Description : Velizh (Russian: Ве́лиж; Belarusian: Веліж; Polish: Wieliż; Lithuanian: Veližas) is a town and the administrative center of Velizhsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the bank of the Western Dvina, 134 kilometers (83 mi) from Smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 7,620 (2010 Census); 8,343 (2002 Census); 9,146 (1989 Census). In the late 14th century, it used to be a border fortress of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Muscovy recaptured it in 1536, but it was restored to Lithuania in the 1582 Truce of Yam-Zapolsky. The town was returned to Russia under the terms of the First Partition of Poland. The houses of Nikolay Przhevalsky and Alexander Rodzyanko in the proximity to Velizh are open to the public as museums.
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