Small and cozy Braslav is located 250 kilometers from Minsk and only 15 kilometers from the Lithuanian border. The sights of the city and its environs are an ancient and full of mysteries settlement, a beautiful church, an old brick mill and, of course, lakes.

History and heraldry

The city of Braslav with a population of ten thousand people is located in the north of the country. From all sides it is surrounded by forests and picturesque lakes, due to which, by the way, Belarus is often called “blue-eyed”. This city is ancient, with its rich history. He had a chance to see and experience a lot in his lifetime.

Already in the 9th century, the first settlement was formed here. The first written mention of Braslav dates back to 1065. In the XIV century, the city became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and in 1500 received the Magdeburg right.

The 17th and 18th centuries were not easy for the city and its inhabitants. As a result of numerous wars, Braslav was repeatedly destroyed. In 1795 the city became part of the Russian Empire, and in 1922 it was again under the rule of Poland. In 1944, Soviet troops ousted the Germans from Braslav and occupied the town.

What interesting things can today's Braslav show to a visiting tourist? The sights of the city are not only historical and architectural objects, but also natural monuments.

In addition, the real highlight of this locality is its coat of arms, which many associate with Masons. On it you can really see the image of the eye in the blue triangle. However, it is a symbol of "divine supervision" and in this case protects the city and its inhabitants from various troubles and misfortunes.

The city in the Vitebsk region today is an important recreational and tourist center of Belarus. The mild climate, clean air and lakes full of fish attract thousands of tourists every year.

What could be interesting about Braslav himself? The places of interest that every tourist should definitely visit are listed below:

• castle hill fort;
• Church of the Nativity;
• Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary;
• water mill of the beginning of the 20th century;
• building of Narbut hospital;
• local history museum;
• museum of culture and traditions;
• park "Belmont";
• healing spring Okmenitsa;
• old Christian cemetery of the XIX-XX centuries.

Castle Hill - a place of legends and mysteries

An ancient settlement is located on a low 14-meter hill between the lakes Novyata and Drivyaty. Here you can still see the remains of fortifications of the IX-XII centuries. The origin of Braslav himself is connected with this place.

Castle Hill impresses not so much with preserved fragments of earthen ramparts and fortifications, but with stunning views that open from its gentle top. There are small wooden gazebos designed for outdoor recreation.

At the top of the Castle Hill there is a commemorative block, indicating that Braslav began here. Nearby is the grave of the local doctor and philanthropist Stanislav Narbut, marked with a high obelisk. He built and opened the first public hospital in the city with his own money.

Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary

Right under the Castle Hill you can see other sights of Braslav. Among them is the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, built in the 1820s.

The sacral building was built in the neo-Romanesque style, using the traditional technique for the Baltic region of alternating red brick and stone boulders in masonry. A valuable relic is kept inside the temple - the icon of the Mother of God of Braslav, which is shown to visitors exclusively on holidays.

It is known that during the Nazi occupation of the city, the rector of the church Mieczysław Akreits was shot by the Germans. In the 1950s, the church was turned into a grain warehouse, but two years later it was returned to parishioners.

Mill and hospital Narbut

In the historical part of Braslav, several more ancient beautiful buildings have been preserved. One of them is a massive one made of brick and stone. It was built at the beginning of the 20th century and now serves as a museum.

Another interesting building can be seen in the city - this is the Narbut hospital, which has already been discussed above. The talented doctor Stanislav Narbut built a hospital in Braslav that meets all the requirements of European medicine. Within its walls, he performed dozens of complex operations, saving the lives of both adults and children. The red building of the hospital is located directly under the Castle Hill and is distinguished by a discreet, but rather refined brick wall decor. Now this building houses an Orthodox monastery.

Virgin purity and idyll of the Braslav Lakes

In the story about the tourist sites of the Belarusian city, it is impossible not to mention the reservoirs that surround it. Braslav lakes are a group of reservoirs and national park with a total area of ​​130 square kilometers. A great place to relax and observe wildlife. In total, there are 70 reservoirs of different sizes. The largest of them are Drivyaty, Snudy, Tsno, as well as Lake Strusto. On the shore of the latter, by the way, there is a spring Okmenitsa with healing mineral water.

Braslav lakes attract a large number of tourists and vacationers, especially in summer. On their shores there are modern recreation centers, campsites and cottages, camping sites for tents. You can enjoy the picturesque panoramas of the lakes to your heart's content by climbing Mount Mayak, where a wooden observation deck is specially equipped for tourists.

Finally

Braslav is a small town in the northwestern part of Belarus, which is surrounded on all sides by coniferous forests and lakes with crystal clear water. Thanks to these natural resources, it has become a popular resort center.

There are several must-sees in the city itself. interesting places and attractions. Among them are the Castle Hill with the remains of ancient ramparts, the neo-Romanesque church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary, the water mill and Stansislav Narbut's hospital, and the local history museum. After examining all these objects, you can have a wonderful rest on the shores of one of the Braslav lakes.

Ancient city of Br a Slav is picturesquely located among lakes and forests. Perhaps it can be considered the historical capital of this quiet region, although the city is smaller or - only about 10 thousand people live in it. The atmosphere of the city is decorated with both its historical appearance and the natural environment, thanks to which Braslav has become, in a way, the resort capital of Belarus. In spite of small size, I had enough material about this city for two stories.

Andrey and I spent a good half day in Braslav, arriving in the city in the morning from the village near which we spent the night, and in the evening leaving Braslav in a northeasterly direction.

Map with photos localized by their numbers in this story:

2. Only ten kilometers, or 15 minutes by bus from Akhremovtsy, and we are in the city. The bus station in Braslav is new, and brand new, unlike through and through Soviet bus stations in other regional centers visited on this trip. Having handed over backpacks to the storage room, we set off for a walk around the city.

3. In Braslav, you immediately feel the proximity of the border. Unusually many cars with Latvian numbers drive through the streets, and buses to Daugavpils leave everyday from the bus station - it is only 45 kilometers away, and even 15 kilometers to the border. By the way, the Braslav region also borders on Lithuania.

Braslav is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. It was founded in 1065 (that is, two years earlier than the first mention of Minsk), and was originally called Bryachislavl - in honor of the Polotsk prince Bryachislav Izyaslavich, and over time this name was transformed to its current form. There was even a castle in Braslav (but we will examine its place already in the second part), the city ended up in the Russian Empire in 1795 (according to the third section of the Commonwealth) and was part of the Kovno province (the center of which was the current Kaunas), being a town in the Novoaleksandrovsky county (its center was the city of Novoaleksandrovsk - now Zarasai in Lithuania). And now, as already mentioned, this is an ordinary regional center and the "resort capital" of the country. By the way, Braslav is also one of the northernmost Belarusian cities (only Verkhnedvinsk is to the north).

4. Gagarin Street - the southern bypass of the city and part of the highway to Daugavpils. The bus station goes straight to it. There is no railway in Braslav (but this was not always the case, and we will learn about this in the second part).

5. Nearby is Lake Drivyaty (not to be confused with Drisvyaty, which is in the same area), on the shore of which the city is located. There is a sandy beach with a seating area, but the water was a little cloudy from the August bloom.

The Braslav district is famous for its lakes and clean air, and therefore is popular as a place for recreation and fishing - there are many recreation centers and sanatoriums in the vicinity. The local landscapes with pine forests, hills and many lakes reminded me either of the southern part of the Pskov region, or of the Valdai Upland in Novgorod. However, these landscapes have the same geological origin - thanks to the glacier.

6. Near the lake - a small alley paved with cobblestones. On the slope of the hill, the inscription "Braslav" is visible.

7. And here is a hypertrophied chair:

8. And the sculpture of the Golden Fish, donated to the city by college students in the village of Vidzy, Braslav district. And don't ask why it's not actually gold.

True, I was more confused by the sign under the sculpture: it is not clear, firstly, why a gift to compatriots should be signed for English language, and secondly, why Vidzy is written with the letter W, and not V.

9. From the bus station we head to the city streets. They are cozy, and in some places are buried in greenery, which maintains the resort atmosphere. Here I sometimes recalled St. Petersburg resort villages on the Gulf of Finland - for example, Repino and Komarovo.

10. Gymnasium under renovation. I regret that I did not capture the panel on the wall closer.

11. Mass grave of soldiers who died in the battles for Braslav in the Great Patriotic War. The city was under Nazi occupation since June 27, 1941, and was liberated on July 6, 1944 during the Siauliai offensive operation.

12. Nearby there is a reminder that this region was part of Poland in 1920-39. A small quarter of houses for officials (I saw a very similar one in), built in the 1920s according to the design of the architect Juliusz Klos. And yes, this is another frame from the "find the cat" series.

13. This house is especially decorated with thickets:

14. And this one looks more modest:

15. Another Polish house is now occupied by the police:

16. And this is the entrance of the already Soviet two-story building in the same quarter:

17. A well with an unusual wooden canopy has also been preserved from Polish times:

18. Although gas has been supplied to the houses, some people still use stoves. Pay attention to the round woodpile - it is so characteristic that firewood is stacked in these parts.

19. From here, a stone's throw to a small, but the main square of the city. The district executive committee is visible on the left - the building was also built "for the Polish hour", like the starostvo of the Braslav district (that is, in fact, the purpose has not changed). On the right you can see the silver Lenin.

21. And a children's library. It's hard to say what time the building was - it was painfully spoiled by modern materials.

22. Handwritten sign at the bus stop!

23. Many pine trees in the Braslav landscape. Sometimes quite bizarre shapes.

24. This is Sovetskaya Street, which, cunningly curving, passes the city from west to east. In the frame is another Polish house.

26. And handwritten posters. Where do without them.

27. And in this wooden house there is a local history museum, which we also visited, but later.

28. Slow life, small houses. The main part of the city's development is a diverse private sector. And I must say that it is difficult to single out any pronounced center in Braslav. By the way, on the left you can see a house occupied by some kind of Protestant church.

29. Soon we went to the city cemetery:

30. Graves are found from different times. And the inscriptions on the plates both in Russian and in Belarusian.

31. And this is the Muslim grave of the Lithuanian Tatars. There are also those - the descendants of mercenaries from the Golden Horde, who served in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. There was even such an interesting thing as Belarusian Arabic writing.

32. Also here, as in Glubokoye, there is a mass grave of Polish soldiers who died near Braslav in 1920.

33. Across the road there is another fraternal military burial. Now Russian soldiers who died here in the First World War.

34. However, there are also Polish "civilian" graves here:

35. And this, apparently, is the crypt of some eminent people:

36. Behind the trees - another clearly Polish building, and another example of paving stones. Now it is a house of children's creativity.

37. And again a handwritten poster. I'm afraid to think what a wrench is for in children's creativity (which, by the way, cannot be the same on both sides, as in the figure).

And that's where we'll stop for now. From this place you can get to the late Soviet five-story microdistrict, from which I will begin the second part. And from there we will head to the main historical place of the city - Castle Hill and the temples standing near it.

Braslav (Belarusian Braslav) is a city in the north-west of Belarus, the administrative center of the Braslav district of the Vitebsk region. Well-known tourist center. The city is located on the northern shore of Lake Drivyaty, which is part of the Braslav Lakes system, 220 km west of Vitebsk and 240 km northwest of Minsk. It is connected by roads with Druya, Miory, Sharkovshchina, Vidzami, Daugavpils.

Name

For the first time, the name Braslav is used in the "Chronicle of Bykhovets" as Braslavl and in the Chronicle of M. Stryikovsky as Braslaw (both chronicles date back to the 16th century). In both cases, the mention occurs in connection with the movement to the east of the Lithuanian princes - the mythologized Kernus and Gimbut.

Until recently, the only prevailing version was the version about the origin of the name Braslav on behalf of Bryachislav Izyaslavich, the grandson of Rogneda. However, the connection with the Latvian word brasla "ford" looks no less likely: Braslav arose on the site of a Baltic settlement on Castle Hill, located between the lakes Drivyaty and Novyata, and there really is a channel between these lakes near the mountain. In addition, the Brasla River is known in Latvia.

Story

Braslav is an ancient city of Belarus. In the 9th century, there was a settlement of Latgalians and Krivichi on this site, which later became the core of the city.

Since the XIV century, Braslav became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and was in the possession of the Grand Duke Gediminas, then his son Yavnut. In the 15th century, the city became the center of the povet of the same name in the Vilna Voivodeship. On October 8, 1500, Grand Duke Alexander gave him the Magdeburg right, which was confirmed by Sigismund I in 1514. In the 17th-18th centuries, Braslav was badly damaged during numerous military operations, several times it was completely destroyed. On the well-known map of the Nesvizh engraver Tomasz Makovsky, dating back to the beginning of the 17th century, Braslav is conditionally depicted as a powerful multi-towered castle, set on a hilltop. It is known that the ruins of castle buildings still existed until the end of the 18th century.

In 1793-1795 Braslav was the center of the Braslav province. After the 3rd partition of the Commonwealth in 1795, the city went to the Russian Empire and became the county center.

During the Patriotic War of 1812, Braslav was occupied by French troops. The headquarters of Marshal M. Ney was located in the city for nine days.

In 1913, there were 1,550 inhabitants here, a distillery, a hospital, and a rural school worked. In November 1917, Soviet power was established in the city. In 1918, Braslav was occupied by the Kaiser's troops. In February 1922, he became part of Poland, where he remained until 1939.

In 1939 it became part of the Byelorussian SSR, since 1940 - the center of the Braslav region. During the Great Patriotic War, it was occupied on June 27, 1941. On June 3, 1942, during the liquidation of the Jewish ghetto, created after the occupation of the city, about 2,000 Jews were shot. A patriotic underground operated in Braslav. On July 6, 1944, he was liberated by the troops of the 1st Baltic Front during the Siauliai operation.

City symbols

For the first time, the emblem was received by Braslav on June 2, 1792, by the privilege of the Polish king Stanislav August Poniatowski. In Christian iconography, the eye - in the center of the sun's rays or in a triangle with the top pointing upwards - is a well-known symbol of divine omnipresent power or the Trinity. The eye symbolizes God's observation of the life and deeds of people, the triangle is the trinity of God - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The sun from ancient times is a symbol of life, fire, which has a cleansing power. The "Eye of Providence" on the coat of arms of Braslav in a symbolic form conveys God's guardianship over the city, keeps it from all troubles. The image of the human eye is widely used in decorating altars in temples and on religious objects.

The current coat of arms and flag were established by Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus No. 36 of January 20, 2006.

When developing a color standard for the coat of arms of the city of Braslav, the district commission was guided by the existing historical reconstructions of the coat of arms. The document "Charter for the restoration of the rights and liberties of the city of Braslav" dated June 2, 1792 does not contain any characteristics colors emblem. The flag is designed using the primary colors of the coat of arms and its image itself. Artist - A. V. Levchik.

The local history museum of Braslav contains numerous documents depicting the city symbol. For more than two centuries of its existence, the isography of the coat of arms has practically remained unchanged. The coat of arms of Braslav belongs to the historical and heraldic monuments of Belarus.

Architecture

The architectural and planning structure of the modern city is concentrated on the isthmus between the lakes, the residential area is divided into small blocks. The main streets go around Zamkova Gora and converge near the modern public center. In the future, it is planned to preserve the historically developed planning, landscape originality of the building.

The city of Braslav is one of the most ancient in Belarus. Travelers who are fond of the history and cultural heritage of their ancestors will meet here great amount interesting places. The sights of Braslav attract with their unique architecture, the graceful beauty of the monuments and the awe with which the locals treat everything around.

The origin of the Castle Hill settlement dates back to 1065. Polotsk Prince Bryachislav Izyaslavovich erected a fortress on this place, which served as a guard during the onset of enemies. Fishing tackle, battle axes, spindle whorls, iron writings, powder flasks found on the site of the ancient city gave a vivid idea of ​​the life of people many centuries ago.

Within the framework of the state program, the reconstruction of buildings and fragments of the castle is being carried out. Nearby is the forest lake Drevyaty.

If you do not know what to see in Braslav, be sure to go on an excursion to the Castle Hill, where the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary is installed. Previously, this place was a Catholic church, destroyed during a strong fire. The church was reconstructed several times. The neo-Norman style, which was taken as the basis for the construction of the attraction, combined the mosaic technique of laying the stone facade, a three-tiered bell tower and a gable roof. The interior is decorated with icons, among which the icon of the Mother of God of Braslavskaya stands out.

A monastic monastery was opened at the church, which is more than 60 years old. Since 2000, pilgrims from all over the country have been welcomed here.

An unusual building resembling an ark in shape can be found not far from the church. Every year in this place in August the coronation of the Mother of God takes place. At this time, the number of parishioners reaches more than a thousand people. A wide stone staircase leads to the ark. With the onset of darkness, the illumination of the crucifix is ​​turned on.