Brest, Belarus, Lenin Street

The street is stretching 1.7 km south-north, between Internatsionalnaya Street and Ordzhonikidze Street , is mostly lined with administrative buildings.

The previous names:

Russian period

Bulvarny Prospect

Polish period

ulica Unii Lubelskiej(Union of Lublin Street)

Soviet period

Lenin Street

Glimpses of the street

Here Lenin Street meets Masherov Avenue.

Left at the northwestern corner you see a landmark in the shape of a rock and the Rescued Art Treasures Museum next to it.

The rock commemorates the ever first record of the town in 1019. In a few years Brest will celebrate its millennium.

In the background is the Museum of Rescued Art Treasures.

At the southwestern corner is a war memorial and a part of the former City Park

on the western side

The highrise of the regional Statistic center at the corner of Masherov Avenue.

Museum of Rescued Art Treasures

The old mansion, dating from the 1930s, houses a huge collection of objects d'arts that have been rescued from smuggling abroad, it was opened in 1989.

Music School (above) in the old pictures

After the facade was refurbished the picturesque ivy carpet has gone from the front wall.

On the right side is Ikonnikov Mini-Park. Planters are high on the lamp posts.

The mini-park on the western side of the street was named after Soviet General Ikonnikov, who is remembered by a monument (above). During the liberation of Brest in 1944 he was deadly wounded.

An old building in the mini-park before the reconstruction.

The building after the reconstruction.

Drama Theater

The building was reconstructed in the early 2000s. Annually, it hosts the international theater festival Belaya Vezha(White Tower).

During the festival

Two amusing masks appeared in 2007 near the theater to remind the people of the theater art.

Drama Theater is seen in the background on the western side of the street.

Till 1915, the vast vacant space on the right-hand-side was stretching from the street up to the Brest Fortress. That street was the official boundary of Brest in those days.

The boundary was marked by markers made of gray rough stones. In the foreground is the only boundary marker that remained. It dates from the 19th century. It is at the north-western corner of Gogol Street and Lenin Street.

The text in Old Russian style reads that it marked the border of the fortress from 1836 till 1915.

Before WW1, there were no structures but a redbrick barrack on the western side of the street.

northwards along the eastern side

Secondary School No. 18

A hostel of the Brest State University.

The BelVEB Bank Office in Brest is opposite the Ikonnikov mini-park.

Puppet Theater

The puppet theater is opposite the drama theater. At the moment it is undergoing a big reconstruction. Only the facade wall will stay. A much bigger structure is being built behind it. The pictures above were taken before the reconstruction. For the time being, puppet performances are staged in the former cinema in the eastern residential district.

N.Gogol Bust.

The bust was put up in 1962, to commemorate the famous Russian writer of the 19th century N. Gogol. It stands at the corner of Gogol Street and Lenin Street. The picture was taken in August 2007 after the reconstruction of Gogol Street.

The hanging planters at the corner of Gogol Street and Lenin Street.

The old houses on the eastern side opposite the theater.

Lenin Square

Lenin Street crosses Lenin Square, the Civic Center of Brest. It is a vast rectangular plaza, measuring 200 by 100 m, bordered by office buildings and a Roman Catholic church. The building of the Brest Regional Administration is on the western side of the square. The building was constructed in the mid-1930s.

the view before the reconstruction of Lenin Square. The building of the administration is on the left.

The view after the reconstruction of Lenin Square.

During festivities the square is the main venue.

National Bank of Belarus. Brest Department

The building was constructed in mid-1920s. It is in the northwestern corner of Lenin Square. The pictures above were taken before the reconstruction of Lenin Square in 2003. The trees of rare specimen were nice in spring, when they were swamping in pink blossom. They were rather old. Therefore, they were cut during the reconstruction.

The newest Brest's fountain appeared in the square in 2007.

The northwestern corner with the bank in the background.

The western side with the regional administration

The southern side with the Roman catholic church in the background.

The eastern side with an after-war office building.

Day of the City. July 2008

the march of Brest orchestras give a start too the festivities.

The flag of Brest flies high.

September 2007, Catholic Church, Brest, Lenin Str.

Roman Catholic Church

The church was constructed in the 1850s on the eastern side after all the Catholic churches were closed in the old town in the course of the construction of the Brest Fortress. It was consecrated in 1856 and devoted to the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. It overlooks Lenin Square. It was reconstructed in the 1950s to house a museum. In the late 1990s the building was returned to the Catholic community. The church was reconstructed again to restore the original view. It was reconsecrated. As a gift the church got a nice organ from Germany.

At the south-eastern corner of the square is the official landmark called the zero milepost of Brest, a benchmark to measure distances from the town. This milepost looks cool among the Colorado spruces on a crispy winter day.

Christmas tree in Lenin Square.

the City Park meets you at the end of the street on its western side close to the railway bridge and station.

The main entrance to the park.

a walk across the park

At the corner of Ordzhinikidze Street on the eastern side of Lenin Street is Hotel Bug, that is 50 years old. It was named after the Bug River, that has nothing to do with creeping bugs. It will undergo reconstruction in coming years. So far, nobody is going to change its name. More at Brest of Future

More in the project "Old and New Brest