BIELGOROD (i.e., White Town), a town of Russia, in the government of Kursk, 87 miles S.S.W. from that city, in 50° 36' N. lat. and 36° 37' E. long., on the right bank of the North Donetz, near the confluence of the Vizelka. It occupies a high chalk hill, from which are annually quarried about 112 tons. The date of the founding of Bielgorod is uncertain, because it has been confounded with two other places of the same name. In Karamsin’s History it is mentioned that the Grand Duke Theodore Ivanovitch in 1593 sent to found Bielgorod on the ruins of Siever; and it is certain that ancient remains are still to be seen in this city. In the 17th century Bielgorod suffered ceaselessly from Tatar incursions, against which, by command of the Emperor Michael Theodorovitch, there was built (from 1633 to 1740) an earthen wall, with twelve forts, extending upwards of 200 miles from the Vorskla to the Don. These defences were called the Bielgorod line, along which, in the reign of Alexias Michaelovitch, there were settled emigrants from Cherkas, Zimbar, Corsun, and elsewhere. In 1666 an episcopal see was established in the town, and the archbishops lived there till 1833, when they w ere transferred to Kursk. In 1779 Bielgorod was made the chief town of a circle in the Kursk government. There are two cathedral churches in the place, Trinity and Assumption, both built in the 16 th century, as well as fifteen other churches, two monasteries, a theological seminary, an almshouse, and a hospital. In 1862 a bank was established with a capital of between £10,000 and £15,000. Only a few of the houses are built of stone. Wax-candles, tallowcandles, leather, soap, and bricks are manufactured, and a considerable trade is carried on in grain and cattle. There are three annual fairs on the ...