Grodno on ancient maps. A unique exhibition opened in the state historical-archaeological museum

According to Andrei Vashkevich, Head of the Museum's Department of Modern History, the maps and plans of Grodno presented at the exhibition cover the time period from the beginning of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century. The oldest of them is the so-called Stockholm plan of 1706 - a view of the Russian fortifications of Grodno during the Great Northern War, created by Swedish army cartographers. The most recent is the German plan of Grodno from 1940, on which Soviet underground fighters marked the locations of military units of the Nazi occupiers.

On the so-called Dresden map of Grodno from 1753, dark spots mark the parts of the city destroyed by another fire. It also clearly shows only recently built by that time New Castle. Copies of the 1783 and 1795 plans of Grodno were obtained from the Russian Military History Archive. The plan of 1783, created by the Grodno surveyor Jozef Markiewicz, is unique and very important for researchers: it shows the owners of all the buildings of the city almost two and a half centuries ago.

The 1882 plan updated by the museum restorers shows Grodno, which never existed: it was the first ever general plan for the construction of the city, which was never carried out - the reason was a terrible fire in 1885.

The exhibition presents quite a few maps of Russian authorship. These are, for example, plans of fortress construction in the city in 1810 and 1914, which were intended to strengthen its defense capacity. Attracting attention is the so-called plan of the surveyor Augustine of 1931 - the first accurate plan of the city, which was used until the end of the 50s of the twentieth century.

A number of plans from the funds of the Russian Military History Archive and other foreign archival repositories are represented by copies, while the plans from the funds of the Grodno Museum of History and Archaeology are original. The maps at the exhibition are supplemented with exhibits - old postcards, photographs, books and objects related to the places shown on the plans. In total, the museum presents more than two dozen maps and plans of Grodno and its parts.

"Antique maps and plans are of great interest to researchers of urban history, they vividly show the growth of settlements, changes in their street network, appearance and disappearance of the most significant objects of urban development. The plans are often masterpieces of draftsmanship and also reflect the development of cartography as a science" - said Andrei Vashkevich.