Mogilev. Glory Square

If you want to see one of the most beautiful river panoramas in Belarus, then you should visit the Square of Glory in Mogilev, which offers an unusual panorama of the floodplain of the Dnieper River.

 The oldest square in the city of Mogilev is the Square of Glory. It was founded back in the time of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania sometime in the 13th century. In the 17th century, when Mogilev gained its greatest strength as a city of artisans and industrialists, this shopping area was the administrative center of the city. In the 17th century, Mogilev was the wealthiest city in Belarus: there were more than 80 specialties, and the city paid more taxes to the treasury than the capital city of Vilna. A town hall was built here, there was a castle nearby, shopping malls, houses of craft workshops. In the center of the square there was a pillory where the sentences were executed. For example, a thief was tied to a pillory, his arm was cut off and nailed next to him. In the 17th century, there were 26 shopping malls on the square. Weapons, wines, bread, clothes and much more were sold here.

 After the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1772, Mogilev became the center of Mogilev province and the shopping area changed its name to Governor's Square. The shopping malls were demolished and the architectural ensemble of the Governor's Square in the classical style, consisting of 4 buildings, was built. 

Of those buildings, only one has been preserved - this is today's Evdokim Romanov Regional Museum. Before the revolution, this building housed the district court, the provincial archive and the medical board. During the First World War, when the headquarters was located in Mogilev, the general on duty was located in this building. And it was in this building in March 1917 that the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II said goodbye to the officers of the headquarters. Then, during the Civil War, there was the headquarters of the 16th Army, where Sergo Ordzhonikidze served for several months. In the period between the wars, the premises belonged to military institutions. And after the war, the building was transferred to the regional museum of local lore.

On the square there is a building of the former city Duma, which was built in the 19th century. After the revolution, the House of Culture of the Red Army was located here. During the Nazi occupation, there was also a Cultural center here, but of the Wehrmacht. After the war, the building was transferred to the House of Culture of Stroytrest No. 12. After the collapse of the USSR, major repairs were carried out and now it is the city Wedding Palace.

 The tallest building on the square is the city hall. The town hall was originally built on this site in the middle of the 17th century and was the tallest town hall in Belarus. After the war, the town hall was demolished in 1957. In 1979, archaeologists A. Trusov and I. Chernyavsky conducted excavations on the foundations of the town hall. The town hall was restored only in 2008. Now the building houses the Museum of the History of the city of Mogilev.

In the center of the square, in 1982, a memorial was created to "Fighters for Soviet Power." In the place where the Eternal Flame is now, there was a governor's palace before the war, where Emperor Nicholas II lived with his retinue during the First World War.

 There is a mass grave from the Civil War between the memorial and the regional museum.

In Soviet times, the square was called Sovetskaya Square, and a few years ago it was called Glory Square.