Description of the attraction
The Archaeological Museum "Berestye" was opened on March 2, 1982 and is a branch of the Brest Regional Museum of Local Lore. This is a unique museum that has no analogues in the world. Visitors can visit directly the excavation site over which a roof and walls were built to protect from the weather. Excavations of Berestye were carried out in 1962 by archaeologists under the leadership of F. P. Lysenko. Now a fragment of a detinets of an ancient East Slavic settlement of the XI-XIII centuries is open for review. Berestye is located on the territory of the Volyn fortification of the Brest Fortress (on the Hospital Island).
The total area of the museum is 2,400 square meters and is divided into 14 halls. The main exposition - the excavation site is located at a depth of 4 meters and has an area of 1000 square meters. This is part of the handicraft quarter of the ancient city (30 residential and utility buildings, as well as two streets), located on the border between the Slavic and Polish states on the cape between the Western Bug and Mukhavets rivers.
The excellent preservation of the archaeological finds is due to the fact that all the past centuries they were under a swamp. One can only guess what disaster caused not only houses, but also all utensils, clothes, shoes, jewelry, merchants' goods were abandoned by the inhabitants of the city. Numerous remains of domestic animals were also found on the territory of the excavation.
Berestye is one of the oldest large Belarusian cities. His mentions contain the annals of 1019. The city occupied about 4 hectares, the population reached 1.5-2 thousand people.
It is noteworthy that all the huts found were completely wooden. Some houses have survived up to 12 crowns. On the territory of the city, a church was found, as well as Christian and pagan religious objects. The city was surrounded by wooden walls on earthen ramparts and surrounded by moats.
The exposition of the museum also presents items of blacksmiths, tanners, jewelers, potters, weavers found during excavations.
