The sights of Belarus Brest is a city

The sights of Belarus

Brest is a city and the administrative centre of the Brest region of the Republic of Belarus, the traditional "western gate" of the country. The city is located on the right bank of the Western Bug River.

The Brest fortress is the main attraction of the city. The history of this defensive construction started in 1842 when the entire city of Brest was moved 3 kilometres east, and a massive fortress was set up in its place. The fortress made a prolonged defense against Germans in 1941 and was ruined as a result of severe battles. After the war the remains of the fortress were turned into a grandiose memorial to its defenders. The fortress had no warning when the Germans invaded on 22 June 1941, and became the site of the first major fighting between Soviet forces and the Wehrmacht which surrounded the fortress. After nine days of fierce fighting the Germans declared to have captured most of the fortress. It meant that the strategic objective was accomplished with a considerable delay and losses.

The book "Brestskaia krepost" that broke the story of the fortress defense in the USSR was published in 1957 by the Soviet investigative journalist Sergei Smirnov. The Museum of the Defense of the Brest Fortress was opened in 1956, while the Memorial Heroic Brest Fortress Complex was opened in 1971. The fortress was awarded the title Hero Fortress on 8 May 1965.

Nesvizh

Considered by many to be the most beautiful palace in Belarus, Nesvizh Castle is one of die most popular tourist attractions in the country. The castle features wonderfully diverse architecture as well as amazingly beautiful gardens. In 1994 it was designated as the national historical and cultural reserve and then in 2005, the area was inscribed in die UNESCO World Heritage list as "Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh" which consists of the 10 interconnected buildings that make up the castle as well as the mausoleum Church of Corpus Christi.

Minsk, the capital of the Republic of Belarus, was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1067, but there are not many places in the city that date back to old times.

The City Hall dates back to the 16 th century and was renovated many times before achieving its current neoclassical appearance in the 19 th century. Over the years it housed the town council, legal courts, guardhouse, archives and even a theatre before finally being demolished in the 1950 s. In 2003 the plans and old photographs were dug up and the architect S. Baglassov set about reconstruction. The reborn building features a magnificent ceremonial hall lined with portraits of 23 famous Minskovites and exhibits on the city’s history and future reconstruction projects.

And such is all that remains (for now at least) of the ancient town centre although reconstruction projects are un der way. The Hotel d’Europe is a part of the large scale project on the reconstruction of the historical centre of Minsk. The hotel was known as early as the 19 th century. The hotel got its name in 1884, following a major renovation. In 1906 1908, the hotel was remodelled into a modern style building. It went on to become the biggest civil building in Minsk before the October Revolution and the largest hotel in what was then the North Western Territory. Today, the hotel’s exterior virtually copies that of its predecessor.

Polotsk is one of the most ancient Eastern Slavic towns. It was founded by the Krivichis at the confluence of the rivers Zapadnaya Dvina and Polota. Polotsk is the town where the Belarusian statehood and Orthodoxy originated. The first written mentioning of Polotsk dates back to 862.

The town was a birthplace for the first Belarusian canonized woman, great enlightener of Belarus, Euphrosyne of Polotsk. She founded two churches, several convents and monasteries which became centres of enlightenment in the Principality. Euphrosyne of Polotsk was buried in the Church of Our Savior and Transfiguration (12 th century) located on the territory of the ancient St. Euphrosyne’s Convent (built in 1125). The convent and the church are considered to be the rarest surviving specimens of the ancient Slavic architecture and painting. The Cathedral of Exhaltation of the Holy Cross (the 19 th century) keeps a replica of the famous cross made by Lazar Bogsha on Euphrosyne’s order in 1161.