The city of Brest was first mentioned in the Tale of Bygone Years at the beginning of the 11th century as Berestye. A large railway junction in the southwestern part of Belarus, Brest is known to every inhabitant of the post-Soviet space as the city that was the first to repulse Nazi Germany during the attack of the Wehrmacht troops on the USSR. But the Brest Hero Fortress is not the only thing that can be seen in Brest. The city is famous for its medieval streets, beautiful embankment, museum exhibitions dedicated to the history of the region, and Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
It is best to come to Brest in late spring or early autumn, when walks give a real pleasure from exploring the city that has forever written its glorious name in history.
TOP-10 sights of Brest
Archaeological Museum "Berestye"
On the territory of the Volyn fortification of the Brest Fortress in 1982, the Berestye Museum was opened, the exposition of which acquaints visitors with the history of the city. The basis of the museum is formed by archaeological excavations and the remains of an ancient settlement discovered as a result of research.
At a depth of four meters, archaeologists have discovered buildings of the 13th century - a trading settlement, craft workshops, residential and utility buildings. About three dozen log cabins have been preserved through modern conservation.
The excavations are surrounded by a museum exposition, which presents the life and life of the Slavs. You will see crockery and looms, jewelry and agricultural implements.
Brest Fortress Hero
The construction of the fortress on the site of the old Brest castle was started in 1833. The project was developed by a military engineer and topographer K. I. Opperman. By 1842, the fortress consisted of a citadel and fortifications stretching for 6.5 km. The citadel with walls two meters thick could accommodate up to 12 thousand people. The fortress was modernized and additionally fortified at the end of the 19th century.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the Victory in 1965, the fortress was awarded the title "Hero Fortress", and in 1971 it became a memorial complex:
- The author of the sculptural compositions on the territory of the memorial is the sculptor A. P. Kibalnikov.
- The center of the complex is the Ceremonial Square. It is adjoined by the Museum of Defense and the ruins of the White Palace.
- The main monument of the Brest Fortress is called Courage. On the reverse side of the monument, there are bas-reliefs that tell about the most dramatic and important moments of the defense.
- The remains of hundreds of defenders of the hero fortress are buried in the necropolis.
The expositions of the "Boys of the Immortal Brest" and "Military Glory of Aviators" museums are worthy of the visitors' attention.
Belaya Vezha
In the city of Kamenets, 40 km from Brest, you can see a well-preserved defensive structure - the Kamenets Tower, built at the end of the 13th century. It is called Belaya Vezha. The tower is the tallest of the Volyn type structures that have remained since that time. Its height is 31 meters.
The time of the construction of the White Vezha was established thanks to the mention in the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle. It says that Kamenets and Belaya Vezha were built by Aleksa the town-harvester, a famous architect who erected many cities and fortresses during the reign of the Vladimir-Volyn prince Vasilko Romanovich.
The thick walls of the high tower have loopholes for firing, and the brick is distinguished by its special strength. Local legends say that egg white was used for its production, which gave the solution special cementitious properties.
Since 1960, a branch of the Brest Regional Museum has been opened in a unique monument of defensive architecture.
Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
In Brest, as in the whole of Belarus, there are not too many architectural monuments built before the middle of the twentieth century. The reason for this is the Great Patriotic War, which brought numerous destruction and loss. The more valuable is every structure that has been preserved and restored.
The list of the most beautiful and oldest sights worth seeing in Brest invariably includes the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built in 1856 in the style of late classicism.
The author of the project of the Catholic church was the architect J. Fardon. On the plan, the church is a rectangle divided by eight columns into three naves with a semicircular apse.
The main shrine of the church is the icon of the Mother of God of Brest. It is most revered among the Catholics of Belarus and was brought from Rome in the 16th century by the theologian Ipaty Potsei. During the war, the icon was saved by the parishioners of the church, and the icon was the only surviving one that adorned the church in the pre-war period.
Terespolskie gates
The citadel Brest Fortress can be accessed from four sides of the Ring Barracks. One of the gates leading inside is named after the city of Terespol, located in Poland near the border.
The gate overlooks the bank of the Bug, and before the First World War there was a suspension bridge across the river in this place.
The Terespol Gate was built in the 19th century. Built of red brick, they had three floors, and three small turrets were built on top. Inside the building there were cisterns with water supplied to the water supply system of the fortress.
The hostilities at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War caused severe damage to the gate. The upper part of them was destroyed.
At the foot of the gate, there is a memorial sign in memory of the defenders of the fortress.
Museum "5th Fort"
One of a dozen forts scattered across the territory of Brest and its environs has now been turned into the "5th Fort" museum. It tells about the history of the city and is a perfect example of a real defensive structure, left almost intact.
Its construction began in the 70s of the XIX century, when the fortifications of the Brest-Litovsk fortress were being built. The 5th fort was fortified with two-meter-thick concrete walls and took the first blow of the German troops back in 1939, before the city, in accordance with the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR, became part of the Soviet Union. The beginning of the Second World War was a test for the defense system of the fortifications of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress and the 5th Fort.
On the territory of the fort there is a barracks with 11 casemates, where an underground passage leads from the caponier. In the open air, artillery pieces of the Great Patriotic War are exhibited, and in the barracks you can visit a photo exhibition with original photographs depicting the history of the construction of the fortress of Brest.
To get there: bus. N1 and 20, route taxi N2.
Museum of saved values
This Brest museum can be safely classified as rare and unusual. Being a border city, Brest becomes a place every day where they try to smuggle works of art, jewelry, icons and other things valuable for the country across the border. It is the items confiscated from the smugglers that form the basis of the collection of the Museum of Rescued Values.
Since its opening, the museum has significantly increased in size, and now uses several halls to display the collection. The collection of icons painted in the period from the 16th to the 18th century is of the greatest value. The images of Our Lady of Vladimir and the Old Testament Trinity are the special pride of the museum organizers.
The museum displays hundreds of masterpieces of portrait painting and antique furniture, jewelry and household items and applied art. The halls contain priceless Faberge products and Caucasian edged weapons in silver sheaths, masterpieces made using the Rostov enamel technique, and Japanese embroidery on silk. Landscape painting is represented by the works of Aivazovsky, and the sketch for Vrubel's painting "The Demon Defeated" is considered the pearl of the hall of graphic works.
Trinity Church in Chernavchitsy
One of the oldest architectural monuments, built by Belarusian architects in the 16th century, has survived in the village of Chernavchitsy near Brest. The church reminds lovers of local history of the Castle Gate in the town of Nesvizh. The belfry of the temple almost exactly repeats the defensive tower of the gates, which were erected at the same time as the church. Most likely, the same architect worked on the project of both sights of Belarus.
Railway museum
A museum dedicated to trains and everything related to railways opened in Brest in 2002. The basis of the exposition is about 70 samples of genuine railway equipment, which are still used during filming and excursions. The collection of the museum includes pre-war and military steam locomotives, tanks-steam locomotives, diesel locomotives and unique steam cranes. Passenger cars are represented by ambulances and staff cars. Such cars formed the basis of the trains running along the roads of the country during the Great Patriotic War.
Monument to the Millennium of Brest
In 2009, at the expense of the townspeople in Brest, a monument was erected in honor of the millennium of the city. It reminds residents and guests of the history of Brest, expressed in artistic images of outstanding personalities and the most important moments. The historical images presented in the memorial are princes Vladimir Vasilkovich, Radzvill, Nikolai Cherny and Lithuanian Vitovt, surrounded by collective images of a soldier, mother and chronicler. In a circle, the monument encircles a bas-relief with several scenes of the historical past of the city depicted on it. You can see the sculptural compositions dedicated to the Battle of Grunwald, where the inhabitants of Brest participated, and the defense of the Brest Fortress during the Great Patriotic War. Another part of the bas-relief tells about the publication of the Beresteiskaya Bible and space exploration.
It will not be difficult for high school students to find 75 spelling mistakes that were made by the authors of the inscriptions on the monument - either from inattention, or from excitement for the honor shown to them.
