History
In the 10th–13th centuries, the territory was under the Principality of Polotsk, and in XIV-XVII under Grand Duchy of Lithuania as manor house Kurenets. The town was first mentioned in 1460 as a borough center of the Vileyka Starostwo of the Ashmyany county in Grand Duchy of Lithuania.
- 1635 - Władysław IV Vasa bestowed Vileyka upon Aleksander Korwin Gosiewski "for exclusive service to the state".
- 1765 - Vileyka has 30 houses, 165 inhabitants, and became a county center.
- 1793 - during Second Partition of Poland the town goes to Russian Empire.
- 1795 - under the decree of Catherine II of Russia the town receives a city status and became a center of Vileyka uyezd in Minsk Governorate, then Vilna Governorate (1842–1917).
- 1810, May 24 - almost all the city destroyed by the fire.
- 1861 - 2931 inhabitants, 1880 – 3450, by the end of 19th century - more than 3500 inhabitants.
- 1906 - big sawmill started.
- 1907 - the city acquires a branch of Warsaw – Saint Petersburg Railway and a city station.
- 1915, September 14 - occupied by German Army, but several days later was moved back by Russian Army during Sventiany Offensive.
- 1917, November 8 - Soviets came to power during October Revolution
- 1918, December - occupied by German Army
- 1919 - as a result of Polish–Soviet War the city left under Poland, becoming the center of the Wilejka county in Wilno Voivodeship (1923–1939)
- 1939 - annexed back to Soviet Union under Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact. Was made the center of the Vileyka Voblast of BSSR.
- 1941, June 26 - the town was occupied by German Nazis, who massacred over 15,000 civilians, including 6,972 Jewish people and ruined the town to the ground.
- Several hundred people, mostly Polish political prisoners, sick and wounded, were executed prior to the departure of the occupying Soviet guards on June 24, 1941.
- 1941, July 12 and 30 - German SS forces murdered all Jewish citizens in Vileyka (over 500 people).
- 1944, July 3 - Russian Army has cleared town from Nazis in the context of Operation Bagration
- 1944 - the center of the Vileyka Raion.
- 1954 - furniture plant started.
- 1959 - repair plant started.
- 1973 - "Zenit-BelOMO" optical plant started
- 1973 - Vileyka reservoir started
- 1998 - Vileyka hydropower station started
Read more about this topic: Vileyka
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