Braslav

Braslaw or Braslau is a metropolis within the Vitebsk Region of Belarus, an place of work of the Braslaw District. The metropolis changed into first cited in 1065 as a castle within the border of the Polatsk Principality with the Lithuanian tribes. Archaeologists excavated a Viking settlement inside the village of Maskachichy now not a long way from the metropolis. They think that Viking mercenaries have been used as reliable border guards. In the 14th century, Braslaw changed into included into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and, in fact, have become an important fortification near the disturbing line with the Livonian Order inside the 14 to 15th centuries.

In 1500, Alexander Jagiellon privileged the townsfolk with a limited self-management proper and the coat of hands. In 1506, the castle was supplied to the widowed queen Yelena Ivanovna, the daughter of Ivan III of Russia and spouse of Alexander Jagiellon, who founded here an Orthodox Christian nunnery. The metropolis became a great deal developed way to its praepostor Lev Sapeha and the king Stanisław August Poniatowski.