Vileyka

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Vileyka [vι'leιkʌ] (Vileika, Vilejka, бел. Вiлейка, рус. Вилейка) – the Vileyka district center of the Minsk region of the Republic of Belarus. It is located on the river Viliya, 100 km to northwest from Minsk. First documental record: 1599.

Time zone: II (GMT +2 hours). Population of Vileyka region: 59,700 people (Vileyka - 30,000). International phone code: +375 1771 xxxxx. Postal index: 222410. Вилейка-Info (in Russian).

[edit] History

The town was first mentioned in 1599 as a borough center of the Vileyka Starostvo of the Oshmiany Povet. In 1795 it became a povet center. In 1921 as a part of Poland — the Central Povet of Vileyka Voevodstvo, in 1939 as a part of the BSSR — the center of the Vileyka Voblast, in 1949 — the center of the Vileyka District (Rayon). From June 26, 1941 to July 3, 1944 the town was occupied by German fascist invaders, which massacred 6,972 people and ruined the town to the ground.

The modern town is located on the right shore of the river Viliya, in northwest part of the Minsk region, 100 kilometers away from Minsk. The town’s population numbers 30,000 people. There is a railway station of the Molodechno-Polotsk line in the town. The roads to Molodechno, Smorgon, Miadel, Dokshitsy, Pleshenitsy run through the town. The town’s industry is represented by the Zenit plant, wood processing enterprises (including furniture factory), motor repair plant, building materials plants, light and food enterprises. Vileyka also houses the Museum of Regional Studies.

The territory of the Vileyka district is 2400 km². Forests account for 41% of the territory. The main part of the district is situated in the borders of Naroch-Vileyka lowland. In the year 1974, near the town of Vileyka there was built Belarus's largest artificial reservoir — Vileyka Lake with a total area of 63.3 km² and volume of 238 million cubic meters.