Vowpa

{{Short description|Agrotown in Grodno Region, Belarus}} {{Infobox settlement |name = Vowpa |native_name = {{native name|be|Воўпа}} |settlement_type = Agrotown |image_skyline = Воўпа. Касцёл.jpg |imagesize = |image_caption = Church of Saint John the Baptist |image_seal = BIA Wołpa COA.png |pushpin_map = Belarus |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Belarus |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Grodno Region |subdivision_type2 = District |subdivision_name2 =Vawkavysk District |established_title = |established_date = |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = |population_note = |population_total = |population_metro = |population_density_km2 = |timezone = MSK |utc_offset = +3 |timezone_DST = |utc_offset_DST = |coordinates = {{coord|53|22|08|N|24|22|18|E|region:BY_type:city|display=title,inline}} |elevation_m = |postal_code = |area_code = |website = }}

'''Vowpa'''{{efn|Also spelled ''Voŭpa'', ''Volpe'', ''Wolpe'', ''Wolp'', or ''Woupa''}} ({{langx|be|Воўпа}}; {{langx|pl|Wołpa}}; {{langx|ru|Вольпа|Volpa}}; {{langx|lt|Volpos}}) is an agrotown in Vawkavysk District, Grodno Region, in western Belarus.<ref name="CH-K">Carol Herselle Krinsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1985, ''Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning'', Dover Publications, 1996, p. 225 ff.</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/voupa.html|title=Voupa, Belarus}}</ref> It serves as the administrative center of Vowpa selsoviet.<ref name="enc">{{cite book |last1=Gaponenko |first1=Irina Olegovna |title=Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Гродзенская вобласць |date=2004 |location=Minsk |publisher=Тэхналогія |page=127 |isbn=985-458-098-9}}</ref>

==History== [[File:Wolpa Synagogue Poland 1920.jpg|thumb|left|Wołpa Synagogue, 1920, Second Polish Republic]] At various times it was either a royal town of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth or a private town of the Holszański and Sapieha families,<ref name=sgk/> administratively located in the Wołkowysk County in the Nowogródek Voivodeship. It was often visited by King Stephen Bathory during his stays in nearby Grodno.<ref name=sgk/> In 1643, Kazimierz Leon Sapieha received King Władysław IV Vasa in the town.<ref name=sgk/>

The Wołpa Synagogue is located in the town, and is reputed to be the "most beautiful" of the wooden synagogues of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth,<ref name="CH-K" /> a "masterwork" of wooden architecture.<ref name="TH">Thomas C. Hubka, ''Resplendent Synagogue: Architecture and Worship in an Eighteenth Century Polish Community'', by Brandeis University Press, 2003, p. 63</ref>

In the interwar period, Wołpa, as it was known in Polish, was administratively located in the Grodno County in the Białystok Voivodeship of Poland. In the 1921 census, 59.9% people declared Polish nationality, 38.9% declared Jewish nationality and 1.2% declared Belarusian nationality.<ref name=gus>{{cite book|author=|title=Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom V|year=1924|language=pl|location=Warszawa|publisher=Główny Urząd Statystyczny|page=43}}</ref>

During World War II, the town was first occupied by the Soviet Union until 1941, then by Nazi Germany until 1944, and re-occupied by the Soviet Union afterwards.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

==Demographics== {{Historical populations|align=left|1886|1634|1921|1731 |source=<ref name=sgk>{{cite book|author= |title=Słownik geograficzny Królestwa Polskiego i innych krajów słowiańskich, Tom XIII|year=1893|language=pl|location=Warszawa|page=913}}</ref><ref name=gus/>}} {{clear|left}}

==Notes== {{notelist}}

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * http://www.belarusguide.com/cities/voupa.html

Category:Populated places in Grodno region Category:Vawkavysk district Category:Agrotowns in Belarus