Brest [City] Archeology

Berestye Archeological Museum where Belarusian archaeologists unearthed the ancient settlement of Berestye (Brest) and the archeological museum has been set on the excavated ruins. The are remnants of wooden houses of the 14th century standing along three main streets, barns and shops of the craftsman. Plenty of everyday things made of iron, leather and fabrics have been excavated there. All of them are exhibited at the museum. The museum is not at all big, but extremely interesting.


Excavation site. Photo Credit: Michael Mina	Excavation site. Photo Credit: Ethan Levine

Description and History
The Berestye Archeological Museum is the only place in Europe, where visitors can view a unique archeological site of a medieval East Slavic city. It is located within the Volyn fortification of the Brest Fortress (Brest, Belarus), on the spot of the age-old Slavic settlement.

Ancient baseball.
Photo Credit: Ethan Levine

In the early 1980's a modern structure of concrete, glass and aluminum in the shape of a huge roof was erected over the archeological site, featuring a magnificent treasure of East Slavic wooden structures dating back to the 13th century. These structures were amazingly preserved under a mantle of impervious layers of earth. The excavated log cabins appeared to be tall and numerous enough to imagine the general view of the structures, streets and even the city layout. Therefore the Berestye archeological site is considered to be the most noteworthy among similar sites of east Slavic nations.

The museum houses a vast collection of artifacts, dating back to the 11th - 14th centuries.These artifacts were excavated between 1968 -- 1981 by Belarusian archaeologists under the supervision of the prominent archaeologist Dr. Pyotr Fyodorovich Lysenko. For a long time, Dr. Lysenko has been researching the archeological monuments on the territory of Belarus that date back to the times of Kievan Rus.

At the 1,800 square meters site, the archaeologists excavated over 200 wooden houses and service buildings, making up three streets. In addition, over 40,000 artifacts were discovered. The cultural layer, consisting of debris of buildings and various remarkable artifacts, exceeds 7 meters in depth.

Thus, Berestye proved to be a thriving European city at the cross roads of 2 great European trade routes.

The history and culture of Berestye is derived from both archaeological excavations and from literary sources. The first record about Berestye, dating back to 1019, was found in the primary Russian document, The Chronicle of Nestor.

Originally Berestye covered an area of about 3.5 - 4 hectares (8 - 10 acres) and its population totaled 1,500 - 2,000 people. The city was a stronghold on the border of the East Slavic and Polish lands. It was enclosed by ramparts and ditches. In the late 13th century a big castle was constructed with a brick defense tower dominating over it. At the same period a stone church was constructed in Berestye. The city streets were arranged in a gridiron pattern. Being situated at the confluence of the Mukhavets and Bug Rivers, Berestye was an important market city and a big crafts center at the cross roads of several cultures.

-- Description and History contributed by Oleg Medvedevsky, Brest, 2 March 2005.

Page Last Updated: 01-Feb-2010