 velizh (; ; ; ) is a town and the administrative center of velizhsky district in smolensk oblast, russia, located on the bank of the western dvina,  from smolensk, the administrative center of the oblast. population:  ==history== in the late 14th century, it used to be a border fortress of the grand duchy of lithuania. the russians recaptured it in 1536, but it was restored to lithuania after the time of troubles. 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. in april 1823, velizh was the site of a famous blood libel incident, in which local jews were wrongly accused of the murder of christian boy who was found dead in a field. based on the testimony of a drunk prostitute, over forty jews were arrested and in 1826 the synagogues were closed. some of the accused were not released until 1835.jewish virtual lib
Cities_and_towns_in_Smolensk_Oblast Vitebsk_Governorate