Description of the attraction
The city of Vysokoe Kamenetsky district of the Brest region is a beautiful ancient city that once knew the times of greatness and glory. The city was first mentioned as Vysoky Grad in the XIV century, but later it was renamed Vysoko-Brestsk. Now the name, like the city itself, has become simpler. Now it is simply called High.
The city is located on the high bank of the tributary of the Western Bug, the Pulva River. According to an ancient legend, Prince Gedymin himself stayed here. He decided to settle down for rest in the city, which charmed the legendary prince with its beauty.
Vysoko-Brestsk received the Magdeburg Law and the city coat of arms in 1494, which speaks of its prosperity, the development of crafts and exemplary order on the streets of Vysokoye. In the 16th century, the city became the patrimony of Prince Jan Littavor Khreptovich and his wife Jadwiga Golshanskaya.
Since 1647, the city began to belong to the Sapieha princes, after hetman Jan Sapega bought it. The Hetman built a castle-fortress on the banks of the Pulva River, which combined a defensive structure and a beautiful palace immersed in blooming gardens. Nowadays, only ruins remain from the Sapieha residence. Over the centuries, many wars have battered the beautiful building: the Russian-Polish, Northern, First and Second World Wars. Unfortunately, it is not yet noticeable that the government of Belarus is going to restore the Sapieha castle.
Another interesting attraction of Vysokoe is the beautiful Trinity Church, recognized as one of the most beautiful Catholic churches in Belarusian Polesie.
The High knew different periods and, as elsewhere in Belarus, if there is a Catholic church in the city, then there will certainly be an Orthodox church in it. In Vysokoe, the Exaltation of the Cross Church rivals the Trinity Church in beauty and grandeur.
In 1785, Alexander Sapega invited the Catholic Bonifrat monks to the High, building a monastery and a church for them.
There was also a synagogue in Vysokoe. Unfortunately, after the Great Patriotic War with its atrocities of the Holocaust, only ruins remained of the synagogue.
Fans of old cemeteries will be interested in the ancient Catholic cemetery of Vysokoe, where the graves of Polish soldiers have been preserved.
The picturesque city will also delight you with small chapels and roadside chapels with statues of Catholic saints. Now the ancient city of Vysokoe still retains its former charm, and the banks of the river, overgrown with willows and bushes, have become even more attractive.
