Stowbtsy | |
|---|---|
 View of Stowbtsy | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
  Stowbtsy | |
| Coordinates:53°29′N26°44′E / 53.483°N 26.733°E /53.483; 26.733 | |
| Country | Belarus |
| Region | Minsk Region |
| District | Stowbtsy District |
| First mentioned | 1511 |
| Population (2025)[1] | |
• Total | 17,701 |
| Time zone | GTM +3 |
| Postal code | 222666 |
| Area code | +375 1717 |
| License plate | 5 |
| Website | http://www.stolbtsy.minsk-region.by/ |
Stowbtsy orStolbtsy[a] is a town inMinsk Region,Belarus. It serves as the administrative center ofStowbtsy District.[1] It is located on theNeman River. As of 2025, it has a population of 17,701.[1]
"Stowbtsy" means "columns" or "posts" in Belarusian. A suggested version for the name origin: once the Neman River was very deep, and sailing boats had to be tied to wooden posts to secure the boats against a strong flow of the river.[2]
The town was founded in 1593.[3] For a long time it was ashtetl with significantJewish population.
In August 1924, while Stowbtsy was part of theSecond Polish Republic, the town was the site of a Soviet-Polish border incident in which a company of Soviet raiders attacked its police station and government building in order to free two imprisoned communist activists (seeSoviet raid on Stołpce).[4]
Following theinvasion of Poland at the start ofWorld War II in 1939, the town wasoccupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, then byNazi Germany until 1944. In June 1941, there were more than 3,000 Jews living in the town, including several hundred refugees from the German occupied parts of Poland. The city was under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. After a week of occupation, the Germans shot around 200 Jews together with several dozen non- Jews, allegedly as a reprisal for sniper fire directed at German soldiers. On September 23, 1942, some 450 Jews were sent to their workplaces, and 750 Jews, most of them women, were shot in a forest, while another 850 either managed to flee or remained in hiding in theghetto. On October 2, another 488 Jews, composed mostly of women and children were shot. Another 350 Jews were killed on October 11. On January 31, 1943, the remaining 254 Jews, including those brought in from Novy Sverzhen, were shot. In the following days, the captured Jews were also shot and 293 Jews had been shot by February 4, 1943. Some of the Jews who fled the ghetto survived by joining theBielski partisans in the nearby Naliboki Forest.[5] In 1944, the town was re-occupied by the Soviet Union, which annexed it from Poland in 1945.
| Climate data for Stowbtsy (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 4.3 (39.7) | 6.0 (42.8) | 13.5 (56.3) | 23.2 (73.8) | 28.0 (82.4) | 30.3 (86.5) | 31.8 (89.2) | 31.5 (88.7) | 26.5 (79.7) | 19.4 (66.9) | 11.6 (52.9) | 6.0 (42.8) | 31.8 (89.2) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | −1.7 (28.9) | −0.4 (31.3) | 5.0 (41.0) | 13.3 (55.9) | 19.4 (66.9) | 22.9 (73.2) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.2 (75.6) | 18.0 (64.4) | 10.8 (51.4) | 4.0 (39.2) | −0.3 (31.5) | 11.7 (53.1) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | −4.1 (24.6) | −3.3 (26.1) | 0.9 (33.6) | 7.9 (46.2) | 13.5 (56.3) | 17.1 (62.8) | 19.0 (66.2) | 18.2 (64.8) | 12.8 (55.0) | 6.8 (44.2) | 1.6 (34.9) | −2.5 (27.5) | 7.3 (45.1) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −6.4 (20.5) | −5.9 (21.4) | −2.5 (27.5) | 3.0 (37.4) | 7.9 (46.2) | 11.6 (52.9) | 13.7 (56.7) | 12.7 (54.9) | 8.4 (47.1) | 3.6 (38.5) | −0.4 (31.3) | −4.6 (23.7) | 3.4 (38.1) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −20.1 (−4.2) | −17.4 (0.7) | −11.2 (11.8) | −4.1 (24.6) | 0.5 (32.9) | 5.0 (41.0) | 8.6 (47.5) | 6.4 (43.5) | 0.8 (33.4) | −4.1 (24.6) | −9.4 (15.1) | −15.4 (4.3) | −20.1 (−4.2) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 41.8 (1.65) | 36.1 (1.42) | 34.1 (1.34) | 35.6 (1.40) | 61.8 (2.43) | 71.9 (2.83) | 89.6 (3.53) | 62.7 (2.47) | 51.9 (2.04) | 49.9 (1.96) | 45.2 (1.78) | 43.1 (1.70) | 623.7 (24.56) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 1.0 mm) | 9.7 | 9.0 | 8.9 | 7.1 | 9.2 | 9.3 | 10.8 | 8.1 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 9.5 | 10.7 | 109.1 |
| Source:NOAA[6] | |||||||||||||
InTintin in the Land of the Soviets, Tintin arrived in theSoviet Union via Stowbtsy, where he was taken to acommissar. He later escaped an assassination attempt by an agent of theOGPU.
| Districts (raiony) |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Cities and towns | ||
1 Administrative center of Minsk Region but administratively separated | ||
