Bely

Bely stands on the Obsha, amid the forests between the Dnieper and Western Dvina basins. First mentioned in 1359, it belonged to the Smolensk lands and became a frontier town contested by Lithuania, Moscow and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its position made its fortress a frequent object of campaigns and treaties.

Russian troops took Bely in 1613, but the Truce of Deulino assigned it to the Commonwealth in 1618. Under Polish rule the town received Magdeburg rights in 1625. During the Smolensk War Russian forces occupied it again in 1632; in 1634 its garrison held out against a siege led by King Władysław IV. Despite that defence, the ensuing peace returned Bely to the Commonwealth. The Truce of Andrusovo in 1667 finally placed it under Russian rule. Later fires repeatedly damaged the town, prompting a regular plan approved in 1769.