Barysaw

Barysaw or Borisov (Барысаў, baˈrɨsaw; Борисов, bɐˈrjisəf) is a city in Minsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Barysaw District. It is located on the Berezina River and north-east from Minsk. As of 2023, it has a population of 136,409. Barysaw is first mentioned in the Laurentian Codex as being founded (as Borisov) in 1102 by the Prince of Polotsk Rogvolod Vseslavich, who had the baptismal name of Boris. During the next two centuries, it was burned and then rebuilt south of where it was before. From the late 13th century to 1795, the town was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, which was itself involved in many unions – the Union of Krewo (1385) and Union of Lublin (1569). In 1500, during the Lithuanian–Muscovite War, Alexander Jagiellon resided in Barysaw Castle. In 1563, it was granted Magdeburg town rights by King Sigismund II Augustus. In the last years of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, troops were stationed here, including the 4th Lithuanian Vanguard Regiment, and King Stanisław August Poniatowski established the town's coat of arms (decree #17435), the top half containing the coat of arms of Minsk, while the lower half had two stylized towers on a silver background with a passage between them and Saint Peter above the towers holding a key in his hand. Barysaw became part of the Russian Empire in 1793 as a result of the Second Partition of Poland. After the Partitions of Poland, Barysaw was an uyezd town in the Minsk Governorate. In 1812, Barysaw became a crucial location when Napoleon's troops crossed the Berezina river. The French feinted a crossing at the town itself, but successfully escaped the pursuing armies by building two wooden bridges north of the city, at Studianka. This event is reenacted by military locals during town festivals. A cannon from the Napoleonic era is kept by the town's museum. In 1871, the railway between Brest and Moscow passed near Barysaw, and a station was built there. In 1900 the area around the station was annexed the town.