Obol (town)

Obol / Obal Оболь / Обаль
Remains of Hrabnicki Palace, a cultural heritage monument of Belarus[2]
Obol / Obal Location of Obol in Belarus
Coordinates: 55°21′4″N 29°17′46″E / 55.35111°N 29.29611°E / 55.35111; 29.29611Coordinates: 55°21′4″N 29°17′46″E / 55.35111°N 29.29611°E / 55.35111; 29.29611
Country	Belarus
Voblast	Vitebsk
Raion	Shumilina
Elevation	150 m (490 ft)
Population (2016)[3]
• Total	2,395
Time zone	EET (UTC+2)
• Summer (DST)	EEST (UTC+3)
Postal code	222379
Area code(s)	+375 2130
License plate	2

Obol (Russian: Оболь, Belarusian: Обаль, also romanized as Obal or Obaĺ) is a Belarusian town of Shumilina Raion, in Vitebsk Region. In 2016, it had a population of 2,395.^[3]

History

Obol was known since the 16th century as a village of the Połock Voivodeship, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. in 1772, following the Partitions of Poland, it became part of the Russian Empire.

In 1866, the construction of the Riga-Oryol railway contributed to its growth. The village was occupied from August 1941 to June 26, 1944 by the Nazi German troops, during World War II. In 1968 it was elevated from the status of village to the one of urban-type settlement.

Geography

Located in the middle of its Voblast, Obol lies between Vitebsk (64 km southeast) and Polatsk (36 km northwest), and is crossed by the homonym river. It is 21 km from Shumilino, 45 from Navapolatsk and 228 from Minsk. The town is served by the P20 highway and by the Smolensk-Vitebsk-Daugavpils-Riga railway.^[4]

Personalities

• Zinaida Portnova (1926–1944), Russian partisan, Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1942 she joined the Belarusian resistance movement, becoming a member of the local underground Komsomol organization in Obol.^[5]

Twin towns

• Ödeshög (Ödeshög Municipality, Sweden)^[6]

References

External links

• Media related to Obol at Wikimedia Commons