The knowledge of modern man about the events that took place several centuries ago consists mainly of information that has come down to us from written sources, oral legends, and research conducted by archaeologists. In the latter case, even the discovery of a well-preserved old household utensil or tools is considered a great success. And when you manage to stumble upon a whole medieval city, then such a find usually becomes sensational.
In the late 1960s, similar luck smiled at the group of Professor P. Lysenko. She managed to find the children of the settlement Berestye. The museum, which displays finds made by Belarusian archaeologists, was opened in 1972. Here you can see some of the discovered residential buildings. Today everyone who visits Brest can visit it.
Some information about the settlement of Berestye
The museum is dedicated to the medieval settlement, which in the following centuries turned into the city of Brest. More precisely, his detsinets - an internal urban fortification. In 1969-1981, archaeological excavations were carried out by the Institute of History of the Belorussian SSR on the territory of the Hospital Island of the Brest Fortress. They discovered several dozen wooden buildings of the 11-13th centuries, as well as fences, street bridges, and objects of material culture of this period.
Studies have shown that this is the child of the settlement Barestye, which was founded by representatives of the Dregovich tribe, and later was an old Russian trading center on the border with Poland and Lithuania. Excavations continued in 1988. Their total area was 1800 square meters. m. Detinets discovered was unique in that all the buildings were preserved pretty well. They were concentrated in a relatively small area. These circumstances made it possible to create a unique museum. It is located next to the famous memorial complex. And his visit is often included in the program of organized excursions to the city of Brest.
Berestye (Museum): building
In the climate of the Brest region, there was no question of organizing an archaeological open-air museum. Therefore, a pavilion was built over the excavation site of glass, concrete and anodized aluminum. Its area was 2400 square meters. By its outlines, the building resembles an ancient dwelling. It has a gable ceiling with a light in the center. At the same time, the construction looks quite modern. It is of interest to connoisseurs of architecture in the style of constructivism.
Description of the excavation site
The Berestye Archaeological Museum is unique in that you can see 28 well-preserved residential and utility buildings there. They are located at a depth of 4 meters in the center of the pavilion and are illuminated by a powerful lantern mounted under the roof. According to scientists, in the Middle Ages this part of the Berestye kid was a handicraft quarter. In addition to buildings, a palisade, 2 street pavements and the remains of adobe furnaces were preserved there.
As a result of excavations, the original layout of the ancient child of the settlement Berestye was revealed. It turned out that his dwellings adjoined the streets with blank walls. They were built in 3 rows with a distance of 40-60 cm from each other. They were ground, square, single-chamber structures cut down from round logs of coniferous trees. At the same time, doorways were cut at a certain height from the floor, and the windows were almost under the roof. The foundations of the houses were lining or the remains of more ancient buildings. Their roofs were 2-pitched, covered with chipped boards.
Exposition
Visiting the Berestye Museum in Brest, you can see about 1, 200 items relating to the origin and history of the ancient city, its planning and development, processing of non-ferrous metals, ironworking, bone carving and leather crafts, weaving and spinning, as well as woodworking and pottery. There you can see exhibits representing the reconstruction of the dwelling of a city dweller, livestock tools, agriculture, fishing and hunting. The Berestye Museum also offers an introduction to a unique collection of various locking devices: locks, keys, spring arms and internal locks. A real gem of the exposition are razors - the rarest finds of ferrous metal.
How to get there
If you want to go to Berestye (the museum is located on the territory of the Hospital Island of the Brest Fortress), you can do this in different ways:
- From the bus station it is easiest to get there by minibus number 5. She enters the fortress from the North Gate. You can also get to the Brest Fortress by bus number 5 (stop "Museum of Railway Engineering") and then go to Hospital Island.
- From the railway station by public transport in the museum area can not be reached. For this reason, you will either have to take a taxi, or walk about 3 kilometers on foot. First you will need to cross the pedestrian bridge, then turn right to st. Lenin. Next, go to the intersection with Gogol Street and past the Brestsky Sports Complex to the Museum of Railway Equipment. Directly behind it is the main entrance to the Brest Fortress, in the territory of which the museum is located.
Opening hours and ticket prices
From March 1 to October 1, the Berestye Museum can be visited on any day of the week from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. In the remaining months of the year, its working hours change: on Monday and Tuesday there are days off. Opening hours in the autumn-winter period: from 10.00 to 17.00.
The ticket price for an adult is 2.2 bel. rubles, a student - 1.1 bel. rub, university student or vocational school student and technical school - 1.5 bel. rub. If you translate into Russian rubles, you get 70, 35 and 48 p. respectively. For children under 7 years old, veterans and conscripts, admission to the museum is free.
In Berestye you can order group, thematic and family excursions. The following services are also offered: costume photography, participation in the game “marksman”, video and photography, quest excursions, etc.
