History

In the 11th century, the area of the present-day Braslav region was part of the Principality of Polotsk. Starting from the 14th century, the region was part of the Great Principality of Lithuania. The town of Braslav was the center of the region which was mentioned as volsot or sometimes powiat in the documents of the end 15th-early 16th centuries. Following the administrative and territorial reform of 1564-1566, the Braslav powiat was incorporated into the Vilnya voivodeship. Its territory was much bigger and included the areas of the modern-day Miory and Scharkovschina regions of Belarus and the Ignalina and Zarasai regions of Lithuania.      

After the second partition of the Rzecz Pospolita in 1792, the eastern areas of the region became part of the Russian Empire, specifically the Disna uezd of the Minsk province, starting from 1854 – the Vilnya province. In line with a resolution of the Grodno Sejm of 1793, the western part of the region including adjacent areas was transformed into the Braslav voivodeship.

After the third partition of the Rzecz Pospolita in 1795, the Braslav voivodeship was abolished while the Praslav powiat with the administrative center in the town of Vidzy was made part of the Lithuanian province and then, in 1801, Vilnya province. In 1836, the center of the powiat was moved from Vidzy to Ezerosy which was renamed Novoalexandrovsk (today, it is the town of Zarasai of Lithuania). In 1843, the Novoalexandrovsk uezd became part of the Kowno province.   

The Braslav region was established in December 1918. Later it was incorporated into the Lithuanian Soviet Republic; from the end of 1919 - a part of the Lithuanian-Belarusian Republic. From August 1919 until June 1920 and from autumn of 1920, the region was occupied by the Polish troops. The region was included into Central Lithuania, a semi-official formation controlled by the Polish military. On February 20, 1922, Central Lithuania became part of the Polish State.

The Braslav powiat of the Vilnya province existed until 1939. After Western Belarus and the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic got reunited in 1940, the powiat was transformed into the Braslav and Vidzy regions of the Vileika oblast.

In 1944-1954, the Braslav and Vidzy regions were part of the Polotsk oblast, in 1954-1960 – the Molodechno oblast of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.  

In 1960, the regions were united into one Braslav region as part of the Vitebsk oblast.  

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There are 25 archeological sites and 35 artefacts in the Braslav region. These are the settlements dating back to the late Stone Age and the Iron Age, the time of the Principality of Polotsk, burial grounds and boulders. First of all, it is the Castle Hill in the town of Braslav, the remains of the castles in the villages of Ikazn and Drisbyaty, Uklia and Opsa. the religious sites feature the Bernardines Monastery in the village of Druya (the 17th century) which is composed of Holy Trinity Catholic Church and housing facilities, the Catholic church in the town of Vidzy (early 20th century) which is the highest Catholic church in Belarus, the wooden Catholic Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in the village of Drisvyaty (1926), the Catholic church in the village of Slobodka (1903), the Corpus Christi Catholic Church in the village of Ikazn (early 20th century), St. John Catholic Church in the village of Opsa (early 20th century), Holy Dormition Orthodox Church in the town of Vidzy (1910), Holy Trinity Church in the village of Kirilino (early 20th century), St. Nicholas Church in the village of Ikazn (1905), the Church of the Patronage of the Mother of God in the village of Minkovichi (early 20th century).  Two country estates survive in the Braslav region. One of them is the mansion of the 18th century in Vidzy.  As for Braslav, the town is proud of Holy Dormition Church (1897) and the Catholic Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God (1897), the residential area (1924-1926) in the downtown and a building of the former hospital (early 20th century).

There is the park called as Belmont in Braslav which was laid out in the second half of the 18th century. Stanislaw Narbut, a famous physician and public figure, was buried on the Castle Hill in Braslav. Tomasz Wawrzecki, one of the leaders of the armed revolt of 1794 and distinguished Polish politician, was buried in the town of Vidzy. There are 47 military burials and a great number of WWII memorials in the region.