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Mogilev, or Mahilyow,Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Магілёўская вобласць: нарматыўны даведнік / І. А. Гапоненка і інш.; пад рэд. . — Мн.: Тэхналогія, 2007. — 406 с. — . ( DJVU) is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2025, it has a population of 352,896. In 2011, its population was 360,918, up from an estimated 106,000 in 1956. It serves as the administrative centre of Mogilev Region, and is the third-largest city in Belarus.
In 1577, Grand Duke Stefan Batory granted it Magdeburg law. In 1654, during the Russo-Polish War (1654–1667), the townsmen negotiated a treaty of surrender to the Russians peacefully, if the Jews were to be expelled and their property divided up among Mogilev's inhabitants. Tsar Aleksei Mikhailovitch agreed. However, instead of expelling the Jews, the Russian troops massacred them after they had led them to the outskirts of the town. During this war, the city was besieged twice by the Lithuanian army: in 1655, and . In 1661, residents started against the Russian military occupation. The city was set afire by Peter the Great's forces in 1708, during the Great Northern War. After the First Partition of Poland in 1772, Mogilev became part of the Russian Empire and became the centre of the Mogilev Governorate. In 1938 it was decided Mogilev was to become the capital of Belarus because Minsk was too close to the then-Polish-Soviet border.
In the years 1915–1917, during World War I, the Stavka, the headquarters of the Russian Imperial Army, was based in the city Preclík, Vratislav. Masaryk a legie (Masaryk and legions), váz. kniha, 219 pages, first issue vydalo nakladatelství Paris Karviná, Žižkova 2379 (734 01 Karvina, Czech Republic) ve spolupráci s Masarykovým demokratickým hnutím (Masaryk Democratic Movement, Prague), 2019, , pages 36–39, 41–42, 111–112, 124–125, 128, 129, 132, 140–148, 184–199. and the Tsar, Nicholas II, spent long periods there as Commander-in-Chief. (2025). 9780345438317, Ballantine Books. ISBN 9780345438317
Following the Russian Revolution, in 1918, the city was briefly occupied by Germany and placed under their short-lived Belarusian People's Republic. In 1919, Mogilev was captured by the forces of Soviet Russia and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. Up to World War II and the Holocaust, like many other cities in Europe, Mogilev had a significant Jewish diaspora population: according to the Russian census of 1897, out of the total population of 41,100, 21,500 were Jews (i.e. over 50 percent). In 1938 the leadership of Soviet Belarus decided to move the capital of the country from Minsk to Mogilev. Due to that, the now- was built in 1938–1940 to be the government building. It was designed to resemble the Minsk Government building.
During Operation Barbarossa, the city was conquered by Wehrmacht forces on 26 July 1941 and remained under Nazi Germany occupation until 28 June 1944. Mogilev became the official residence of High SS and police leader (HSSPF) Erich von dem Bach. During that period, the Jews of Mogilev were Mogilev Ghetto and systematically murdered by Ordnungspolizei and Schutzstaffel personnel. Heinrich Himmler personally witnessed the executions of 279 Jews on 23 October 1941. Later that month, several mentally disabled patients were poisoned with car exhaust fumes as an experiment; the method of killing was thereafter applied in several Nazi extermination camps. Initial plans for establishing a death camp in Mogilev were abandoned in favour of Maly Trostenets.
In 1944, with the Mogilev offensive, the devastated city was liberated by the Red Army and returned to Soviet control. Mogilev then was the site of a labour camp for German POW soldiers.
Since Belarus gained its independence in 1991, Mogilev has remained one of its principal cities.
It remains the see of the Eparchy (Eastern diocese) of Mogilev and Mstsislaw in the Belarusian Exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Another important landmark of Mogilev is the six-pillared St. Stanisław's Catholic Cathedral, built in the Baroque style between 1738 and 1752 and distinguished by its frescoes. It became the episcopal see of the Archdiocese of Mohilev (created in 1772, archdiocese after 1782), once (until 1991) the largest Catholic diocese of the world. Now it's the co-cathedral of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev.
The convent of St. Nicholas preserves its magnificent cathedral of 1668, as well as the original iconostasis, bell tower, walls, and gates. It is currently under consideration to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Minor landmarks include the archiepiscopal palace and memorial arch, both dating from the 1780s, and the enormous theater in a blend of the Neo-Renaissance and Russian Revival styles.
At Polykovichi, an urban part of Mogilev, there is a 350 metre tall guyed TV mast, one of the tallest structures in Belarus.
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