The tower
Clock and round platform.
Mikra72 — CC0 · Mikra72 — CC0 · Alex Zelenko — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Globustut — CC BY 4.0 · Globustut — CC BY 4.0
Vitebsk Town Hall is a building from the second half of the 18th century in the historic centre of Vitebsk in northeastern Belarus, near where the Vitba river meets the Western Dvina, about 223 km northeast of Minsk in a straight line. It is one of the few surviving town halls in Belarus and now houses the regional museum of local history. The first wooden town hall was built after the city received Magdeburg rights in 1597 and burned several times. After the last fire, a stone building in the Vilnius Baroque style was begun and finished in 1775. In 1833 the tower's tall pointed roof was replaced with a small round viewing platform and a clock was fitted, and in 1911 a third storey was added. The elegant white tower, with its clock and round platform, rises over a long white and pale-yellow building with arched windows, framed by green trees and an open square. It looks bright under a blue summer sky, beside churches and historic buildings that have been rebuilt nearby. Visitors admire the facade and tower from the square, go into the museum to see its collections on the history of the city and region, and stroll the nearby old streets by the river. The UK Foreign Office advises against all travel to Belarus, so read the current advice before any planning.
Clock and round platform.
City history.
Near the river.
Historic centre of Vitebsk, Belarus
About an hour with the museum.
The local history museum.