Baranovichi: Welcome To The Kingdom Of The Railway

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Baranovichi - is a city of Brest region of Belarus, an administrative center of Baranovichi district. The city's history began in November 1871, when began a movement at the newly built section of the railway Smolensk - Brest. Name of the station that arose during construction, gave the nearby village - Baranavichy, the first mention of which is found in the testament of A.E. Sinyavskaya in 1627. Then, in 1871, not far from the station has been built the locomotive depot.

Building of the town was carried out according to plan, approved by the Governor of Minsk May 27, 1884. In the village were 120 houses and lived a half thousand people. According to the plans, approved by Emperor Alexander III, was assumed that there will still be also one railway. At the beginning of World War I, Baranavichy was the headquarters of the Russian General Staff. But, after Great Retreat of Russians from Congress Poland, it became a frontline city. It was taken by the German Empire in the Baranovichi Offensive of 25 July 1916 and was under German occupation for 2 years. Finally Germans gave the town to Belarusian People's Republic. During the Polish-Soviet war, it was occupied by Poland on 18 March 1919. Soviets retook it on 17 July 1920 but the Polish retook it on 30 September 1920. On 1 August 1919 it received city rights.

After the beginning of World War II the control of the city was gained by the Soviet Union in 17 September 1939. After the start of Operation Barbarossa the city was seized by the Wehrmacht on June 25, 1941. It was part of Generalbezirk Weißruthenien in Reichskommissariat Ostland during German occupation. In August of the same year a ghetto was created in the city, with more than 12,000 Jews kept in terrible conditions in six buildings at the outskirts. The city was seized by the Red Army on July 6, 1944. After World War II the city became part of the Soviet Union and the BSSR and started to be referred to under its Russian name of Baranovichi. In this time an intensive industrialization took place. In 1991 it became part of independent Belarus.

The city was also an important military garrison, with one KOP Cavalry Brigade, 20th Infantry Division and the Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade stationed there. Because of the fast growth of local industry, in 1938 a local branch of the Polish Radio was opened. In 1939 Baranavichy had almost 30,000 inhabitants and was the biggest and the most important city in the Nowogródek Voivodship! The city's Orthodox cathedral was built in the Neoclassical style in 1924-31; it was decorated with mosaics that had survived the demolition of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw. Another interesting attraction of the town of Baranovichi is Holy Cross wooden Catholic church, built in 1924. This temple is also an interesting architectural monument of wooden architecture of the early 20th century. In the city of Baranovichi there are also a number of interesting buildings and sights. A lot of these buildings dates back to the 20th century. There are the former manor house, a fire station, a gymnasium, a bank and. But the most interesting building is a "flat" building (Brestskaya str., 35).

Sights in Baranovichi:

• Church of St. Alexander Nevskiy
• Holy Cross wooden Catholic church
• Fire Department
• Sparrow Monument
• Young Park
• Regina Apotheke

Museums:

• Local Lore Museum (Sovetskaya str., 72)
• Museum-Estate of Adam Mitskevich (Baranovichi District, Zaosie)
• Baranovichi Museum of Railway Equipment (Frolenkova str., 11)

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