Vyerkhnyadzvinsk or Verkhnedvinsk (; ; ; ), previously known as Drysa or Drissa until 1962, is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vyerkhnyadzvinsk District. It is located at the confluence of the and the Daugava River. Its population in 2009 was 7,600. As of 2023, it has a population of 6,883.
History
Drissa is first mentioned in a chronicle of the year 1386. During the medieval period it formed part of the Principality of Polotsk, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. From 1801 it was the center of the Drissa uyezd of the Vitebsk Governorate, and during the War of 1812 it was the site of a fortified camp described by Leo Tolstoy in Book Three of War and Peace.
It became a raion center in 1924. During the Second World War, it was occupied by Germany and most of the local population was massacred.