MINSK
Рубрика: Английский язык | 13.05.2009 13:01 | admin
MINSK.
HISTORY
Minsk is one of the oldest Belarusian cities. The first mentioning of it is found in The Chronicles (1067). The first settlement from which Minsk originated was founded at the confluence of the Nemiga and Svisloch near the portages that connected the basins of the Black and Baltic Seas, forming the connection of routes from the North to the South and from the West to the East from West European capitals to Moscow.
The first printing house was opened in the city in 1596. in the early 20th century 12 private printing houses were functioning and 4 newspapers and 9 trade magazines were published. In the center of the city there was the well-known hotel Europe with 130 rooms and a lift (1908). Minsk was a city of many religions. It had 90 Catholic, Orthodox and Protestant churches, synagogues, mosques and prayer houses.
In the 19th – early 20th century Minsk was the European-like principal city of a province with booming business, trade and industries. Its population was 98,000 people (according to the 1898 census). The total area covered by the city equaled 18 sq. km at the time (219.4 sq. km in 1995).