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'Brest' (, , , , ; also known as 'Bieraście' or 'Biareście' ( respectively; and in the ''Chron.'' 'Berestie' and 'Berestov'; see also alternative names), formerly 'Brześć Litewski', 'Brest-on-the-Bug' and 'Brest-Litovsk', is a city (population 290,000 in 2004) in Belarus close to the Polish border where the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers meet. It is the capital city of the Brest voblast and is located at .
Being situated on the main Berlin–Moscow railway line and intercontinental highway, Brest became a principal border crossing since World War II in Soviet times. Today it links the European Union and the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Because of the break-of-gauge at Brest between the Russian broad-gauge system and the European standard gauge, all through rail passenger cars must have their bogies changed here, cargo in freight trains must be transshipped. Some of the land in the Brest rail yards remains contaminated as a result of the transshipment of radioactive materials here since Soviet days.

Contents

City name

History

Sights in Brest

Sights around Brest

Individuals associated with Brest

See also

Notes

External links

City name

There are several theories of the city name origin. The most common are as follows,

★ the name of the city comes from the Slavic root ''beresta'' meaning birch bark,

★ the name of the city comes from the Slavic root ''berest'' meaning elm,

★ the name of the city comes from the Lithuanian word ''brasta'' meaning ford.^[1]

History

The city was founded by Slavs. As ''Berestye'' it was first mentioned in the Russian Primary Chronicle in 1019 as a town in Kievan Rus. It was subdued several times by Poland and by Lithuania, laid waste by the Mongols in 1241, and was not rebuilt till 1275; its suburbs were burned by the Teutonic Knights in 1379; and in the end of the 15th century the whole town met a similar fate at the hands of the khan of the Crimea. It was renamed Brest-Litovsk in the 16th century, after it became part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. In the reign of the Polish king Sigismund III diets were held there; and in 1594 and 1596 it was the meeting-place of two remarkable councils of the bishops of western Russia; the 1596 council establishing the Eastern Catholic or Uniate Church. In 1657, and again in 1706, the town was captured by the Swedes; in 1794 it was the scene of Suvarov's victory over the Polish general Sierakowski; Brest passed to Russia when Poland-Lithuania was partitioned for a third time in 1795. During Russian rule in the 19th century a large fortress was build in and around the city.
It was captured by the German Empire in 1915, during World War I. In March 1918, in the Brest-Litovsk fortress on the western outskirts of Brest at the confluence of the Western Bug and Mukhavets Rivers, the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed, ending the war between Russia and the Central Powers and transferring the city and its surrounding region to the sphere of influence of the German Empire. This treaty was subsequently annulled by the treaties which ended the war.
The newly reconstituted Poland took control of Brest in 1919. The city changed hands twice during the Polish-Soviet War and eventually stayed inside Polish borders, a development that was formally recognised by the Treaty of Riga in 1921. In the former Brest-Litovsk fortress, heavily damaged during World War I, Polish troops with the headquarters of the 9th Military District were stationed, and the city itself became a capital of Polesie Voivodship (''województwo poleskie''). In 1930 Wincenty Witos and some other prominent Polish statesmen were detained here before the notorious trial in Warsaw.
During the Invasion of Poland in 1939 the city was defended by a small garrison of four infantry battalions under Gen. Konstanty Plisowski against the XIX Panzer Corps of Gen. Heinz Guderian. After four days of heavy fighting the Polish forces withdrew southwards on September 17 (more in articles: Battle of Brześć Litewski).

Notes

1. Encyclopedia Lituanica.Boston, Massachusetts, Vol. I, p.409. LCC74-114275

External links

★ http://www.brestonline.com

★ Historic images of Brest

★ Photos on Radzima.org

★ Entry in the ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine''

★ http://www.brest-bel.narod.ru

★ Jewish Brest-Litovsk (Brisk)- Your Virtual Shtetl (Town)

★ Streets of Brest