Brest

Brest

Brest, formerly known as Brest-Litovsk, is the city and administrative center of the Brest oblast, on the right side of the Bug River. Brest lies along the Mukhavets River, which the Bresters call "the river". The river runs through the city in a westerly direction, dividing it into north and south, and meets the Bug River at the fortress of Brest. The river has a very wide floodplain, about 2-3 kilometers wide. For this reason, Brest has often been subject to flooding in the past. In 1974, one of the worst floods in recorded history occurred. In the mid-19th century, the Dnieper-Bug canal was built east of Brest, linking the river to the Pina, a tributary of the Pripyat River, which in turn flows into the Dnieper. This gives Brest a shipping route all the long way to the Black Sea. The city's biggest tourist attraction is a war memorial erected on the site of the 1941 battle to honor the known and unknown defenders of Brest Fortress. Another attraction of the old town is the Berestye Archaeological Museum, situated on the southern island of the Hero-Fortress. It exhibits artefacts and huts from the 11th and 13th centuries, which were excavated in the 1970s. The Museum of Rescued Art Treasures contains a selection of paintings and icons. More than 100 years old, Brest City Park was renovated between 2004 and 2006 as part of the park's centenary celebrations, and the Millennium Monument of Brest was unveiled in July 2009.