Minsk

Minsk stands on the Svislach, where the Nyamiha once joined it, amid the lands between the Dvina and the Dnieper. It is first mentioned in 1067, when a battle was fought on the Nyamiha, and it became the centre of a principality formed from the lands of Polotsk. The Mongols did not reach it, and it later joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania peacefully, its local elite keeping high rank. In 1441 Casimir IV listed Minsk among the towns with privileges, and in 1499 Alexander Jagiellon granted it Magdeburg law.

A fire in 1547 led to a partial redesign of the streets, and the market moved from in front of the castle to the present Freedom Square, a few hundred metres south. After the Union of Lublin in 1569, Minsk district had two seats in the Sejm. In 1591 the city received its arms, showing the Virgin carried up to heaven by angels. Minsk was an Orthodox centre, but after the Union of Brest Catholic and Uniate institutions grew. The war with Muscovy in 1654–67 left it with only about 2,000 people and 300 houses. Russia annexed Minsk in 1793 as the capital of a new governorate, and in 1812 Marshal Davout's corps occupied it as a supply base.