Two of these Belarusian cities are divided by a distance of eighty-five kilometers. One of them - Vitebsk - is a city of regional significance, the second - Orsha - of regional significance. However, Orsha is not an ordinary district center, it is one of the ten largest cities in Belarus. Between the cities of Orsha and Vitebsk there is good both railway and bus connections.
On the banks of the Dnieper
Orsha is located in the southeast of the Vitebsk region on the banks of the Dnieper River (the third in Europe in terms of basin area), or rather, on the banks of two rivers. Here flows the tributary of the Dnieper - the Orshitsa River.
The first mention of Orsha was found in The Tale of Bygone Years in connection with military events dating back to 1067.
Today, Orsha is a large industrial center of the republic. Twenty-six enterprises work here. The population of the city is about one hundred forty thousand people.
The convenient location of Orsha allowed her to become a major railway junction not only in Belarus, but also in Europe. Trains to Warsaw, Berlin, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and many other cities pass through the city. There is no doubt that more than one train passes through the stretch of the Orsha-Vitebsk route.
City over the Dvina
That is exactly what Vitebsk can be called, which was founded in the place where two rivers merge - the Western Dvina and Vitba. This is the northernmost regional center of Belarus.
According to legend, the city was founded by Princess Olga in 974.
Today it is located on an area of almost 125 hectares. The population is 372 thousand people.
In Vitebsk there are 233 objects included in the state list of historical and cultural values. However, the world fame of the city is associated with the names of avant-garde artists Marc Chagall, Yudel Pan, Kazimir Malevich, and also with the Slavic Bazaar.
The railway connection connects Vitebsk with Minsk, Warsaw, Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kiev and other cities. To get from Vitebsk to Orsha is not difficult.
From Vitebsk by train by train
As they say, at any time of the day or night you can go on this route. Due to the proximity of the distance, it is not necessary to choose long-distance trains. So, the Vitebsk-Orsha electric train often runs. This electric train makes seven flights per day. The earliest at 6.40. The train takes 1 hour 54 minutes and arrives in Orsha at 8.34.
The fastest train from Vitebsk leaves at 17.05, at 18.28 it arrives at the terminal station.
The latest train is at 20.23, in Orsha it is at 22.10. There are still flights from Vitebsk at 8.25, 11.40, 14.56 and 17.20. Of course, there may be changes in the train schedule, so the departure time on a specific day should be clarified.
In the opposite direction: Orsha - Vitebsk
Seven flights are made by electric train and in the direction of Vitebsk. The first train leaves Orsha at 5.30 in the morning and arrives at the terminal station at 7.27. The latter - at 19.50 (arrival - at 21.43). Intermediate - 9.20, 12.18, 15.00, 17.52 and 19.15.
The Orsha-Vitebsk electric train makes eight stops on its way on average.
You can ride on the train
Here, the choice seems even more than on the train. You can choose among the trains of suburban importance and long-distance travel.
The local train "Vitebsk - Orsha" (diesel, as it is simply called) simply runs seven times a day. Its first flight leaves at 6.40, the last at 20.23 (arrival at 8.34 and 22.10, respectively). Being on the road in time is almost the same as that of the Vitebsk-Orsha electric train. Diesel, however, does some of its flights not daily, but only on weekends. Therefore, you need to call the information desk before the trip. In the opposite direction from Orsha to Vitebsk a local train makes even eight flights on some days of the week.
From Vitebsk via Orsha
To date, there are twenty-seven trains leaving Vitebsk via Orsha. Most of them are long-distance. Most often there are trains from St. Petersburg to Kiev, Dnepropetrovsk, Chernivtsi, Chisinau, Prague, Vienna, Minsk, Salihorsk, Gomel ... All of them travel part of their route along the route Vitebsk - Orsha. The St. Petersburg - Minsk train travels this distance faster - in just 1 hour 14 minutes. By the way, he follows at night, from 03.12 to 04.26.
The longest way this short stretch of train is the Vitebsk - Saratov train - in 2 hours 5 minutes.
As a rule, on the route Vitebsk - Orsha, a train of any destination makes no more than one intermediate stop, most often it is Bogushevskaya. By the way, Vitebsk, like Orsha, in the routes of most trains is an intermediate station.
In the opposite direction, all trains again pass the segment of the Orsha-Vitebsk route, only some of them overcome it faster. For example, in 1 hour 11 minutes this is done by trains going to Murmansk from Brest, Gomel, Minsk and Kaliningrad.
We take a bus
If desired, from Orsha to Vitebsk can be reached by road. There are intercity bus routes: Dubrovno - Vitebsk, Gorki - Vitebsk, Bobruisk - Vitebsk and Orsha - Vitebsk. The bus covers a distance of eighty-five kilometers in almost the same time as the train.
If the buses on the first three routes run once or twice a day, then the last one can have up to seven flights a day. To clarify the information before the trip, you should use the services of the information bus station.
Finally, the Orsha-Vitebsk highway, the distance between which is eighty-four kilometers, allows you to overcome it in 1 hour 23 minutes by car.
Sights of Orsha and Vitebsk
Having been in Orsha, one cannot fail to see the outstanding monuments of architecture and history. First of all, tourists are attracted by the Jesuit College - a monument of architecture of the seventeenth century, which is also located in the central part of the city. A clock is installed on the collegium’s tower at certain times playing beautiful melodies. By and large, Orsha can be called the city of monasteries. There were many of them in this city: Bernardine, Basilian, Franciscans, Trinitarians, Dominican ... Among the Orthodox, the most famous was the Epiphany Holy Kuteinsky Monastery (1623). All these architectural monuments are partially preserved. But there is also a water mill, a castle, the Katyusha memorial complex and others.
Arriving from Orsha by morning train, you can devote a whole day to the
sights of Vitebsk. Although in one day all of them, of course, you will not inspect.
If Orsha was called the city of monasteries, then Vitebsk is the city of temples. And they are more beautiful than each other, as are the surroundings around them. What is the view from the Kirov bridge across the Dvina to the Assumption Cathedral! There is also the Intercession Cathedral, the Assumption Church, the church of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, the Church of Jesus the Merciful, the Holy Resurrection Church and many others.
A trip from Orsha to Vitebsk can be a wonderful tourist trip.