Mogilev

This article is about the city in Belarus. For the city in Ukraine, see Mohyliv-Podilskyi.

Mogilev (US: /məɡɪlˈjɔːf/),^[3] also transliterated as Mahilyow^{[lower-alpha 1]} (Belarusian: Магілёў, romanized: Mahiliow,^{[lower-alpha 2]} IPA: [maɣʲiˈlʲou̯];^[4] Russian: Могилёв, romanized: Mogilyov, IPA: [məɡʲɪˈlʲɵf]; Yiddish: מאָגילעוו, romanized: Mogilev, IPA: [mɔˈgilɛv]), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper River, about 76 kilometres (47 miles) from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and 105 km (65 miles) from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, it has a population of 353,110.^[2] In 2011, its population was 360,918,^[5] up from an estimated 106,000 in 1956. It serves as the administrative centre of Mogilev Region,^[2] and is the third-largest city in Belarus.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1897	43,119	—
1923	41,622	−3.5%
1926	46,562	+11.9%
1939	99,428	+113.5%
1959	121,712	+22.4%
1970	202,314	+66.2%
1979	290,361	+43.5%
1989	359,188	+23.7%
1999	356,500	−0.7%
2009	358,279	+0.5%
2019	356,821	−0.4%
Source: pop-stat.mashke.org[6]

Mogilev Магілёў • Могилёв Mahilyow
City
Belarusian transcription(s)
• BGN/PCGN	Mahilyow
• Official	Mahiliow
• Scholarly	Mahilëŭ
• ALA-LC	Mahili͡oŭ
• British[1]	Mahilëw
• Łacinka	Mahiloŭ
Flag Coat of arms
Mogilev Location of Mogilev, shown within Mogilev Region
Coordinates: 53°55′N 30°21′E
Country	Belarus
Region	Mogilev Region
Founded	1267
Government
• Mayor	Alyaksandr Studnew [be; ru]
Area
• Total	118.50 km2 (45.75 sq mi)
Elevation	192 m (630 ft)
Population  (2024)[2]
• Total	353,110
• Density	3,000/km2 (7,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK)
Postal code	212 001
Area code	+375 222
License plate	6
Website	City's executive committee's official website

History

Mogilev Governorate in Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906-1913

Wehrmacht propaganda photograph of Jewish women in Mogilev, July 1941; Mogilev Jews were murdered by Nazi Police Battalion 322 in October.^[7]

Mogilev in July 1941

The city was first mentioned in historical records in 1267. From the 14th century, it was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and since the Union of Lublin (1569), part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, where it became known as Mohylew. In the 16th-17th centuries, the city flourished as one of the main nodes of the east–west and north–south trading routes.

In 1577, Polish King Stefan Batory granted it city rights under Magdeburg law. In 1654, during the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), the townsmen negotiated a treaty of surrender to the Russians peacefully, if the Jews were to be expelled and their property divided up among Mogilev's inhabitants. Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovitch agreed. However, instead of expelling the Jews, the Russian troops massacred them after they had led them to the outskirts of the town.^[8] During this war, the city was besieged twice by the Lithuanian army: in 1655, and in 1660. In 1661, local residents started an uprising against the Russian imperial rule [ru]. The city was set afire by Peter the Great's forces in 1708, during the Great Northern War.^[9] After the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Mogilev became part of the Russian Empire and became the centre of the Mogilev Governorate. In 1938 it was decided Mogilev was to become the capital of Belarus because Minsk was too close to the then-Polish-Soviet border.

In the years 1915–1917, during World War I, the Stavka, the headquarters of the Russian Imperial Army, was based in the city ^[10] and the Tsar, Nicholas II, spent long periods there as Commander-in-Chief.^[11][12]

Following the Russian Revolution, in 1918, the city was briefly occupied by Germany and placed under their short-lived Belarusian People's Republic. In 1919, Mogilev was captured by the forces of Soviet Russia and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. Up to World War II and the Holocaust, like many other cities in Europe, Mogilev had a significant Jewish population: according to the Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 41,100, 21,500 were Jews (i.e. over 50 percent).^[13] In 1938 the leadership of Soviet Belarus decided to move the capital of the country from Minsk to Mogilev. Due to that, the now-Mogilev City Council building was built in 1938–1940 with the aim of being the government building. It was designed to resemble the Minsk Government building.

During Operation Barbarossa, the city was conquered by Wehrmacht forces on 26 July 1941 and remained under German occupation until 28 June 1944.^[14] Mogilev became the official residence of High SS and police leader (HSSPF) Erich von dem Bach. During that period, the Jews of Mogilev were ghettoized and systematically murdered by Ordnungspolizei and SS personnel.^[15] Heinrich Himmler personally witnessed the executions of 279 Jews on 23 October 1941. Later that month, a number of mentally disabled patients were poisoned with car exhaust fumes as an experiment; the method of killing was thereafter applied in several Nazi extermination camps. Initial plans for establishing a death camp in Mogilev were abandoned in favour of Maly Trostenets.

In 1944, with the Mogilev offensive, the devastated city was liberated by the Red Army and returned to Soviet control. Mogilev then was the site of a labour camp for German POW soldiers.

Since Belarus gained its independence in 1991, Mogilev has remained one of its principal cities.

Religion

Mohilev was the episcopal see of the Latin Catholic Archdiocese of Mohilev until its 1991 merger into the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev.

It remains the see of the Eparchy (Eastern diocese) of Mogilev and Mstsislaw in the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Further information: St. Nicholas Monastery Complex

Economy

After World War II, a huge metallurgy centre with several major steel mills was built. Also, several major factories of cranes, cars, tractors and a chemical plant were established. By the 1950s, tanning was Mogilev's principal industry, and it was a major trading centre for cereal, leather, salt, sugar, fish, timber and flint: the city has been home to a major inland port on the Dnieper river since and an airport since. Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the establishment of Belarus as an independent country, Mogilev has become one of that country's main economic and industrial centres.^[16]

Cityscape

The town's most notable landmark is the late 17th-century town hall, named the Ratuša (Rathaus), that was built during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The grand tower of the town hall sustained serious damage during the Great Northern War and the Great Patriotic War. It was eventually demolished in 1957 and rebuilt in its pre-war form in 2008.

Another important landmark of Mogilev is the six-pillared St. Stanisław's Cathedral, built in the Baroque style between 1738 and 1752 and distinguished by its frescoes.

The convent of St. Nicholas preserves its magnificent cathedral of 1668, as well as the original iconostasis, bell tower, walls, and gates. It is currently under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.^[17]

Minor landmarks include the archiepiscopal palace and memorial arch, both dating from the 1780s, and the enormous theater in a blend of the Neo-Renaissance and Russian Revival styles.

At Polykovichi, an urban part of Mogilev, there is a 350 metre tall guyed TV mast, one of the tallest structures in Belarus.

• 
  The Convent of St. Nicholas
• 
  The Russian Orthodox church
• 
  St. Stanisław's Cathedral
• 
  The city center
• 
  Mogilev City Council building which was intended to be the government building after the 1938 proposed relocation of the capital from Minsk to Mogilev.
• 
  Another view of the Mogilev City Council building.

Geography

Climate

Mogilev has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification Dfb) with warm summers and cold winters.

Climate data for Mogilev
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	9.8 (49.6)	12.9 (55.2)	19.3 (66.7)	29.1 (84.4)	30.8 (87.4)	32.6 (90.7)	34.3 (93.7)	36.8 (98.2)	30.6 (87.1)	25.5 (77.9)	14.5 (58.1)	10.9 (51.6)	36.8 (98.2)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−3.0 (26.6)	−2.5 (27.5)	3.0 (37.4)	12.0 (53.6)	18.6 (65.5)	21.5 (70.7)	23.6 (74.5)	22.7 (72.9)	16.7 (62.1)	9.9 (49.8)	2.3 (36.1)	−2.0 (28.4)	10.2 (50.4)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−5.3 (22.5)	−5.5 (22.1)	−0.8 (30.6)	6.7 (44.1)	12.9 (55.2)	16.1 (61.0)	18.1 (64.6)	17.0 (62.6)	11.6 (52.9)	6.0 (42.8)	−0.1 (31.8)	−4.2 (24.4)	6.0 (42.8)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−7.8 (18.0)	−8.5 (16.7)	−4.2 (24.4)	2.0 (35.6)	7.3 (45.1)	10.8 (51.4)	12.7 (54.9)	11.6 (52.9)	7.1 (44.8)	2.6 (36.7)	−2.3 (27.9)	−6.6 (20.1)	2.1 (35.8)
Record low °C (°F)	−37.3 (−35.1)	−34.7 (−30.5)	−35.0 (−31.0)	−17.7 (0.1)	−4.4 (24.1)	−0.7 (30.7)	3.0 (37.4)	0.9 (33.6)	−4.8 (23.4)	−14.8 (5.4)	−23.5 (−10.3)	−33.4 (−28.1)	−37.3 (−35.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	39 (1.5)	34 (1.3)	39 (1.5)	41 (1.6)	53 (2.1)	75 (3.0)	81 (3.2)	65 (2.6)	55 (2.2)	54 (2.1)	45 (1.8)	41 (1.6)	622 (24.5)
Average rainy days	8	7	9	12	15	17	15	13	14	15	14	10	149
Average snowy days	21	20	13	4	0.2	0	0	0	0.1	3	12	20	93
Average relative humidity (%)	87	85	80	72	69	74	74	75	80	84	89	89	80
Source: Pogoda.ru.net[18]

Notable citizens

David Pinski around 1900

• Rita Achkina, cross country skier
• Matest M. Agrest, ethnologist and mathematician
• Modest Altschuler, orchestra conductor
• Abe Anellis, microbiologist
• Olga Bogdanova, chemist
• Kanstancin Dziubajla (nom de guerre "Dranik") (1988–2022), Belarusian volunteer killed in action defending Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion^[19]
• Petr Elfimov, musician
• Svetlana Baitova, gymnast
• Ihar Hershankou, serial killer
• Alyona Lanskaya, singer
• Eugenia Logvinovna Lashnyukova, nun
• Joseph Lookstein, Rabbi and President of Bar-Ilan University
• Leonid Isaakovich Mandelshtam, physicist
• Andrey Melnikov, soldier and recipient of Hero of the Soviet Union award
• Andrej Mryj, satirical writer, journalist, translator and a victim of Stalin's purges
• Ivan Nasovič, author of the first Belarusian dictionary
• Stanisław Julian Ostroróg, Polish count, Crimean War veteran, noted Victorian Photographic portraitist, naturalised British subject
• David Pinski, Yiddish playwright
• Simeon Piščević, major-general and governor of Mogilev (1777)
• Lev Polugaevsky, International Grandmaster of chess
• Leo Rogin, Economist and Writer
• Otto Schmidt, scientist, mathematician, astronomer, geophysicist, statesman, academician
• Issai Schur, mathematician
• Spiridon Sobol, Belarusian enlightener and printer; published the first ABC-book in Belarus in 1631
• Mikałaj Sudziłoŭski, revolutionary and scientist
• Sergey Evtuhov (born 1953), painter

Sports

Spartak Stadium

City sports teams:

• Football: FC Torpedo Mogilev,^[20] FC Dnepr Mogilev and ZhFC Dnepr Mogilev, Nadezhda Mogilev
• Hockey: HK Mogilev
• Volleyball: Mogilev Lions, Kommunalnik
• Handball: Masheka
• Basketball: BC Borisfen

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Belarus

Mogilev is twinned with:^[21]

• Al Rayyan, Qatar
• Bursa, Turkey
• Changsha, China^[22]
• Eisenach, Germany
• Gabrovo, Bulgaria
• Kerch, Ukraine
• Kragujevac, Serbia
• Mykolaiv, Ukraine
• Nanjing, China
• Penza, Russia
• Sokolinaya Gora (Moscow), Russia
• Sumgait, Azerbaijan
• Tabriz, Iran
• Tula, Russia
• Villeurbanne, France
• Wittenberg, Germany
• Yuzhne, Ukraine
• Zhengzhou, China
• Zvenigorod, Russia

Notes

1. BGN/PCGN romanization of Belarusian
2. Official transliteration (2023)

References

1. British Standard 2979 : 1958, London: British Standards Institution.
2. "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 13 April 2024.
3. "Definition of MOGILEV".
4. Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Магілёўская вобласць: нарматыўны даведнік / І. А. Гапоненка і інш.; пад рэд. В. П. Лемуюгова [be]. — Мн.: Тэхналогія, 2007. — 406 с. — ISBN 978-985-458-159-0. (DJVU) (in Belarusian)
5. Ярковец, А.И. (2011). "Численность населения на 1 января 2011 года и среднегодовая численность населения за 2010 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". Статистический бюллетень (in Russian). Национальный статистический комитет Республики Беларусь: 21. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-02-09. Retrieved 2012-01-13.
6. "Cities & Towns of Belarus". 2024-04-15.
7. Breitman, Richard (1998). Official Secrets: What the Nazis Planned, What the British and Americans Knew. New York:, 1998. New York: Hill and Wang/Farrar Straus & Giroux. p. 66. ISBN 9780809001842.
8. Russia's First Modern Jews, NYU Press 1995, David Fishman, p.2
9. Катлярчук, Андрэй (2007). Швэды ў гісторыі й культуры беларусаў (PDF) (in Belarusian). Ėntsyklapedyks. ISBN 978-9856599586.
10. Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, ISBN 978-80-87173-47-3, pages 36 - 39, 41 - 42, 111-112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–199.
11. "Mogilev invites tourists to take a stroll with Emperor Nicholas II". Official website of Belarus.
12. Massie, Robert (1967). Nicholas and Alexandria. New York: Ballantine Books. p. 300. ISBN 9780345438317.
13. Joshua D. Zimmerman, Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality, Univ of Wisconsin Press, 2004, ISBN 0-299-19464-7, Google Print, p.16
14. "Mogilev The fate of the Jews under the German Invasion & Occupation". Holocaustresearchproject.org. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
15. "Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus". Jhrgbelarus.org. Archived from the original on 2018-10-02. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
16. "Mogilev Region". Belarus.by. Govt of Belarus.
17. UNESCO World Heritage Centre (2004-01-30). "St. Nicholas Monastery Complex in the city of Mahilyou – UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Whc.unesco.org. Retrieved 2014-08-09.
18. "КЛИМАТ МОГИЛЕВА" (in Russian). Weather and Climate (Погода и климат). Retrieved 28 November 2015.
19. ""Самыя блізкія пабрацімы называлі яго "Дранік"". У Данецкай вобласьці загінуў яшчэ адзін беларус, які бараніў Украіну ("The closest brothers called him" Dranik "." Another Belarusian defending Ukraine died in Donetsk region) Радыё Свабода (Radio Liberty) (in Belarusian)". Retrieved 14 May 2022.
20. FC Torpedo Mogilev (2015-01-30). "Official Website of FC Torpedo Mogilev". torpedomogilev.by. Archived from the original on 2016-01-31. Retrieved 2015-10-16.
21. "Города-побратимы". mogilev.gov.by (in Russian). Mogilev. Retrieved 2020-01-13.
22. "白俄罗斯莫吉廖夫市". changsha.gov.cn (in Chinese). Changsha. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2020-07-11.

External links

• Mogilev city executive committee
• Photos on Radzima.org
• Historic images of Mogilev
• Mogilev Jewish Center Archived 2010-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
• Jewish Encyclopedia on Moghilef (Mohilev)
• "Mogilev on the Dnieper" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
• The murder of the Jews of Mogilev during World War II, at Yad Vashem website
• Mahilyow, Belarus at JewishGen

City and regional maps of Mogilev

• Zoomable map of Mogilev and Belarus -> In page click КАРТЫ in middle
• Overview map of roads and railways
• General overview of Baltics, Belarus and east-europe
• Belarus, topographic map
• "Baltic countries full detail railway map. Belarus and Baltics in C1 sector". Archived from the original on 23 May 2012.
• General detail, downloadable PDF map of Belarus