Editing Vitebsk (section)

===Modern era===
From 1503 it was the capital of the [[Vitebsk Voivodeship]]. In 1569 it became part of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]. In 1597 Vitebsk was granted [[Magdeburg rights]] and a coat of arms by [[Sigismund III Vasa]]. However, the rights were taken away in 1623 after the citizens revolted against the imposed [[Union of Brest]] and killed Archbishop [[Josaphat Kuntsevych]] of Polotsk. In 1641 [[Władysław IV Vasa]] restored Magdeburg rights.<ref name=sgk/> The city was almost completely destroyed by the Russians in 1654, during the [[Russo-Polish War (1654–1667)|Russo-Polish War]], and in 1708, during the [[Great Northern War]]. In the [[First Partition of Poland]] in 1772, the [[Russian Empire]] annexed Vitebsk.<ref name=sgk/>

The town once had three castles: the Upper Castle, which housed the voivode’s palace, the Lower Castle, and the Uzgorski Castle. The first two were destroyed by fire in 1614 but were later rebuilt; however, by the 19th century, none of the castles remained.<ref name="sgk" /> In addition to raids, Vitebsk was frequently struck by fires—in the years 1335, 1614, 1629, 1680, 1698, 1707, 1733, 1752, 1757, and 1762.<ref name="sgk" />
[[Image:Church of Christ Resurrection in Viciebsk, J. Pieška.jpg|thumb|View of Vitebsk in the early 19th century by [[Józef Peszka]]]]

Under the Russian Empire, the historic centre of Vitebsk was rebuilt in the [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical style]].

The [[Battle of Vitebsk (1812)|Battle of Vitebsk]] was fought west of the city on 26–27 July 1812 as [[Napoleon]] attempted to engage decisively with the Russian army. While the French were to occupy the town for over three months (the emperor celebrating his 43rd birthday there) the Russian army was able to slip away with minimal losses towards [[Smolensk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vitebskcity.by/article_view.php?idmenu=1&id=2&lang=en |title=Historical Review |last=Liskovich |first=Alexandre |date=2012 |website=Vitebsk City |access-date=August 5, 2021}}</ref>

Before [[World War II]], Vitebsk had a significant [[History of the Jews in Belarus|Jewish population]]: according to [[Russian census of 1897]], out of the total population of 65,900, Jews constituted 34,400 (around 52%).<ref>
{{cite book
|author= Joshua D. Zimmerman
|title= Poles, Jews, and the politics of nationality
|publisher= Univ of Wisconsin Press
|year= 2004|isbn= 0-299-19464-7
|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=6sbr9cZyw_4C&q=population+Brest+Poles+Jews&pg=PA16
|page= 16
}}
</ref> The most famous of its Jewish natives was the painter [[Marc Chagall]] (1887-1985).

In 1919, Vitebsk was proclaimed to be part of the [[Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia]] (January to February 1919), but was soon transferred to the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] and later to the short-lived [[Lithuanian–Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]] (February to July 1919). In 1924 it was returned to the [[Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]].