Mstislavl

Mstislavl (Мсці́слаў, Mscisłaŭ; Мстиславль) is a town in Mogilev Region, Eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Mstsislaw Raion. As of 2009, its population was 10,804.

Mstislavl was first mentioned in the Ipatiev Chronicle under 1156. It was initially included within the Principality of Smolensk, but had become the capital of the Principality of Mstislavl by 1180. In the Middle Ages, it was the family seat of Princes Mstislavsky. Pyotr Mstislavets is believed to have been born in Mstislavl.

In 1377 it was taken by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The first Lithuanian duke of Mstislavl was Karigaila, brother of Jogaila. The town remained part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Mścisław Voivodship until the Partitions of Poland in 1772. Now it is a center of the district.

The buildings of historic interest include the Carmelite church (1637, renovated 1746–50) and the Jesuit cathedral (1640, renovated 1730–38, turned into an Orthodox cathedral in 1842).

It is the birthplace of Jewish historian and writer Simon Dubnow, Jewish statesman and Communist politician Yakov Chubin.