The fifth scientific conference "Vitebsk Antiquities" will be held on October 17-18.

17 October, Vitebsk/Alena Tikhonova - BELTA. The fifth scientific conference "Vitebsk Antiquities", dedicated to the 150th anniversary of the birth of educator and historian Vladimir Krasnyansky, will be held at the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore on 17-18 October, the institution reported to a BELTA correspondent.

The event will be attended by both distinguished Belarusian historians and archaeologists, as well as postgraduate students, students, and local historians from Minsk, Vitebsk, and Polotsk. Approximately 50 reports on the latest results of archaeological excavations and scientific research will be presented at the conference. In addition, an exhibition dedicated to Vladimir Krasnyansky will be opened at the museum.

"Despite the anniversaries associated with the conferences, the topics of the reports are always much broader: from deep antiquity to the events of the 1920s - archaeology, history, architecture, art and cultural life, socio-economic development of the region, history of museums and museum collections, destinies of prominent people. The history of lands that were previously part of the Principality of Polotsk, Vitebsk and Polotsk Voivodeships, and Vitebsk Governorate is touched upon," the museum noted.

The idea of holding an annual scientific conference dedicated to the history of the Vitebsk region arose in 2008 during the celebration of the 90th anniversary of the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. A year later, the first conference was held, dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the discovery of a birch bark manuscript in Vitebsk and the 150th anniversary of the first museum director, collector Anton Brodovsky. In 2010, the main theme of the conference was the 90th anniversary of the birth of the famous historian and archaeologist Leonid Alekseev. In 2012, it was the celebration of the anniversary of the War of 1812. In total, more than 160 reports were presented at the conferences in 2009-2012, most of which have been published in collections of materials.

Educator, historian, museum worker, and local historian Vladimir Krasnyansky lived in Vitebsk from 1911 to 1918 (at house No. 4 on Tolstoy Street), worked as the director of a real school, and was a member of the Vitebsk Learned Archival Commission. He began his local history activities with the excavation of burial mounds in the Borisov district. He is the author of works on the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, the history of Mstislavl, the Minsk Gymnasium, the ancient architecture of Vitebsk and Belarus, and the organization of museum work in Vitebsk. -0-