Brest (Belarus)

Brest is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet. It is the capital city of the Brest voblast. The city of Brest is a historic site of many cultures. Here were concluded such important historical documents as the Union of Brest and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The city fortress was recognized by the Soviet Union as the Hero Fortress, a unique award.

See Also:  Minsk (Belaurs)

The city, during medieval times, was part of the Kingdom of Poland from the 10th century until the Polish Partitions, when it became part of the Russian Empire in 1795. After World War I, however, the city again returned to the custody of Poland, until World War II temporarily when the city was taken by the Nazis. After the war, with the new boundaries with Poland, the city became part of the Soviet Union until the breakup of the country in 1991, placing the city in the custody of Belarus, where it remains today.

The city was founded by the Slavs. As a town, Brest – Berestye in Kievan Rus – was first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle in 1019 when the Kievan Rus took the stronghold from the Poles. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. It was hotly contested between the Polish rulers (kings, principal dukes and dukes of Masovia) and Kievan Rus princes, laid waste by the Mongols in 1241, and was not rebuilt until 1275. Later it was part of the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In 1390 Brest became the first city in the lands that now comprise Belarus to receive Magdeburg rights. Its suburbs were burned by the Teutonic Knights in 1379. See Also : Beautiful Places From Hrodna (Belarus)

In 1409 it was a meeting place of King Władysław II Jagiełło, duke Vytautas and Tatar khan under the archbishop Mikołaj Trąba initiative, to prepare for war with the Teutonic Knights. In 1410 the town mustered a cavalry company that participated in the Polish-Lithuanian victory at the battle of Grunwald. In 1419 it become a seat of the starost in the newly created Trakai Voivodeship. In 1500 it was burned again by Crimean Tatars. In 1566, following king Sigismund II Augustus decree, a new voivodeship was created - Brest Litovsk Voivodeship. After it became part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, it was renamed Brest-Litovsk

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