Rogachev

 Rogachev is a town situated to the north of Gomel region. There are several versions of the origin of its name. One of them is that it came fr om the old Lithuanian word “Rogas” which means “holly space” or “altar”. It was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle in 1142. Since ancient times up to now the population of Rogachev has risen fr om 9000 to 34 000 people.

In Soviet times, industrial power of the city operated to its full. During the first decade, people built a bread factory, besides a tractor workshop, a milk canning plant; a wood plant and a paper board factory were reconstructed. More than thirty manufactures, theatres and colleges were built.

It was Rogachev wh ere the famous Operation Bagration started in 1944. The town suffered great damage during the rescue operation.

Nowadays Rogachev is an industrial center with well-developed agriculture.

Here there are also motorways to Mogilev, Zhlobin, Slavgorod, Bobruisk run; there is also the railway station on the line Mogilev-Zhlobin here.

The health center Pridneprovskij, located in the neighborhood of Rogachev, enjoys the greatest popularity. It is famous for its mineral waters and therapeutic muds.

The Museum of People`s Fame is a historical museum started in 1962; now it counts 27710 exponents. Visitors can have a stroll around the halls dedicated to different topics such as ancient times, the Great patriotic War, urban life, archeology, The Great October Revolution and others. There are items of special historical value: the book “The Acts of St. Apostles”, “Ringraph” or a badge of the participant of the Bar Confederation 1768, the bracelet dating to the 13^th century.

The Roman Catholic church of St. Antony of Padua is added to the list of Belarusian historical and cultural values. Before the beginning of the 20^th century, it was a wooden catholic church, a little bit later, thanks to efforts of the local abbot, the new redbrick Neo-Gothic church was installed. After 1930, this church was closed, and the building was used for different purposes: as a grain storage, fire station and bread-backing plant. The church was hit by the fire in 1940, a wooden construction of the church and its roof were damaged. Since 2000, it has been reconstructed.

There is Cathedral of Alexander Nevsky built in a Pseudo-Byzantine style in 1886. It was ruined during the Great Patriotic War, and the new cathedral was erected in 1989. It has its own library and a Sunday school.

Here visitors can come across the former non-classical college for the nobility built in 1903; but it was burnt during the first years of the war. Its reconstruction was started in 1950.  Nowadays there is a secondary school №2.

Rogachev is a birthplace of many famous people. One of them is Vladimir Korotkevich. The house, he lived in, has survived to the present days. It was the writer`s grandfather, Vasiliy Grinkevich, who had built it.  Being a child, Vladimir used to come here for his summer holidays. He had his own room in this house, a room wh ere he wrote his famous literary works.