Smolensk is the largest city in the oblast of the same name. The city is one of the oldest in ancient Russia, and it is known from the year 863. Smolensk relatively quickly became a significant city on trade routes between the north and south and on the connections between the Daugava and Dnieper rivers. The Principality of Smolensk was established in 1054, and the state became one of the most important in the Kingdom of Kiev, and the princes of Smolensk was several times on the throne in Kiev.

Smolensk developed between the Grand Duchies of Moscow and Lithuania, and from 1404 the city and the area became subject to Lithuania. Just over a hundred years later, Moscow conquered Smolensk, which was celebrated with the construction of the famous Novodevichy Convent in Moscow. As protection against Poland and Lithuania, Tsar Boris Godunov built the Smolensk Kremlin in the years 1597-1602 as the largest fortification of its kind in the country. Despite the large fortress, Poland-Lithuania captured Smolensk in 1611, after a twenty-month siege.

Russia recaptured Smolensk in 1654, and in 1667 Poland-Lithuania relinquished its claims to the area. The city maintained its strategically important position in Russia as a military fortress on the road from Europe to Moscow, and Smolensk’s defenses were strengthened. The next attack from the west occurred in 1812, when Napoleon’s troops occupied the city temporarily after the Battle of Smolensk.

In 1918, the Belarusian People’s Republic was proclaimed with Smolensk as part of it, and on January 1, 1919, the Soviet Republic of Belarus was proclaimed in Smolensk. However, Minsk was the capital, and after a referendum in 1920, the region’s citizens chose Smolensk to be part of Russia, which it subsequently became. Germany captured Smolensk during World War II, and virtually the entire city was left in ruins before the Red Army liberated the city in 1943. After the war, Smolensk was hailed as a hero city due to the battle with the Germans during the war.

Due to the city’s long and exciting history, there are many architectural highlights that can be seen in Smolensk today. Smolensk Kremlin/Смоленский кремль was built 1595-1602 around the city, and there are still preserved parts in several places. You can get the best impressions of the solid walls and the many fortress towers south-east and south-west of the centre, and there are also preserved parts along the river to the north.

There are also quite a few beautiful churches in Smolensk. One of them is the Cathedral of the Dormition/Успенский собор, which from its place on a hill has dominated the cityscape for centuries. The first church on the site was built from the beginning of the 12th century, but the current cathedral is a more recent construction, which was completed in 1772 after the next hundred years of construction. The cathedral was designed in the Baroque style, and Napoleon was reportedly particularly impressed by the design of the church’s iconostasis.

The Cathedral of the Dormition is located in the northern part of the old center of Smolensk within the fortress walls. And here you can also experience a cozy village-like atmosphere, while the city’s modern center from the 20th century lies a little to the south with Ploshad Lenina/Площадь Ленина as the center. In the square you can see the Smolensk monument to Vladimir Lenin, and behind him are several neoclassical buildings that house the Smolensk State Theater and the regional administration.

You can also take some nice walks along the river in Smolensk and in the city’s parks such as Sad Blonye/Сад Блонье, located by Ploshad Lenina. To the west of the square is the Lopatinskiy Sad/Лопатинский сад park, where you can see the Monument to the Defenders of Smolensk in 1812/Памятник защитикам Смоленска 1812 года, which is a memorial to the city’s resistance to Napoleon’s invading French army.