Brest Oblast Sightseeing Attractions
The Brest region is widely known abroad thanks to the memorial Brest Hero Fortress and Belovezhskaya Pushcha, the visiting card of the land. The Brest region has a lot of memorable places reminding of Lev Sapega, Adam Mitskevich, Napoleon Orda, Tadeusz Kosciuszko and other prominent people.
All in all, the Brest region has over 2,000 historical, cultural and architectural monuments, including the pearl of Belarusian Polesie – Pinsk, original Motol and Bezdezh, ancient Kamenets with its famous Belaya Vezha (White Tower), Ishkodl with ancient gothic architectural monument Trinity Catholic Church and of course, the hero-city Brest.
The memorial Brest Hero Fortress is a symbol of the deeds accomplished by the Soviet nation during the Great Patriotic War. The Brest fortress was one of the first to receive the blow of Nazi invaders on June 22, 1941. The courage and heroism of Brest fortress defenders have entered the history to be remembered for ever. The Brest fortress was built back in the 19th century following an order of the Russian emperor. It was solemnly opened on April 26, 1842.
The regional local lore museum can tell a lot about the history of the city. The museum’s affiliates include archaeological museum Berestye (built on the site where remnants of a town dated back to the 12th century were found), museums City History, Saved Artistic Values, Native Nature, Cosmos. In Brest there are two theatres – Brest Drama and Music Theatre and Brest Puppet Theatre as well as Brest Region Philharmonic, which has an ancient music ensemble Kontrdans.
The museum of history of Belarusian Polesie in the town of Pinsk as well as two railway history museums – the Railway Machines Museums in Brest and the museum of the Baranovichi department of the Belarusian Railways in Baranovichi are of special interest.
Towns of the Brest region welcome multiple international and national festivals and sports competitions. The most famous ones include an international theatre festival Belaya Vezha, January Musicale, a superlight aviation and aeronautics festival in Pruzhany, a musical holiday Belarusian Fanfares in Baranovichi, rallies of bikers and trophy raids.
There are 280 archaeological, 300 architectural, and 1,222 historical monuments in the Brest region. The number includes Kosovo Palace in the Ivatsevichi district, a park and mansion ensemble in the village of Skoki, Brest district, a Franciscan monastery in Pinsk, a park and mansion ensemble in the village of Gremyache, Kamenets district, palace ruins in the town of Ruzhany, a chapel erected for “Stalwart forefathers who perished in the battle of Gorodechno on July 21, 1812”.
There are many unique natural complexes and natural monuments in the region. The most precious ones are protected by the state. There are 117 protected territories and objects in the region.
The national park Belovezhskaya Pushcha is a unique forest territory in Europe. It preserves the last of the once vast plain forests and unique plants and animals, primarily aurochs. The Pushcha was first mentioned in chronicles in 983, with access regulations close to those of a forbidden territory established in the early 15th century. The protected area was used to found the national park Belovezhskaya Pushcha in 1991. In 1992 it was inscribed onto the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1993 Belovezhskaya Pushcha was turned into a biosphere reserve and awarded a European Diploma in 1997.
Belovezhskaya Pushcha occupies around 90 thousand hectares. Its flora and fauna include versatile plants and animals. The forests boast white fir, various kinds of fir trees, pine tree, witch-elm, over one thousand oaks from 300 to 700 years old, ash trees 450 years old, pine trees 220 years old, cedars 150 years old. Belovezhskaya Pushcha also boasts aurochs, red deer, wolves, wild boars, lynxes and other animals as well as various birds and fishes. All the naturalistic systems of Belovezhskaya Pushcha are preserved in their natural state. Visitors to Belovezhskaya Pushcha can see historical and cultural monuments located in the natural park such as a homestead of Prince Tyshkevich, an emperor’s road, wild-hive beekeeping facilities, an ancient tower Belaya Vezha and other places of interest.
Natural peculiarities of the land can be observed in the nature museum of the national park Belovezhskaya Pushcha in the village of Kamenyuki, Kamenets district.
The Brest region is the heart of Belarusian Polesie. It boasts unique natural complexes combining forest and swamp landscapes. Despite industrial peat mining and land improvement the region has preserved around half of the swamps in the original state. These territories are the home to the national park Pripyatsky. It is situated 250 km south of Minsk and 350 km east of Brest.
Inundated landscapes in the park represent peculiar interest. The regularly flooded lands – in spring the Pripyat becomes up to 10–15 km wide – is now a home to peculiar vegetation complexes, namely unique oak groves and ash forests substituted in low lands by sticky alder forests and willow coppice, where more than 30 unique floodplain lakes and several small springs are located.
The park’s flora is represented by 826 varieties of higher plants and over 200 varieties of moss. One can find there all types of forests and swamps of the Belarusian Polesie. The fauna of the national park counts 45 species of mammals, 265 species of birds, 7 reptiles, 11 amphibians, 37 fishes. It is home to aurochs, badgers, lynxes, black storks, grey cranes, harrier eagles, eagle owls, spotted eagles, fresh-water turtles, natterjacks, smooth snakes, sterlet.
Visitors of Brest city and the region can use over 50 hotels, motels, sanatoriums, recreation centres and tourist camps.
