Sights of Belarus

1.

Sights of Belarus
Interesting facts about the sights of Belarus

2.

•The National Library is one of the largest in the world: the total area of
the building is 113,669 square meters; the total weight is 140 thousand
tons. The library building is twice as heavy as the Ostankinoy TV Tower
in Moscow. The main entrance to the library is made in the form of pages
of an open book. The building in the shape of a precious stone was not
conceived by chance: a diamond, a diamond, or more precisely, a
rhombocuboctahedron symbolizes the spiritual and material values stored
in the library. Due to the originality of the design, the National Library of
Belarus is among the TOP 50 most unusual buildings in the world and
ranks 24th. The building has non–standard lighting: the outdoor
electronic light board (NEST) is one of the largest advertising media in
Belarus with an area of 1,440 sq. m. In the 15 years of the library's
existence, there has not been a day when the backlight was not turned on.
The National Library maintains contacts and cooperates with the largest
libraries in the world. To date, Almaz Znaniye has 47 existing cooperation
agreements with library and educational institutions of foreign countries.
The library hosts more than 200 different events every year, with every
fourth being of an international nature. The library hosts meetings at the
highest state level with the participation of heads of state, heads of
government, creative and scientific events, presentations, etc. In total,
about 30 art projects and more than 200 book exhibitions take place every
year.

3.

The Brest fortress was in the hands of Germans, Poles and Red
Army soldiers. Since 1921, the Brest fortress belonged to the Poles.
In 1939, the Germans occupied the Brest Fortress and handed it over
to the Red Army in accordance with the Molotov-Ribbentrop NonAggression Treaty. So the Brest fortress became part of the USSR.
On June 22, 1941, in the early morning, the Brest fortress was
subjected to an artillery attack. The German command planned to
occupy the fortress by 12 o'clock on the first day of the war.8
thousand people were in the Brest fortress at the time of the attack,
among them women and children. About 300 families of
commanders lived in the garrison. 4,000 people were able to get out
of the encirclement. The heroic defense of the Brest fortress lasted
more than a month. The last inscription on the bricks is "I'm dying,
but I'm not giving up. Goodbye, Motherland!" dated July 20,
1941.In 1965, the Brest Fortress was awarded the title of "Hero
Fortress" with the award of the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star
medal. Every fifteen minutes at the Main Entrance, Levitan's voice
reports on the attack of fascist troops on the Soviet Union and the
melody of the song "Holy War" sounds.

4.

The residence in Viskuli was built in just six months! By order of Khrushchev.
But he didn't like her. Maybe because the plaster on the walls hasn't dried
yet?The first chronicle recorded hunting in Belovezhskaya Pushcha took place
in 1409. Jagiello and Vitovt were preparing for the Battle of Grunwald, a lot of
meat was needed for a 100,000-strong army.The Polish Belovezhskaya
Pushcha was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979, and the
Belarusian part – only in 1992. The registration number of the Forest among
the world's national parks is 13. Belovezhskaya Pushcha entered the UNESCO
list before Lake Baikal, Kilimanjaro volcano and the Belize Barrier
Reef.Stefan Batory was the first to hunt bison with a musket. Before him,
animals were driven with the help of dogs and finished off with spears and
arrows.In 1752, the great hunting of King August III took place in
Belovezhskaya Pushcha. An obelisk with inscriptions in Polish and German
was made as a souvenir. 42 bison, 13 moose and 2 roe deer were killed.It's
hard to believe, but in 1919 there were no bison left in the ForestI had to look
for them in the zoos of Europe. They were found in Sweden, Germany and
Poland and brought to Belovezha in an aviary.After the Second World War, the
Forest was divided by a state border (for the first time in history!) and all the
bison remained on the Polish side. Only in 1946, 5 bison were transferred to
the Belarusian side. They were called Poof, Bullet, Wasteland, Purple and
Puginal.

5.

The Belarusian village of Khatyn can no longer be found on the map
of Belarus. The Nazis burned it down along with 149 residents, 75
of whom were children under the age of 16. 26 houses disappeared
in the flames. On the site of the forest village there were ashes and
lonely chimneys sticking out.The SS Dirlewanger assault brigade
and the 118th battalion of the German Auxiliary Security Police
participated in the destruction of Khatyn. But the main work was
done by the latter. All the villagers were herded into a huge
collective farm shed, bolted, covered with straw and set on fire.
When the door collapsed under the pressure of people, machine
guns and machine guns opened fire on civilians. The only adult
witness to the Khatyn tragedy is 56–year-old village blacksmith
Joseph Iosifovich Kaminsky. Burned and wounded, he regained
consciousness late at night, when the fascists were no longer in the
village. He had to endure another heavy blow: he found his
wounded son among the corpses of his fellow villagers. The boy
was fatally wounded in the stomach and suffered severe burns. He
died in his father's arms. This tragic moment in the life of Joseph
Kaminsky was the basis for the creation of the sculpture "The
Unconquered Man" of the Khatyn memorial complex.

6.

The young Euphrosyne lived in a small cell of the St. Sophia
Cathedral in Polotsk, where she prayed and copied books. Once in a
dream she saw an angel who led her to the Church of the Holy
Savior in Selce, the former courtyard of St. Sophia Cathedral, and
said that Euphrosyne needed to be there. At that time, there was a
shrine in the village, where the bishops of Polotsk rested. The angel
also appeared to Bishop Ilia of Polotsk and repeated his words:
Euphrosyne should be sent to the Village, because this place is holy
and she is holy.The bishop gave the Village of Euphrosyne, as the
chronicle says, "for eternal use" for the establishment of the
monastery. Historians believe that this happened around 1125.
Euphrosyne was about 20 years old at that time. The church was
built in the 1150s in the style of "Russian Gothic" by the architect
John and, as historians say, was ahead of its time. She was inspired
by the buildings of wooden architecture.The church has been
completely preserved since the 12th century, although it has
undergone restoration. In addition to it, only the Pskov Church of
the Transfiguration of the Lord can boast of the same safety on the
territory of Eastern Russia.