Description of the attraction
The garrison St. Nicholas Cathedral, located in the central part of the Brest Fortress, was built with money collected by officers in 1851-1876 according to the project of the architect, academician of the Russian Art Academy D. I. Grimm.
The temple was built in the Russian-Byzantine style, its vault rests on 8 columns, and light penetrates through 7 window openings. The interior decoration of the church was done in the Orthodox style.
On March 18, 1921, when the Riga Peace Treaty was signed, the temple ended up on the territory of Poland. In 1924-29, the building was rebuilt under the direction of the architect Y. Lisetskiy, and it was opened as a garrison church of St. Casimir.
After the transfer of Brest into the hands of the Red Army, the officers' club of the 84th rifle regiment was set up in the church. The club existed until the Great Patriotic War.
Like the Brest Fortress itself, the temple was built with a possible defense in mind. Its building with massive walls during the battles in the Brest Fortress in 1941 became an important defensive structure, as it was located at the highest point of the fortress, from where all the surroundings were visible. Several times the temple passed from hand to hand of fascist and Soviet soldiers.
After the liberation of the Brest Fortress from the Nazi invaders, the building of the temple was mothballed. Its walls, mutilated by bullets and shells, but standing in the hellish flames of war, were supposed to become silent witnesses of the fierce battles that took place during the defense of the Brest Fortress.
In 1994, the temple was returned to the Orthodox Church. It is noteworthy that a considerable part of the donations for the restoration of the garrison cathedral was again collected by the officers and parishioners of Brest.
To date, the exterior of the temple has been completely restored, divine services have been resumed in it, however, the internal interior is deliberately left in the post-war form, as a reminder of the victims of the bloody war.
