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Slonim
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Slonim (Belarusian: ???´???, ) is a city in Belarus in the Hrodna voblast and Slonim Rayon, located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa rivers, 143 km southeast of Hrodna . The population in 1995 was 53,100.
Etymology and historical names
Slonim has been known by several versions of its name: ???´??? (Belarusian), Slonim (Polish), ???´??? (Russian). Slonim was first mentioned in chronicles in 1252 as Uslonim and in 1255 as Vslonim.
earliest record is of a wooden fort on the left bank of the Shchara river in the 11th century, although there may have been earlier settlement.
The area was disputed between Lithuania and Kievan Rus' in early history and it changed hands several times.
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Encyclopedia
Slonim (Belarusian: ???´???, ) is a city in Belarus in the Hrodna voblast and Slonim Rayon, located at the junction of the Shchara and Isa rivers, 143 km southeast of Hrodna . The population in 1995 was 53,100.
Etymology and historical names
Slonim has been known by several versions of its name: ???´??? (Belarusian), Slonim (Polish), ???´??? (Russian). Slonim was first mentioned in chronicles in 1252 as Uslonim and in 1255 as Vslonim.
History
The earliest record is of a wooden fort on the left bank of the Shchara river in the 11th century, although there may have been earlier settlement.
The area was disputed between Lithuania and Kievan Rus' in early history and it changed hands several times. In 1040, the Kievans won control of the area after a battle but lost Slonim to the Lithuanians in 1103. The Russians retook the area early in the 13th century but were expelled by a Tartar invasion in 1241 and the town was pillaged. When, later in the year, the Tartars withdrew, Slonim became Lithuanian again.
In 1569, Lithuania and Poland united and Slonim became an important regional centre within Greater Poland. From 1631 to 1685 the city flourished as the seat of the Lithuanian diet.
The Commonwealth of Poland-Lithuania was dismantled in a series of three military "partitions" in the latter half of the 18th Century and divided among its neighbours, Germany, Austria and Russia which took the largest portion of the territory. Slonim was in the area annexed by Russia. The wars had damaged Slonim, but in the 18th century, a local landowner, Graf Oginski, encouraged the recovery of the area; a canal was dug to connect the Shchara with the Dnieper river.
Russian control lasted until 1915, when the German army captured the town. After the First World War, the Slonim area was disputed between the Soviet Union and the newly recreated state of Poland. The town suffered badly in the Polish-Soviet war of 1920, but in 1920 the Poles established control of the province.
In 1939, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union resulted in the invasion of Poland by the two powers and its division between them. Slonim was in the area designated by the Pact to fall within the Soviet sphere of influence. The Soviets placed that area within the Byelorussian SSR. Two years later, Germany invaded the Soviets (Operation Barbarossa) and Slonim was captured. Soon after, 70% of Slonim's Jews had been killed in a single Nazi aktion operation (9,000 on 14 November 1941). A second mass murder of 8,000 Jews took place in 1942. After the ejection of the Germans in 1944, the Soviet Union retained possession of this part of the former Poland, as agreed between the Allies.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union, Belarus became an independent state.
Historic population
Population of Slonim fluctuated, influenced by local prosperity and wars . Jewish settlement in Slonim appears to have started in 1388, following encouragement from the Lithuanian authorities. They were credited with the development of local commerce in the 15th century, nonetheless, they were temporarily expelled by the Lithuanian Duchy in 1503. In the late 19th century, Slonim's Jewish population had risen to 10,000. The Slonimer Hasidic dynasty came from there.
Economy
Slonim's importance derives from the river, which is navigable and joins the Oginsky canal, connecting the Niemen with the Dnieper.
Slonim has varied food, consumer, and engineering industries. Corn, tar, and especially timber are exported. There is the Slonim artistic goods factory, a worsted factory and “Textilschik”, a paperboard factory, a motor- and a car repair plants, dry non-fat milk factory and meat processing plant. There are also flax preprocessing, feed mill and woodworking enterprises in the town.
Transport and infrastructure
Slonim has road-links with Baranovichi, Ivatsevichi, Ruzhany, Volkovysk, Lida. Buses, Taxi and Mini-buses are the only transport in Slonim. Slonim is on the railway line between Baranavichy and Vaukavysk.
Notable buildings
- Orthodox church of the Holy Trinity
- Convent of Benedictine
- Chapel of St. Dominick
- Catholic church of St. Andrew the Apostle
- Catholic church of the Immaculate Conception of Blessed Virgin Mary and the convent of Bernardine
- Orthodox church of Transfiguration
- The Synagogue is standing but in a dilapidated condition. It's listed by the private World Monuments Fund as their top priority site of Jewish interest in Eastern Europe that requires restoration. The building was left untouched by the German Luftwaffe but it has subsequently deteriorated and is now in urgent need of protection and restoration.
The two main religions in Slonim are Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholic.
Slonim has also a theatre and a museum of regional studies, as well as a medical school. There is a new recreation area development in north-east Slonim called Enka. The main sports are: running, gymnastics, football and ice hockey. The telecommunication guyed mast, 350 metres tall, for FM-/TV-broadcasting is located at Novaya Strazha .
See also
External links
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