Prerequisites for community creation
Historical prerequisites on the way to Sustainable Development
Our ancestors founded a settlement more than 1000 years ago on the confluence of the two rivers – Western Dvina and Disna, which gave the name to the town afterwards.
The town's status has been changing continuously from a small Slavonic settlement in the X century to a town with Magdeburg Rights in the XVI century, from a district center of the Vilna Guberniya in XIX-XX centureies to a regional center in the 40-ies of the XX century.
The town was the fortress, from the walls of which 5–thousand thrones of Stefan Batory started their way to free Polotsk from troops of Ivan the Terrible (Ivan IV).
The town was a cultural center where the well-known first professional Belarusian theater under the lead of Ignt Buinitsky was founded.
Disna is the motherland of Giyom Appoliner, Yazep Drozdovich, Alexander Green, it was the source of Adam Mitshkevich’s inspiration
The town used to be an industrial and trading center. The butter produced in Disna was by 4 shillings more expensive than the butter made in England!
This is the town that was deadly wounded during the Great Patriotic War, when 3800 people out of 9000 population were killed on one day of June 14, 1942. This is the town that met Victory while lying in ruins with only 400 inhabitants left.
The traffics stream changed: construction of a railway at a distance from the town, stopping of navigation in Western Dvina, absence of bridge over the Western Dvina, frequent floods.
The whole industry moved to the railway. And the industry in Disna suffered great problems. The flax processing plant, the dairy plant, Mobile Mechanical Division department, Maintenance and Production Administration department stopped their existence, sales outlets and a confectionary shop were closed and currently stay empty.
That was the reason why since 1959 Disna lost its status of a district center in favor of Miory.Before the end of the XX century Disna became a decaying town.
At present in Disna there are 998 jobs, 28 organizations and enterprises, 18 sales outlets, 27 individual entrepreneurs and private unitary enterprises.
The town has grown from a small settlement to an uyezd (old Russian for county) and district center and then went the way back to a small town.
Different ways of seeing
The glass is half empty...
Before 2005 Disna was unknown and forlorn in Belarus. When Sustainable Development Strategy was offered, a website and articles in mass media appeared, Disna was identified by the majority as “a town without any future”.The following headings appeared in press and Internet: “Disna - a dying town”, “Disna - a nowhere town”. The absence of production and high level of unemployment was the reality in which we had to live.
The glass is half full...
An here is the opinion of Arne Elfenson (Sweden), who made a very important notice during a press tour: “In VIII-X centureies we came here with weapons in our hands, as conquerors, and I am glad, that we are coming back here as tourists today. And the best item of interest of Disna is its people”.
Hospitable, open, interesting – that is the way foreign visitors see us. New headings in mass media appear: "Let the tourism be here!”, “Disna on a revival boat”.