Vitebsk

Vitebsk sits on the Western Dvina and its cultural weight comes from a short period after 1918, when Marc Chagall, who was born and grew up here, returned to found an art school that drew Kazimir Malevich, El Lissitzky and others, and the town briefly became a centre of the Russian avant-garde before Chagall left and the school dissolved. The building the school occupied has been restored as a museum. Chagall's childhood house on Pakrouskaya Street is another. The city has the Assumption cathedral rebuilt on its bluff, the church of the Annunciation with twelfth-century fabric, and the Slavianski Bazaar, a large music festival held each July in the amphitheatre.

What you actually see

• The Chagall house museum - the family home on Pakrouskaya Street.
• The art school building - the restored museum of the 1919 school.
• The Annunciation church - the building with surviving twelfth-century fabric.
• Slavianski Bazaar - the July festival in the city amphitheatre.

When to go

May to September for the city; the Slavianski Bazaar in July fills it and accommodation books out. Museums close on Mondays. Winter is long and cold.

Honest expectations

Very few Chagall works are held in the city; the museums are about the places rather than the paintings. Much of the historic centre was destroyed and rebuilt. Festival week is crowded and expensive. Labelling is in Belarusian and Russian.

Nearby

Polotsk lies northwest; the Chagall museum is in the city.