovitsky, Vileika [http://www.jewishgen.org/Yizkor/belarus/bel160.html (Polish: Wilejka)] JewishGen, Yizkor Book Project. From materials of the Extraordinary Commission.
4. [http://www.zenit-belomo.by/index-eng.htm Zenit-BelOMO], zenit-belomo.by
5. Беларуская Савецкая Энцыклапедыя: у 12 т. / гал. рэд. П. У. Броўка. — Т. 12: БССР. — Мн.: Беларуская Савецкая Энцыклапедыя, 1975. — С. 697.
6. . (1923). "Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom VII. Część II". *Główny Urząd Statystyczny*.
7. [link](https://web.archive.org/web/20200918203113/http://mbc.cyfrowemazowsze.pl/dlibra/plain-content?id=14478. — Warszawa: Główny Urząd Statystyczny, 1933. — S. 1–5.)
8. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1970 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик (кроме РСФСР), их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу".
9. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1979 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик (кроме РСФСР), их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу".
10. "Всесоюзная перепись населения 1989 г. Численность городского населения союзных республик, их территориальных единиц, городских поселений и городских районов по полу".
11. Минская область в цифрах. — Мінск: Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь, 2018. — С. 45–48.
12. Минская область в цифрах. — Мінск: Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь, 2013. — С. 44–48.
13. "Численность населения на 1 января 2023 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2022 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа".
14. "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа".