The city of Brest is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. Its history is closely connected with the state border. Brest has been a border city throughout many centuries belonging to various states. At the Soviet times it was proudly called “the USSR western gate”. Today the city is still separating the two worlds – the European Union countries and the former Soviet republics (which are called CIS now).  

It is only 170 km of length and many centuries of history shared between Brest and Lublin. Even the very first record of our city is related to the fact of its bordering on ethnic Polish lands. Under the year of 1019 the chronicler of “The Russian Primary Chronicle” wrote about Prince Sviatopolk who travelled here heading for “the Poles” while escaping from his brother Duke Yaroslav the Wise. This event is the official historical reference time of the origin of our city formerly called Berestye. Centuries passed changing both the city’s image and its names. In the 17-20th centuries the city was called Brest-Litovsk. In 1921-1939 it became Brest-on-the Bug and since September 1939, it has already got its present name of Brest.  

In spite of these facts, there is one special place of medieval spirit in the city.  This is an archeological museum with wooden huts in old wooden-paved narrow streets.  
The border city is the place where important historical events have taken place several times. In 1390 Berestye was the first of contemporary Belarus to obtain self-government on the basis of the Magdeburg rights. Berestye played an important role in planning  the Battle of Grunwald as well. In 1409 Polish Grand Duke Jogaila and Lithuanian Grand Duke Vitovt had a secret meeting in our city where the plan of the battle with crusaders’ was being worked out. In the middle of the 17th century the first Belarusian printing establishment was founded; Brest Bible was printed there in 1563. Some more important events in the European history are “Brest” by their names: the Union of Brest-Litovsk of 1596, the Brest Peace Treaty of 1918. 

Brest is manifold: new lively residential areas are combined with umbrageous parks, the 19th century streets and the majestic spirit of the Brest Hero-Fortress.  The old and modern Brest is at the cross-roads attracting the tourists’ attention as before.  
You are welcome!

It is recommended to visit…
Every person who arrives in Brest, inevitably gets to the Brest railway station. Many guests tend to leave it as soon as possible. But don’t make haste.  Just look around you. The railway station is not only the place where trains arrive at. It is interesting in itself, with its rich history and inimitable design. For one thing, this was one of the oldest and biggest railway stations in the Russian Empire.  The central railway station building of neo-Russian style was erected in 1886.  Three months before its opening, it was visited by Emperor William II, Crown Prince of Germany, against the army of whose all Europe fought during World War I. But then, in 1886 the future autocrat’s visit was rather peaceful. The prince set off to chase a bear in Polesye forests belonging to the Radziwill family.

Later the Brest railway station was visited by many famous personalities in  the country’s history. In 1900 it was passed through by V.I. Lenin. 
If your time is limited, we recommend you to make for the main city’s place of interest.  The Brest Fortress is the visiting card of our city. Any tourist, coming here, would like to see this legendary place. The citizens are elevated with feelings to the fortress. They are proud of it. But its foundation is associated with the destruction of old Brest, numerous orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, narrow side streets and monasteries. It was the city about which not only historians are still longing for. 
On Belarusian lands annexing to Russian Empire at the close of the 18th century, the new government took up project designing of the fortress which were to defend the state western borderline.  In 1836 the foundations of the construction were laid; then it was opened in 1842. The fortress was built replacing the old city on the island at the confluence of the Mukhavets and the Western Bug. As a result, all the citizens were resettled to a new place which was two kilometers farther to the east where the contemporary Brest city center is located. At the corner of Lenin Street and Gogol Street the memorable stone can be found which marked the boundary between the city and the fortress. 

The main centre of resistance was the Citadel, an island encircled by two-storied closed barracks. The walls of this construction are of almost 2 meters in width and of 1.8 kilometers in length. Some of the old city buildings were adapted to the needs of the fortress.  The most remarkable one was the Basilian Monastery in which the Officers Assembly was placed. Later it was called the White Palace.     It is just the place where the Brest Peace Treaty was concluded in 1918. The ruins of this historical construction are still being attracted by the tourists.
The Citadel was protected by the walls of Kobrin, Terespol and Volyn which were linked to the main island, the gate and the bridges. The Terespol Gate led to the largest rope bridge in Russia in those days. However, the Kholmsk Gate    became the fortress symbol by rights which shell-splintered facade is imprinted on the fifty-rouble banknote of the national Belarusian currency. 

Having faced the war at its beginning, the fortress garrison had been defending from the enemy for a month or more. The Nazis were astonished at the defenders’ courage. After the capture of the fortress Brest was visited by Hitler and Mussolini. Nowadays the picture of this event is kept in the Defense Museum. 
Lenin Square, the main of the three city squares, is the favourite citizens’ walking place.  The oldest First of May City Park having celebrated its centenary anniversary is nearby. There is a monument to Lenin on the square, opposite it there is a Catholic Roman church. The square had been the place of historical events for several times, the most important of which was the mutual parade of the Soviet and the German Armed Forces in 1939, the future enemies in the Great Patriotic War. Nowadays theatrical companies on tour make their carnival performances here during the opening of the festival “Belaya Vezha”. For many years the main city’s New Year tree has been settled near the church. 

As soon as you cross the square opposite the monument of Lenin, you will get to Pushkin Street. Many buildings in this street are well recognizable on some old post cards. However, Sovetskaya Street mall became the citizens’ most favourite walking place.  Although its small extent, it enclosed not only old buildings but numerous cafes, restaurants, shops and the largest city’s cinema “Belarus”. In summer this street is buried in verdure; on evenings there are always a lot of young people walking here.

Though Brest visitors are welcome at any time of the year, there are some peculiar days when our city is specially beautiful and bright. If you get here at the beginning of May, you will appear to watch the citizen celebrating the Labour May Day or the Victory Day on the Ninth of May. Most of the events on these days are planned to take place in the Brest Fortress. Having started from the attack on the Brest Fortress, the Great Patriotic War began in the USSR on June 22, 1941. There has been a tradition in our city for many years. At dawn by the historical date of World War II the veterans of war, the youth, all volunteers gather for the meeting in the Brest Fortress to commemorate people who died in the war and defended the Fatherland. Among the visitors at different times there were All-Russian Patriarch Aleksiy II and all Russian presidents: B. Yeltsin, V.Putin and D.Medvedev.

Many citizens and Brest visitors like the City festival celebrated on the July of 27, the day of its liberation from the fascist invaders. On that day the city is traditionally decorated by caring people with flowers, banners and festive illumination. Street festivals, concerts and fairs are attracted by thousands of citizens. The 27th of July events are an excellent occasion of arriving in our city!
The city streets are remarkable for several monuments. The first mounted monument was the monument to Lenin (1958).  Since 1962 there has been a bust of Gogol, the great Russian writer, in Gogol Street which is called after his name.  To commemorate 110 years’ mind of poet A. Mickiewic, his bust was erected in the street called after his name in 1965. Near the Saint Semion Church, at the crossing of Karl Marx Street and Moskovskaya Street, a monument to spiritual enlightener Afanassiy Brestsky (Philippovich) was founded in 2005. At the crossing of Sovetskaya Street and Gogol Street a monument devoted to the coming 1000th anniversary of Brest is to be erected in the summer of 2009. 

Would some of the tourists like to send his or her relatives and friends messages from Brest? In this case we suggest your going to Moskovskaya Street, 32.  There has been a post office here since the building construction in the middle of the 19th century. It was so over its history. These walls witness letters being delivered in mail-coaches.  
Brest like any old city got its coat of arms together with the self-government. Many centuries ago there appeared a bow with an arrow aimed upwards on the coat of arms. Now this symbol can be noticed on buses and trolley-buses, in shop-windows and in any city advertisement. If you come to our city from the east, the first sight catching your eyes will be the symbolic picture of the fortress castellation.
Today’s Brest is one of the largest conveniently-planned cities of Belarus. The city population is about 300 thousand people. Brest has the beneficial geopolitical position being a large transportation network. The Brest railway junction is one of the biggest in Central Europe and conveys the CIS transit to Western Europe through Moscow and St. Petersburg.    

The transit Berlin-Warsaw-Brest-Minsk-Moscow as well as the straight track to Vilnius and Kiev is of great importance.
More than three thousand industries are working in the city nowadays above one-third of which are commercial enterprises. About 10 % of the population is occupied by small businesses. 
The light industry and the food industry are taking the leading place in production.
Economically beneficial geographical position of Brest gives the real perspectives for the investment promotion and reviving of enterprises. 
Brest enterprises account for one-third of the regional industrial potential.   Brest manufacturers strengthened their position on the international market; their goods are bought in almost 40 countries including Russia, Italy, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands.
All in all there are more than 50 big industrial enterprises in our city. The products of some of them are unique in the whole republic. Above all these are gas stoves and electric bulbs of various modifications and farming machines.

OJSC Brestselmash, milk production enterprise OJSC Savushkin Product and KOMPO Unitary Machine Building Enterprise contribute a lot into the regional economic development. It is pleasant to mark special mention of the productivity of Brest Meat-Packing Factory OJSC and JV OJSC Brest Gasoapparat which provides one-forth of the city production volume. OJSC Savushkin Product is in share of one-fifth of all Brest products.
A major contribution into the regional exporting is made by the Free Economic Zone of Brest founded in 1996. A number of tax and customs privileges on the territory of the Free Economic Zone have already attracted the business community of more than 20 countries in the world.
Fish products and ice-cream manufactured by Santa Bremor Joint Venture, meat delicacies of Inco-Food Foreign Company, chocolate made by Belarusian Kofeynaya Companiya “Ideal”, furniture made by Anrexand Bels and other goods are widely favoured by domestic customers and  people from abroad as well. 

In addition to that, Brest Region is mostly agrarian. At present the agricultural enterprises provide the population with the farming products completely.   Owing to the farmers’ hard work and their devotion to land, the grain harvest gathered in the Region has been running into millions for many years. 
Despite you have been to our city for many times and visited all its museums and parks, the Brest Fortress and the river Mukhavets embankment, all the same we invite you to this city which can cause to feel wonder every year. Hardly the citizens had got used to the comparably new Ice Palace, they began to construct new buildings, decorate the streets of their favourite city.

Brest citizens are looking forward to their new guests!