Happy TravellerWelcome to Baranavichy, a city located in the Brest Region of western Belarus. With a population of 179,000, Baranavichy is one of the largest cities in the country and is known for its important railway junction and Baranavichy State University. But there’s so much more to discover in this charming city.
Baranavichy is situated on the Baranavichy Plain in the interfluve of Shchara and its tributary Myshanka. The city is located on flat terrain where the height difference does not exceed 20 m (from 180 to 200 m above sea level). The altitude of the city is 193 m above sea level. Total length of the city is 10 km from west to east and 7 km from south to north. The city is somewhat extended (by 8 km) in the southwest (from Brestskaya street) to the northeast direction (to Fabrichnaya street) and compressed (6.3 km) in the north (Sovetskaya street) to the southeast direction (Frolenkov street). Total area occupied by the city is 80.66 sq. km. (8066 ha as of 12 August 2012). The population density is more than 2,000 people per sq. km.
Baranavichy is characterized by a favourable geographical position and is a major junction of the most important railways and highways. There is a close location of the main gas pipeline, a developed system of energy and water supply, and a favourable climate. A number of large industrial enterprises are located in the city. As of 1 January 2019, 81,829 passenger cars are registered in Baranavichy. 146,678 adult residents live in the city. Thus, almost every second citizen of the city owns a passenger car.
Baranavichy has a rich history that dates back to the 17th century when it housed the Jesuit mission. In the 19th century, it belonged to the Countess E.A. Rozwadowski. It was part of the Novogrodek (now Navahrudak) okrug, which was part of Slonim Governorate, the Lithuania Governorate, the Grodno Governorate and then the Minsk Governorate. The towns history began on 17 (29) November 1871, the beginning of construction of a movement to the new section of the Smolensk-Brest. The name of the station arose during construction was that the nearby village, Baranavichy, whose first mention in the testament of A.E Sinyavskaya in 1627. At the junction was another station, Baranavichy (according to Polesie Railways), which became the second centre of the city. As before, workers and traders settled near the station. The new settlement was called New Baranavichy, unlike Rozvadovo, which became informally called Old Baranavichy. It was developed on the land owned by peasants of the villages near the new station (Svetilovichi, Gierow and Uznogi). More convenient than the landlords land, its lease terms and proximity to administrative agencies contributed to the rapid growth of this settlement.
During World War I, Baranavichy was the location for the Stavka, the headquarters of the Russian General Staff, until the Great Retreat. After the settlement was left by the Germans, it was captured on January 5, 1919 by the Soviets. In the early stages of the Polish–Soviet War, it was briefly captured by the Poles on 18 March 1919 and again captured, for longer, in April 1919, five months after Poland regained independence. The Russians retook it on 17 July 1920, but the Poles took it again on 30 September 1920. On 1 August 1919, it received city rights and became a powiat centre in the Polish Nowogródek Voivodeship. In 1921, Baranowicze had over 11,000 inhabitants (67% Jews, the rest being mostly Belarusians, Poles and Russians). Soon, the city started to grow and became an important centre of trade and commerce for the area. The citys Orthodox cathedral was built in the Neoclassical style in 1924 to 1931 and was decorated with mosaics that had survived the demolition of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw. In 1939 Baranavichy had almost 30,000 inhabitants and was the biggest and the most important city in the Nowogródek Voivodeship.
Baranavichy is not only one of the largest cities of the Republic of Belarus in terms of population (eighth largest in the country), but also one of the most important industrial, cultural and educational centres of Belarus. The city has about five hundred streets and lanes with the overall length of 252
