It was mentioned for the first time in the regulations document of the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstisla-vovich under the name Krechut. Starting from the second part of the XIV century, it became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Krichev inhabitants participated in the Grunwald battle of the year 1410. On the 28th of August it obtained the Magdeburg right and its own emblem. During the Northern war of the 1700— 1721 years, in summer 1708 a camp of the Russian troops headed by Peter the First, was located in the Krichev environs. In January 1776, Ekaterina II granted the Krichev village area (14 247 people) to the count P. A. Potemkin.In 1931 Krichev officially obtained the town status. Nowadays its population consists of 30 thousand people. The district economy is represented by an agricultural sector and by a developed industrial sector. The most important enterprises are the following ones: "The Krichev cement and slate" Industrial Republican Unitary Enterprise, "The Krichev Factory of the Rubber Products, named in honour of the 50th anniversary of the BSSR" Regional Unitary Industrial Enterprise, "The Krichev meatpacking plant" Open Joint-Stock Company, "The Krichev creamery factory" Open Joint-Stock Company, "Òhå Spirits Krasnodubsky factory" Unitary Commercial Industrial Enterprise.
A palace survived in Krichev until nowadays. It was built in the years 1778—1787 according to the count R. A. Potemkin's order. It appears to be an architectural classicism monument with later layers of the pseudo-gothic style.
Guide to towns and district centers of Republic of Belarus. A.V. Varivonchik [etc.]
