Tourist Information

Beshenkovichi District
 
Beshenkovichi District is located in the central part of the Vitebsk region and covers an area of 1.4 thousand km2. It borders with Vitebsk, Shumilino, Ushachi, Lepel, Chashniki, and Senno districts. The district includes 240 rural settlements. Administratively, it is divided into 7 rural councils. The district center is the urban-type settlement of Beshenkovichi with a population of 6.6 thousand people. It is located 51 km west of the city of Vitebsk.

 
The Western Dvina River and its tributaries Ula with Svechanka, Krivinka with Beryozka flow through the district. There are more than 50 lakes in the district. The largest ones are Saro, Beloye, Ostrovenskoye.

 
For tourists in Beshenkovichi, there is a hotel of the UCP Housing and Communal Services "Beshenkovichi Communalnik" (Kommunisticheskaya St., 22, 34 beds).  
Tel.: 8-02131-6-40-36, 6-47-42

Website: besh-gkh.by

Email: kommunalnikbesh@yandex.by

 
The "Serebryany Rodnik" (Silver Spring) recreation center is located on the shore of Lake Borovno, in a pine forest, in an ecologically clean area of Belarus.
Services for guests: accommodation in Standard + rooms, or a separate Suite or Apartments; SPA complex of cosmetic procedures for face and body (treatments, masks, wraps).
Each room has all the necessary amenities for a comfortable stay in the new modern hotel complex.
On the territory of the recreation center there is a children's playground, a fountain, a mini-gym, a cafe-bar, Russian billiards, an indoor heated pool, a Finnish sauna, a Russian bath with a spring water font.
Barbecue area: gazebos with a grill, a covered tent on the lake shore, a wooden summer veranda.
A well-maintained embankment with its own beach, a route for hiking and cycling in summer and skiing in winter, catamaran rental and other sports equipment are organized. Horse riding can be arranged outside the recreation center.
Capacity – 80 beds.

Tel.: +375 33 321 76 97 (24/7)

Website: silver-spring.by

Email: s-rodnik@bk.ru

Address: Beshenkovichi district, Krupennino village.

 
The "Krupennino" recreation center is a structural subdivision of the "Vitebsk Regional Diagnostic Center" healthcare institution. The complex is located on the shore of the picturesque Lake Borovno, surrounded by a pine-deciduous forest, 30 km from Vitebsk, in the Beshenkovichi district. A major Minsk-Vitebsk highway passes nearby (1.7 km).
The hotel complex offers guests accommodation in a building with both standard double and triple rooms, as well as double "suite" rooms. Capacity – 40 beds.
Also on the territory of the complex there are two-story cottages for 5 and 10 main beds.
List of services offered:
-24-hour guest reception and accommodation;
-24-hour security;
-parking;
-cafe and bar services with karaoke;
-room service;
- billiards;
-barbecue facilities;
-tennis court, table tennis;
-volleyball, basketball courts;
- bicycle, catamaran and boat rental; in winter - skis;
-sauna with swimming pool (in cottages);
-conference room rental;
-Wi-Fi wireless internet in the main building's lobby.
A special page in the history of the Krupenino Hotel Complex is dedicated to the most famous Belarusian festival - the International Arts Festival "Slavianski Bazaar in Vitebsk". During the hot July days, many guests of the festival relax here. The complex's past is rich in significant events. For example, in 2001, a meeting of the presidents of three Slavic states - Alexander Lukashenka, Vladimir Putin, and Leonid Kuchma - took place on its territory. Zhores Alferov, Alla Pugacheva, Sofia Rotaru, Vladimir Zhirinovsky also stayed in Krupenino.
Tel: +375 29 717 44 80
        +375 29 619 80 60 (24/7) Website: www.vodc.vitebsk.by
Email:  GK_KRUPENINO@Mail.ru


   

The hunting lodge is located 12 kilometers from the urban settlement and belongs to the Beshenkovichi Forestry Enterprise. The house has 4 rooms, 8 beds, and hot water supply. The hunting farm organizes hunting for wild boar, elk, roe deer, and deer. Located at: Vitebsk region, Beshenkovichi district, Pyatigorsk village.
Tel: +375 (2131) 6-01-83.
Website: www.forestlife.by
Hunting organization services are offered by Beshenkovichi ROS "RGOO "BOOR" (Beshenkovichi, Kharaborkina St., 13d.)
Tel: +375 (2131) 6-39-35
Website: www.rgooboor.by

   
There are 9 agro-eco-estates in the district. There is an opportunity to ride horses and taste Belarusian cuisine. Spend time outdoors and with health benefits. There are saunas, fishing opportunities, barbecue facilities, smokehouses, and much more.    
All information can be found on the website: fskdvina.schools.by or by phone 8 (02131) 6-05-34.
 
Tourists can taste Belarusian cuisine at the "Sputnik" restaurant, which has 140 seats (Beshenkovichi urban settlement), the "Rendezvous" bistro (Beshenkovichi urban settlement), the "Mango" cafe (Beshenkovichi urban settlement), the "Zubr" roadside cafe (223 km of the Vitebsk-Minsk highway), the cafe (Krupenino recreation center), the bar in Verkhovye agrotown, and the "Ulyanka" cafeteria in Ulla agrotown.
 
There are sports facilities in the Beshenkovichi district:
The city stadium is operating, which has running tracks, a football and mini-football field, and in winter, ice skate and ski rental is available.  
State Institution for Physical Culture and Sports "Beshenkovichi FSK "Dvina" (Beshenkovichi urban settlement, Chernyakhovskogo St., 29).
Services: sports hall rental, gym, fitness, table tennis, sauna.

For detailed information, please visit fskdvina.schools.by or call 8 (02131)

6-05-34. Email: behenkovichi-sport@mail.ru

State Institution "Beshenkovichi Children and Youth Sports School" (Beshenkovichi urban settlement, Kommunisticheskaya St., 24a). Email: beshenk_sport_school94@mail.ru

Services: game hall rental, gym, table tennis, sauna, billiards, wrestling hall access.
For detailed information, please visit: dush-beshenkovichi.schools.by
or call 8 (02131) 6-46-87.
Verkhovye Sports and Recreation Complex (Verkhovye agrotown, Sovetskaya St., 35a).
Services: sports hall rental, gym, table tennis.
For detailed information, please visit: fskdvina.schools.by
or call 8 (02131) 6-05-34.

Archaeological, historical, and cultural monuments help us learn about the region's past. There are several primitive human settlements in the district. During excavations, many works of primitive, decorative and applied, and fine art were discovered there: fragments of pottery, ceramics, jewelry made from drilled animal teeth, tubular necklaces, amber buttons and rings carved from wood, horn, animal teeth; anthropomorphic and zoomorphic images of small sizes (on average 5-10 cm); figurines of an elk, a snake, bird heads and waterfowl, a wooden head of a man.

 
The findings are stored at the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus, the National Museum of History and Culture of Belarus, and the Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture of the Institute of Art History, Ethnography, and Culture.
 
The district also preserves architectural monuments and landscape art. The Khreptovich Palace, where Napoleon and Alexander I stayed. The construction of the building was started by representatives of the famous Ogiński family in the 1770s, but it was completed under Khreptovich, who slightly altered the original design. The palace, in the early classicism style, generally had a traditional appearance: a U-shaped building, with a slightly protruding central two-story block and side single-story wings under a high roof. An openwork cast-iron balcony in the Empire style on the second floor recalls the former splendor of the building. The remains of the beautiful "Anglo-French park," laid out around the palace in the 18th century, are still the pride of Beshenkovichi. The linden, poplar, and oak alleys are partially preserved. Until recently, a huge giant oak amazed tourists, in whose shade, according to legend, Napoleon posed for an artist on hot July days of 1812. Two ponds with exotic plants also adorn the park.
4 religious sites located in the district are included in the list of historical and cultural heritage of the Republic of Belarus.
St. Elijah Church (1866-1870s)

 
Built of brick in 1870 on the site of a 15th-century church. The building, in the forms of pseudo-Russian architecture, is an architectural monument of the 19th century. The church is well preserved and is a high-rise dominant in the city's panorama from the opposite bank of the Dvina. The five spherical domes of the church form an interesting silhouette composition. The temple is decorated with three-lobed arches, panels, niches, and pilasters. A new wooden iconostasis has been installed in the church.
 
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker is located in the village of Dobrigory. The church was built of timber in the second half of the 19th century, and its exterior is clad with boards. The church is a monument of folk architecture with elements of classicism.

 
The Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in the village of Ostrovno was built of stone in the 16th century. In 1860, an altar part was added from the east side, where the main entrance was previously located.
    A study of the church walls, which are more than one and a half meters thick, showed that they contain different types of brickwork: Gothic, Renaissance, and header bond.
 
The Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the village of Slobodka was built of brick in the early 20th century. It features elements of the Neo-Russian style. Cruciform in plan, it includes a high cubic central volume, on four sides of which rectangular altar apses are located. A high bell tower adjoins the end of the narthex. A cemetery is located next to the church. Here are two unique stone crosses protruding from the ground.
 
A native of Beshenkovichi land, namely the village of Khotino, was Hero of the Soviet Union Major General L.M. Dovator. He is called one of the last legendary commanders in the history of cavalry. The Nazis experienced real fear before Dovator's cavalry group. There were even rumors in the Wehrmacht units that several tens of thousands of Cossacks were rampaging behind their lines. In fact, there were three thousand horsemen. In the first days of the counteroffensive in September-October 1941, Dovator's horsemen stood to the death at the walls of Moscow. To defeat them, the Germans created a special military group, which did not succeed. Dovator's native village was burned by the Nazis, and a reward of 100 thousand Reichsmarks was offered for the general's head. At 38, Dovator was killed by a machine-gun burst while inspecting positions before a battle on the Ruza River.
 
The Jewish cemetery is located on the eastern outskirts of the village, near Michurin Street, and occupies an area of about four hectares. The oldest tombstone in the cemetery with an inscription in Hebrew dates back to 1703. In the summer of 2015, part of the cemetery was cleared by volunteers, and dozens of fallen and collapsed monuments were raised. Work to restore one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries in Belarus is planned to continue.
 
The Museum of History and Local Lore helps to learn more about Beshankovichy and the district. It was opened to visitors on June 25, 1979, on the 35th anniversary of the liberation of the Beshankovichy district from Nazi invaders. It is located in a two-story brick building. The exhibition halls cover an area of 208.9 sq.m. The museum's exhibitions are dedicated to the archaeology and ethnography of the native land, telling about memorable events in the district since its first chronicle mention, and visits to Beshankovichy by Peter I, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Russian Emperor Alexander I. A special place is occupied by the diorama of the Battle of Ostrovno on July 13, 1812. This battle is mentioned in L.N. Tolstoy's famous novel "War and Peace". Several halls display events of the Great Patriotic War on Beshankovichy land: defensive battles in the summer of 1941, the creation of underground party and Komsomol organizations, the emergence of the partisan movement in the district, and the formation of the partisan brigade "For Soviet Belarus". The museum has exhibitions dedicated to famous countrymen, and a new exhibition "Retro Room" has recently been opened.
Address: 211361, Beshankovichy, Volodarskogo St., 6.
Phone: +375 2131 6 01 96
Website:www.beshenkovichi.museum.by