Glubokoe

Glubokoe is the administrative center of the Glubokoe district of the Vitebsk region. The city is located 162 km from Minsk, 187 km from Vitebsk. The distance to the border with Latvia is 92 km, to the border with Lithuania is 118 km. Motorways of republican significance pass through Glubokoe: P3 (Logoisk-Glubokoe-Braslav), P45 (Polotsk-border of Lithuania), P110 (Glubokoe-Postavy-Lyntupy).

For the first time, Glubokoe was mentioned in written sources in 1414 as the property of a certain Zenovy Bratoszych, who received the right to possession of the city from the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt. It is known that already at that time the city was an important trading center located at the intersection of Western and Eastern Europe. Established trade relations existed with the cities of Riga, Königsberg, Vilnia and Warsaw. On the river Berezovka, which divided the city into two parts, passed the border of the Polotsk and Vilna provinces. The southwestern part of the city belonged to the Zenovich family and belonged to the Oshmyany poviet of the Vilna voivodship, and the northeastern part belonged to Jozef Korsak and, accordingly, belonged to the Polotsk voivodship.

During the Livonian War of 1558-1583 Russian troops suffered considerable damage to the city. At the end of the XVI century. Calvinist Cathedral, a school and a library were established in Glubokoe. During the war with the Moscow kingdom 1654-1667. Glubokoe again reoccupied Russian troops and even built a wooden fortress in the city, which housed a garrison. In November 1661, near the Glubokoe, a battle took place between the army of the Commonwealth and the Russian troops. As a result, the Polish-Lithuanian forces won over the many thousands of enemy army.

In 1668, the southwestern part of the city passed into the possession of the Radziwills, who were erected in the Glubokoe Manor Complex consisting of a one-story wooden building, an outbuilding, a bakery, warehouses, stables and other economic structures. The estate consisted of about two and a half hundred courtyards.

After the second section of the Commonwealth in 1793, Glubokoe became part of the Russian Empire. During the war of 1812, from July to December, the city was occupied by French troops. For six days in July Napoleon was in Glubokoe. Despite the fact that Glubokoe was part of Russia, its second, south-western part continued to remain in private ownership. By the end of the XIX century. brewery, distillery and brick factories functioned in the city. The population of the 1897 census was 5,500. During World War I, a railway was built to Glubokoe.

Soviet authority in Glubokoe after the October Revolution was established in November 1917. However, as early as February – December 1918 the German troops occupied the city, and in August 1919 – July 1920 and October 1920. The deep was occupied by the Poles. According to the results of the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921, Deep, as part of Western Belarus, became part of Poland until September 1939. After the start of World War II, Soviet troops, by agreement between the governments of the USSR and fascist Germany, entered Western Belarus and attached these territories to the BSSR. Since the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the Glubokoe was occupied by German troops on July 2, 1941, the district administration, military garrison, army warehouses, and the Jewish ghetto, which was destroyed in 1943, were created. The city was liberated from the Nazi invaders 3 July 1944.

After the war, the city was actively restored. To date, several large industrial enterprises operate in Glubokoe, for example, a milk canning plant, producing one of the most favorite delicacies of many sweet tooths is the famous condensed milk. In addition, there are several cultural and educational institutions in the city.

Glubokoe has a rich tourist potential. The city has preserved many monuments of history and culture. The visiting card of Glubokoye is the monument of architecture of the late Baroque era is the Trinity Church, built in 1764-1782. on the site of a wooden church, founded in 1628 by Joseph Korsak. The wooden church burned down during the Thirteen Years War (1654-1667), when Glubokoe was attacked by Russian troops.

The second no less famous landmark of Glubokoe is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, which is part of the former Carmelite monastery complex founded in 1639-1654 and rebuilt in 1735 in the style of «Vilna» baroque. According to legend, the vast dungeons of the monastery stretched to the Trinity Church and even to Berezvechya, where the Basilian monastery, was located, which has survived to the present day. Birch stone, which was once a suburb of Glubokoe, was included in the city limits in the 20th century. The monastery was founded by Joseph Korsak in his own estate and donated to the Uniates. In 1643, after the death of Korsak, the Basilian friary was founded. Over time, the monastery fell into decay and at the beginning of the XX century. The complex was handed over to a female Orthodox monastery. In the 1970s the monastery was destroyed. Only in 2004, a group of nuns from the Polotsk Savior-Euphrosyne Monastery began to revive the former monastery again.

An interesting monument was installed in the Glubokoe. It is a column in honor of the first European Constitution in 1791, adopted in the Commonwealth. In addition to the architectural landmarks in Glubokoe, there is a historical and ethnographic museum whose exposition acquaints visitors with the history of the development of the Glubokoe region, as well as with how our ancestors lived: how they lived and what crafts they did.

Locals claim that there is nothing tastier than Glubokoe cherries. All this is due to the fact that in the 1820-1830s. breeder Boleslav Lapyr brought his own winter-hardy varieties of cherries - a hybrid of cherry and sweet cherry with sweet, juicy and large fruits. Therefore, it is not by chance that Glubokoe hosts the unique «Cherry Fest», and the city is considered to be the cherry capital. The festival program consists of a theatrical performance, an ethnic party, an accordion competition, concerts of pop performers, as well as a festive procession with the participation of the Cherry Queen.