Velizh

Velizh stands on the Western Dvina, where a frontier fortress guarded the eastern approaches to Lithuania. Its lands once belonged to the Smolensk and Toropets principalities before passing to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the fourteenth century. A new fortress was built on Castle Hill in 1536, with towers and ditches protecting the town on the river.

Velizh changed hands repeatedly in the wars between Muscovy and Lithuania. Jan Zamoyski's forces captured it in 1580, and King Stephen Báthory granted privileges and a coat of arms in 1585. Russia occupied it in 1654, but the truce of Andrusovo restored it to the Commonwealth in 1667. Russian rule returned after the first partition in 1772. French troops occupied Velizh during the campaign of 1812. In 1823 a false accusation of ritual murder led to the arrest of many Jewish inhabitants; some remained imprisoned until 1835.