The previous names:
Russian period
the southern half was Millionnaya (Million) Street, the northern half was Politseyskaya (Police) Street
(left) the part of the street that was called Politseyskaya before WW1,
(right) the part of the street that was called Millionnaya before WW1.
Polish period
ulica Dąbrowskiego (Dabrowski Street)Soviet period
Sovietskaya StreetThe street was laid out in the mid-19th century. In the 1970s it was closed to car traffic and is now a pedestrian shopping area like those in many European cities. Sometimes it is called the Mall of Brest in English like that in London.
Sovietskaya Street is truly the heart of the city, the main tourist attraction. It is a tree-lined pedestrian promenade, which runs through the center of the downtown shopping district.
Lined with shops, restaurants, outdoor cafes, the mall is the pleasant place to sit and people-watch.
The pavement is made of red and gray flagstones. The street underwent a considerable reconstruction in 2007-2009. That was a part of the city's preparations for the coming millennium of Brest. That's why, some pictures are titled like before the Millennium reconstruction and after the Millennium reconstruction.
The view of the street before the Millennium reconstruction.
Click to see more pictures, taken before the Millennium reconstruction.
Main attraction
Millennium Monument of Brest
Brest Millennium Monument was opened on July 25, 2009. That is the main landmark at the intersection of Sovietskaya Street and Gogol Street
High relieves present the history-making events in the history of the town.
an old legend narrates about the first settlement.
the construction of the first wooden fortress of Berestye (Brest)
The warriors of Brest at the history-making battlefield of Grunwald or the First Battle of Tannenberg, in Lithuanian Žalgiris
the victory of the united troops of Lithuania and Poland. The regiment of Brest was among them
That was Brest, where the first book (Brest Bible) was printed in the land.
The picture was taken during a reenactment on the Day of the City.
Old trees by the monument were uprooted in 2008. Young trees appeared in the street after the Millennium reconstruction. Among species, quite new for Brest, you will see hereabouts golden chain (Laburnum) that is native to temperate and subtropical Eurasia. Laburnums bear yellow flowers, similar in structure to those of the pea, in late spring.
The Laburnum trees here are quite small for the time being. Despite cold winters the trees withstood frosts. The first flowers appeared in the street in May 2010.
Reenactment on June 21,2012
Participants of the re-enactment of the war-outbreak in 1941 are marching along the street in June 2012.
Glimpses of the street
Let's take a walk along the street from its northern end.
The Russian church of early 20th century at the corner of Mitskevich Street
The memorial by the church commemorates the Russian sailors.
Passers-by can take refuge from snow or sun under a blue sky-umbrella dotted with stars, topped with the figure of an angel scattering the stars.
The hub of the street is the intersection of Sovietskaya Street and Pushkin Street.
The houses left and right were originally two stories high. An additional story was added to each of them after the war.
the house at the north-western corner in winter
the view of the same house 100 years ago.
The stretch of the Mall between Pushkin Street and Mayakovsky Street is now dedicated to the history of the city that was first mentioned in the old Russian chronicles in 1019.
The redbrick house of the former Town Hall is still seen at the corner of Sovietskaya St. It was originally two storeys high. Now it is surrounded by taller buildings. To rise the height of the building, an additional story was added after the war.
at the corner of the former Town Hall
After the Millennium reconstruction a clock tower, a tiny brother of Big Ben, appeared at the Mall of Brest. Being 6m high, the tower is not as tall as its Big Brother in London, yet it shows the exact time and plays nice tunes each hour.
There are two murals on the wall of the house on the eastern side by the Clock Tower. This commemorates the first printing house in Belarus in the 16th century where the first book (Brest Bible) was printed.
This mural commemorates the mint of Brest in the 17th century.
The house, former girls' gymnasium (high school), looks quite new today after the recent refurbishment, like many old structures around.
To the left is BelTelecom building
A concert in the open air on the steps of BelTelecom.
The bugler over the pavilion by the Clock Tower.
The guardian over the pavilion near the big panorama (left).
A big panoramic mural provides the view of the Old Brest dating from the 17th century.
Artists finish their work (2007).
At the corner of Mayakovsky Street a nice relief appeared in 2007, a tribute to the historic event, when Brest was granted by a royal charter urban rights in 1390. That made it a free city as the second in Lithuania after Vilna.
Didas Persia Shopping Center
The shopping center built by "Persia Didas" occupies the bigger part of the eastern side between Mayakovsky Street and Gogol Street.
In front of the center passers-by find some small attractions.
by trying on a Lucky Boot
or by dropping some coins into the bag of the old mint of Brest.
We pass by the Millennium Monument. There are some more pictures of the monument at the top of the page.
In the inter-war period a bank, set up by the Jewish community, was in the house on the western side. Today it houses several shops.
Even quite new structures look quite old here.
Once there was the main synagogue in the street. It was constructed in the mid-19th century after the city was relocated 2 km eastward to construct the Brest fortress.
In the 1970s a huge glass-walled barrel of Belarus cinema hid the facade of the former synagogue.
Belarus Cinema
It is located at the northeastern corner of Budyonny Street and Sovietskaya Street.
before the renovation
October 2008, the work is going on.
After the renovation
Belarus Cinema is equipped with Dolby Surround, 3D. That is a concert hall as well. it hosts each other year the national movie festival.
Looking from the cinema
a pattern of the pavement
Opening ceremony of the national movie festival in 2012.
The edifice in an old style opposite the cinema was built in 2009-2010.
The big fountain by the Belarus cinema was an ideal place on a hot summer day.
2003
the views around the fountain by the cinema (2008)
Alas, the fountain has been dismantled in 2014 in the course of redevelopment.
The glamor of the Old Brest at the reenactment during a Day of the City in July 2014.
A new fountain will appear on the site of the old one in 2018.
The views opposite the cinema on the south-western corner of Sovietskaya Street and Budyonny Street. A night club, casino and other entertainments are under one roof.
On the way between Budyonny Street and Dzerzhynsky Street
summer 2009, the pavement is being replaced.
After the reconstruction.
Dzerzhynsky Street crosses the street at a sharp angle here.
Old low-rise houses at the corner of Dzerzhynsky Street look quite attractive after they were renovated in 2003 and in 2009.
Old Street Lights
The stretch between Dzerzhynsky Street and Masherov Avenue is illuminated every night with old-fashioned lanterns on the lampposts. The street lights attract tourists every evening.
That is the edict of the city mayor regarding the lanterns with kerosene lamps in the street lights here.
Each evening the lamplighter lights the kerosene lamps in the lanterns.
This clock informs when the lamps will be lit tonight.
This part of the street after the reconstruction in 2009. The old-fashioned lampposts and the cobbled pavement create the atmosphere of the Old Brest-Litovsk.
an old drug store on the western side (before the renovation)
the drug store (after the renovation)
Location of the drug store at Wikimapia.org
A new structure in an old style was built in 2007 at the corner of Masherov Avenue, yet it looks as if it were built before WW1.
More in the project "Old and New Brest"