Astravyets

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Astravyets
Астравец (Belarusian)
Островец (Russian)
Ostrovets
Ostrovets, Ostrovetskii raion, Grodnenskaia oblast', Belarus' 03.jpg
Saints Cosmas and Damian church
Flag of Astraviec.svg
BIA Ostrowiec COA.svg
Belarus adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Astravyets
Coordinates: 54°36′49″N25°57′19″E / 54.61361°N 25.95528°E / 54.61361; 25.95528
Country Belarus
Region Grodno Region
District Astravyets District
Population
 (2025) [1]
  Total
15,265
Time zone UTC+3 (MSK)
Area code +375 1591
Website www.ostrovets.gov.by

Astravyets or Ostrovets [a] is a town in Grodno Region, Belarus. [2] It serves as the administrative center of Astravyets District. [1] [2] As of 2025, it has a population of 15,265. [1]

Contents

History

Former Dominican church in c. 1900 Astraviec, Daminikanski. Astravets, Daminikanski (1900).jpg
Former Dominican church in c.1900

Within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Astravyets was part of Vilnius Voivodeship. In 1474, Voivode of Kyiv Martynas Goštautas founded a Dominican monastery and church. [3] By decree of King Sigismund II Augustus from 1537, the town passed to Stanislovas Goštautas, and later on it passed to the Korycki and Korsak noble families. [3]

In 1795, Astravyets was acquired by the Russian Empire in the course of the Third Partition of Poland. Following the unsuccessful Polish January Uprising, in 1866, the Tsarist authorities closed the Domican monastery and converted the Dominican church into an Orthodox church. [3] From 1921 until 1939, Astravyets was part of the Second Polish Republic.

During World War II, in September 1939, the town was occupied by the Red Army and, on 14 November 1939, incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. From 27 June 1941 until 3 July 1944, Astravyets was occupied by Nazi Germany and administered as a part of the Generalbezirk Litauen of Reichskommissariat Ostland .

On 11 October 2011, an agreement was signed to build the first nuclear power plant in Belarus near the town, using two VVER reactors with active and passive safety systems. [4]

Notes

  1. Belarusian: Астравец, romanized: Astraviec, IPA: [astraˈvʲet͡s] ; Russian: Островец, romanized: Ostrovets, IPA: [ɐstrɐˈvʲets] ; Polish: Ostrowiec; Lithuanian: Astravas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 29 March 2025. Retrieved 8 May 2025.
  2. 1 2 Gaponenko, Irina Olegovna (2004). Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Гродзенская вобласць. Minsk: Тэхналогія. p. 58. ISBN   985-458-098-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich (in Polish). Vol. VII. Warszawa. 1886. p. 719.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. "Russia signs up to build NPP in Belarus". Nuclear Engineering International. 20 October 2011. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 24 October 2011.