Sevastopol

Sevastopol is a port city located on the Black Sea coast of the Crimea Peninsula in Ukraine. In the Crimean Tatar language, the city is called Aqyar. Sevastopol used to be the home of the Soviet Black Sea Fleet and is today Ukrainian naval base. The naval base is used by both the Ukrainian Navy and the Russian Navy.

During World War II, Sevastopol was bombarded by the Nazis during the Axis siege of 1941-1942 and the city fell into German hands in July 1942. It would take almost two years before the Red Army reached the city. In 1945, Sevastopol was awarded with the Soviet Hero City title.

World War II caused devastating damage and the city had to be entirely rebuilt when the war ended. Thousands of workers took part in the reconstruction headed by prominent architects and engineers from cities such as Moscow and Leningrad. Some landmarks from the early 20^th century was carefully restored, such as the Art Nouveau Main Post Office.

In the downtown district of Sevastopol you can enjoy Mediterranean style architecture with residential buildings featuring columned balconies and Venetian-style arches. The downtown area is also famous for its abundance of chestnut trees.

Maladzyechna

Maladzyechna is a city located in the Minsk Voblast of Belarus. It is home to nearly 100,000 inhabitants and located on the Usha River. Its early history is not well known, but it has been settled since at least 1388. During this period, it was a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first mentioning of what would one day become the city of Maladzyechna concerns a fortification erected on the right bank of the river.

In the early 1600s, Maladzyechna was donated to Michael of Mstislav by King Sigismund I of Poland. In exchange, Michael of Mstislav promised to provide a safe river passage for noblemen and hunters.

After the Partition of Poland, Maladzyechna was annexed by Imperial Russia, but the empire didn’t pay much attention to the town. As a result of Napoleon Bonaparte’s invasion of Russia, Maladzyechna was more or less completely demolished in 1812. The old monastery and castle was for instance shattered. By the mid 1800s, only about 500 residents lived in Maladzyechna and it would take until the late 1800s before the city began to slowly recover from the war. In 1871, and Orthodox Church was built as the main town square, and two years later transportation suddenly became much easier when the town was hooked up to the Minsk-Vilna railway. During the 20^th century, Maladzyechna became a major railway junction.

Maladzyechna became a part of Byelorussia in 1939, after being occupied by the Red Army as a result of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact and annexed to the Byelorussian SSR.