10 reasons to visit Disna

  • Disna is the smallest town in Belarus.
  • Disna has its own island, which has preserved the ramparts of the old fortress.
  • Two rivers meet in the town – Disna and Daugava.
  • The banks of the Disna River are connected by a century-old bridge with a wooden deck.
  • You can take a ferry across the Daugava River.
  • In the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, you will venerate a miraculous icon from the late 16th – early 17th century and the relics of the hieromartyr Konstantin Zhdanov.
  • The town has old cobblestone streets.
  • Six famous films were shot in Disna.
  • The Disna River is recognized as clean.
  • We will tell you the great history of a small town!

The town of Disna grew on the site of a small fortress, Kopets-gorodok, founded by the Polotsk Krivichi in the early 11th century. The Kopets fortress protected the capital Polotsk from frequent attacks by the knights of the Livonian Order.

Until the second half of the 16th century, the town was a small settlement in the Polotsk Voivodeship; from 1563, the settlement was transformed into a местечко (small town).

In 1567, Sigismund Augustus named Disna a town and granted it a coat of arms – "three towers from a wall". But Disna truly became a fully-fledged town in 1569, when it received its second coat of arms – "The Boat" – and the right to self-government.

During the Livonian War (1558 – 1583), Disna was the residence of King Stephen Báthory, a gathering place for a huge army preparing to storm Polotsk, which had been captured by Ivan the Terrible.

The events of the Russo-Swedish War (1700 – 1721) bypassed the town, but during these years the town burned down twice: it could not avoid decline, despite the fact that the head of administration was the wealthiest prince Alexander Menshikov.

The tragic fate befell the residents of Disna during the Great Patriotic War. The city was occupied by the Nazi invaders from July 1941. In one mass grave alone lie 3800 Jewish residents of the city, shot in 1942.

With the cessation of navigation on the Western Dvina and the laying of a railway line away from the city, Disna lost its strategic position and became a city of district subordination. But the spirit of a 19th-century district town has been preserved in Disna: where balls were held by the local nobility, where Adam Mickiewicz dedicated a poem to the charming townswoman Kostrovitskaya, where the professional Belarusian theater under the direction of Ignat Buyanitsky began, where six famous films were shot. Hospitable people live in Disna, who know the history of their city, proudly preserve it, and are ready to share it with their guests!

Attractions of Disna

Castle Island. Disna Castle was founded on an island washed on one side by the Western Dvina River and on the other by the Disna River. It originated in 1554. It consisted of the Lower and Upper Castles. Both were built of wood and reinforced with earthen ramparts. In the 18th century, the fortifications of Disna Castle were destroyed. Only the ramparts of the Lower Castle remained.

100-year-old bridge with a wooden deck was built in 1906-1907. In 1944, one of the spans was blown up and replaced with a trophy element of a different structural type. The water level in the Disna under the bridge changes by up to 8 m during the year!

Synagogue. By the beginning of the 20th century, Jews constituted the majority of Disna's residents. There were 9 synagogues in the city, but to date, only the building at the intersection of Yubileynaya and Lenina streets has survived. Currently, it houses a production workshop of KUPP "Vitebchanka".

Building of the former "Riga" hotel (19th century). Currently a residential building.

Gymnasium. The gymnasium was organized in 1921 in the building of the tsarist prison. In addition to classrooms, the gymnasium had a equipped gym, a handicraft workshop with machine tools, a biology room, behind which was a huge botanical garden. The teaching of humanities was at a high level, student self-government, a theater club worked well, and a monthly magazine "Nash holas" was published. The famous Belarusian painter, graphic artist, sculptor, writer, folklorist, ethnographer, and archaeologist Jazep Drozdovich studied at the gymnasium. Later, the gymnasium became a ten-year school. And today, a nursing care hospital is located here.

Rabbi's House – the religious leader of the Jewish community. Currently, the building houses the administration of the city of Disna.

Church of the Resurrection of Christ was built in 1870 in the retro-Russian style. The church houses: the icon of the Mother of God "Odigitria" from the late 16th – early 17th century, a charter and an image of Patriarch Tikhon with a particle of his relics, as well as the relics of Hieromartyr Konstantin Zhdanov.

Park – Alexander Garden was founded in the late 18th – early 19th centuries.

Building of the district branch of the temperance guardianship (House of Sobriety), on the stage of which in 1911, a troupe of actors performed under the direction of the founder of the first professional Belarusian theater, Ignat Bujnitski.

Church of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary. Built in 1773, destroyed during World War II. Its restoration began in 2006.

Church in honor of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God "Odigitria" was built in the early 20th century in the pseudo-Russian style.

Hospital Ruins. The construction of the hospital was carried out in 1901-1903. It was designed for 100 beds. In its time, it treated royal persons, Poles, Soviet soldiers, and German officers. Here, Red Army commander Gai gave speeches, poet Demyan Bedny recited poems, and Belarusian writer Mikhas Mashara performed. Not every hospital can "boast" such a rich history. In 1944, the hospital burned down and was never rebuilt.

Fire Tower.The fire of June 16, 1882, almost completely destroyed the city. After that, the Free Fire Society was founded in Disna, which was not inferior to the Vilnius one. Currently, the building houses a fire station.

Cobblestone Pavement.Preserved in the old part of the city: along the Western Dvina River embankment, Pushkin Street, and Pervomayskaya Street.

Mass Grave, where soldiers, partisans, and civilians who died during the Great Patriotic War are buried.

Mass Grave of 3800 Jewish Civilians.At the head of the central grave, there is a granite slab with an inscription in two languages – Belarusian and Hebrew – with the following content: "Here lie 3800 residents-citizens of Disna, Jews, who died at the hands of fascist invaders and their accomplices on 14.06.1942. Blessed be the memory of the fallen!" - and below, an inscription in Russian: "Here lie 3800 residents of Disna."

Hunter's (Fisherman's) Lodges

5 and 6 beds

Vitebsk region, Miory district, Mazurino village

Tel.+ 375 2152 5 76 18

Museums

Museum of the History of the City of Disna and Ethnography of the Disna Region

The main museum fund contains over 1800 exhibits. These include furniture, household items, clothing, paintings, musical instruments, banknotes, photographs, models, and literature. This museum attracts visitors with its rich collection of antiquities and an exhibition on the history of Jews who lived in Disna. Vitebsk region, Miory district, Disna city, Pervomayskaya str., 2a. Tel.+ 375 2152 5 73 46

Historical and Local Lore Museum of the Educational Institution "Disna Secondary School named after Hero of the Soviet Union M.A. Kuzmin"

Vitebsk region, Miory district, Disna city, Lenina str., 66

Tel.+ 375 2152 5 73 28

Souvenirs

Disna House of Crafts

Vitebsk region, Miory district, Disna, Pervomayskaya str., 2a

Tel. +375 2152 5 73 46

Vitebsk region, Miory, Kommunisticheskaya str., 47V