The text describes the governorate city of Vitebsk, recalls its origins in the 11th century, and the later incorporation of Vitebsk into Lithuania. At the time of Casimir Jagiellon, Vitebsk was counted as the main city of the Grand Duchy by an act of Brest. From the 15th century onwards, Roman Catholic churches were established in the city, while the Jesuit and Piarist orders had their schools (Source: Tygodnik Illustrowany, Warsaw 1876, Series 3, T:1, pp. 120-121, after: Digital Library of the University of Łódź).

A modernised reading of the text

Vitebsk

The gubernial city of Vitebsk, situated on both banks of the Western Dvina and the Vitba River flowing into it, belongs to a very ancient, from pre-Christian times. It is mentioned for the first time in history under the year 1021, when Yaroslav I V., Duke of Kyiv, gave two cities, Vitebsk and Sviatch, today's Ustichi, into the possession of Brachislav, Duke of Polotsk. Vitebsk was thus a part of his principality until 1101, after which it became the capital of a sovereign principality whose first ruler was David Rostislavovich. The principality of Vitebsk lasted until 1320 and often took an active part in the bloody battles which took place at the time of the divisions between the Rus princes.

After the last male prince, Yaroslav Vasilevich, died childless in 1320, the right of inheritance passed to his only daughter, Maria Yaroslavovna, who was married in 1318 to Algirdas, son of Gediminas, Grand Duke of Lithuania, who, although he was a prince in Krevėtija, lived in Vitebsk from his marriage until his accession to the Grand Ducal throne. When Princess Mary died in 1346, Algirdas incorporated the principality of Vitebsk into Lithuania.

From then on, it shared the country's fate in wars and various passages, sometimes destroyed, burned and rebuilt again. It had two fortified castles: upper and lower, the first of which, according to Stryjkowski, was supposed to have been built with a tower by Princess Mary when Olgierd was in the Prussian War. Under Vytautas' rule, Vitebsk grew into a huge town and was extensively built over. Enriched by trade with Moscow and other Ruthenian and German towns, Vitebsk not only acquired municipal privileges, but was also counted, along with several others, as the main town of the Grand Duchy by a charter issued in Brest in 1441 by Kaźmierz Jagiellończyk.

However, being close to the then borders of the state, in constant wars with its neighbours, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries, it often suffered great defeats, from which, however, it always recovered, thanks to the special efforts of the monarchs and, in large part, also to its location on a navigable river. Thus, Vitebsk has always been very trade-laden; particularly in the 16th century, its trade, especially in leather and furs, reached as far as Leipzig, and its merchants were famous for their wealth and extensive relations with the East, North and West of Europe.

Beautifully built, it shone with a multitude of houses of God, of all three Christian denominations. The most numerous and ancient were always the churches and monasteries of the Eastern rite. In the 15th century, Roman Catholic churches began to appear, alongside which the Jesuit and Piarist orders had their colleges and schools; the former remained here until 1820. In the 16th century, the Helvetic denomination had a famous church here, which collapsed in the following century and never rose again. Today there are no ancient monuments in Vitebsk. The only reminders of the past are the remaining names of the city's former districts. One, between the rivers Vitba and Dvina, is called Zamkovskaya, as it was here that the two aforementioned castles, which disappeared without a trace, were located.

Today, Vitebsk has 31,184 inhabitants, 8 Orthodox churches, 3 Roman Catholic churches, 1 Evangelical church, 2 synagogues. Among the more complete buildings are the Imperial Palace, where Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich died in 1831, and the magnificent buildings of the Gymnasium and Theatre. There are also municipal and public schools, charitable institutions and some factories. Local merchants trade quite a lot in agricultural products with Riga, while in industry river shipbuilding is most developed.