Brest (Belarus) understand · Brest (Belarus) tourist information
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Brest (Belarus) tourist information
Brest (Belarus) tourist information
Brest is a city with a long and complex history, and at different times it has been part of different countries and linked to different cultures. First mentioned in 11th century chroincles, Brest was a city in the eastern part of Kievan Rus. Later it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuany and eventually in the 16th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. When, in the late 18th century, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was partitioned between Prussia, Russia and Austria at the end of the 18th century, Brest became part of Russia on the newly created eastern border with Austria. After the first world war Poland was re-established as a country and gained control of Brest as well as most of today's western Belarus. In 1940 this area was again annexed, this time by the Soviet Union, and became part of the Byelorusian Soviet Socialist Republic. With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Brest became a city in the modern Belarus.
In addition, the city has been invaded multiple times and often laid to waste. In the 13th century it was the Mongols, in the 14th the Teutonic Knights. The khan of Crimea burned it down in the 15th century and in the 17th and 18th centuries it was invaded by Swedish armies. In the 20th century Brest was invaded by German forces in both World Wars, but it escaped the fate of Minsk which was laid to waste in the Second World War.
Brest is thus a city closely linked to the history of Central and Eastern Europe and the ever-changing borders. One aspect of the city that shows this is its architecture, with parts of Brest quite Polish in character. However the eastern links are also strong, with beautiful orthodox churches as well as some very prime examples of Soviet building styles.
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Brest (Belarus) Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.