Lithuania recaptured it in 1562, then Muscovy again in 1563, then Polish forces led by Jan Zamoyski captured it in 1580, confirmed by the 1582 Truce of Yam-Zapolsky.

[9] In 1585, King Stephen Báthory of Poland established the coat of arms and granted privileges for the townspeople.

[10] In April 1823, Velizh was the site of an infamous blood libel incident, in which local Jews were wrongly accused of the murder of Christian boy who was found dead in a field.

Based on the testimony of a drunk prostitute, over forty Jews were arrested and in 1826 the synagogues were closed.

[14] During World War II, between July 1941 and September 1943, Velizhsky District was occupied by German troops.

[1] As an administrative division, it is, together with seventeen rural localities, incorporated within Velizhsky District as Velizhskoye Urban Settlement.

[18] The houses of Nikolay Przhevalsky and Alexander Rodzyanko in the proximity to Velizh are open to the public as museums.