Luninets, dawn, deserted streets and squares, no cars, no people. I got to know the town while passing through, in transit at the railway station. Waiting for my train, I took a morning walk while the town still slept, and on the way back — for half an hour in the evening, almost at dusk.
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| Luninets. Brest region, Belarus. Lenin Square |
Luninets is the administrative centre of a district in the Brest region of Belarus, with a population of about 25 thousand. The single-storey building of the junction station was built after the war.
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| Station Square. The railway station. 1959. |
The coming of the railway at the crossing of the main lines spurred the economic development of the former village and its transformation into a town. The first train, Pinsk-Baranovichi, opened the line in 1884.
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| Railway station. The suburban train Luninets-Brest |
On the grounds of the locomotive depot stands a monument steam engine, the TE-2099, while a small model of a locomotive honours the Polissian railwaymen on Station Square.
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| Station Square. A memorial sign in honour of the railwaymen |
The railwaymen have their own House of Culture.
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| Station Square. The railwaymen's House of Culture |
In a small public garden, on the site of a dismantled monument to the head of the Polish state, Jozef Pilsudski, rises the bust of the author of the Manifesto of the Communist Party.
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| Station Square. The monument to Karl Marx |
The sculpture of his ideological comrade-in-arms in the struggle against capitalism stands on the square that bears the name of the leader of the world proletariat.
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| Lenin Square. The monument to V. I. Lenin |
In the centre of the main city square rises the Palace of Culture, in a flowery pink colour.
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| Lenin Square. The House of Culture |
The bright flowerbeds and the fountain, still not working in the morning, are laid out in the finest fashion.
The decor with national artistic elements looks very attractive.
The square was created in the 1950s and in 2005 was refurbished for the 'Dozhynky-2005' festival, a Belarusian tradition. As a token of gratitude to the builders and to everyone who took part in the town's renewal, a memorial sign was unveiled.
The square is framed by two-storey buildings joined to one another by arches.
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| 3 Lenin Square. The arch |
The buildings are plastered and painted in caramel-cream tones. This is the old part of Luninets; most of the buildings were destroyed during the war.
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| Luninets. 5 Lenin Square. A residential building |
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| 7 Lenin Square. A residential building |
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| 7 Lenin Square. The post office |
The local history museum is housed in a building of 1929. On the facade is fixed a memorial plaque in honour of the Belarusian writer Yakub Kolas, who lived and worked in the town. The museum features displays telling of the culture, traditions and ethnographic features of the region, as well as the history of how its place names arose.
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| The local history museum. 1929. |
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| The local history museum. A memorial plaque in honour of Yakub Kolas |
Legends passed down from the depths of the centuries preserve two tales. In hoary antiquity, one of the inhabitants of the village of Lunin, which lay not far from the present-day town, set himself apart from everyone and settled in the wilds of forests and marshes. Gradually the village grew up around the settler's dwelling, and it was named Luninets.
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| A stork's nest |
The second tale preserved the tragic story of a lonely poor woman whose son died in Tatar captivity. In her arms was left a newborn grandson, abandoned by her daughter-in-law. To survive, the beggar-woman would steal from the villagers in the evenings by moonlight, for which she was nicknamed Lunia, that is, an owl. Then misfortune struck: the infant drowned. Unbaptised children are not buried in the cemetery, so Lunia dug a little grave by the road with her own hands. The buried child was also called Lunia, and the settlement that arose in that place received a similar name.
To mark the first written mention of Luninets, in 1449, a memorial stone with the town's coat of arms has been erected.
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| A memorial sign about the first mention of the town in 1449 |
Beyond Lenin Square stretches Chervona Street — in Belarusian, Chyrvonaya — old and beautiful, lined with wooden cottages, stone houses of the Polish period, and modern villas.
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| 15 Chervona Street. A residential building |
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| 10 Chervona Street. A residential building |
The largest building in the historic centre is the Luninets District Council, in its traditional milky-strawberry tones, for at the end of May Luninets turns into a strawberry Mecca.
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| 1 Chervona Street. The Luninets District Council |
One of the town's main landmarks is the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, built in 1921 of red brick, which is not often seen in Belarus. For its construction the future righteous Father John of Kronstadt donated 200 roubles as he was passing by rail through Luninets. Crowned with five domes and adorned with portals and brick decoration, with a tall bell tower, the church holds the status of an architectural monument. The church courtyard is open, and there is a small bench. Flowerbeds and a well, alas, there are none.
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| Gagarin Street. The Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. 1921. |
Continuing the walk along Gagarin Street, on which the church stands, you can see School No. 1, the investigative committee, shops and a printing house.
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| Luninets. Gagarin Street. Shops |
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| Gagarin Street. School No. 1 |
This is one of the oldest streets in Luninets, and most of the houses are of pre-war construction.
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| Gagarin Street. Shops |
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| Gagarin Street. The printing house |
To see the Roman Catholic church of St Joseph, you need to turn onto Zaliznychna Street. The church was built in the 1930s and after the war served as a warehouse and a house of culture. The atheists demolished the tower and added extra premises. In the 1990s the shrine was returned to the faithful.
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| The Roman Catholic church of St Joseph. 1931. |
Let us stroll along Radianska Street, which was formerly called Sadova and, earlier still, was named in honour of Jozef Pilsudski.
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| 29 Radianska Street. Wooden houses |
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| 31 Radianska Street. Wooden buildings |
400 metres from the station stands the 'Yuvileiny' hotel.
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| Radianska Street. The 'Yuvileiny' hotel |
The roof of the round foyer serves as a viewing platform.
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| The 'Yuvileiny' hotel |
Nearby, surrounded by thujas, stands a monument to the Belarusian poet and writer Yakub Kolas.
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| The monument to the poet and writer Yakub Kolas |
The 'Zhovten' cinema, seating 177, was built in 1961 and continues to fulfil its purpose — three times a day, judging by the poster.
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| The 'Zhovten' cinema |
The multifunctional 'Polissia' stadium holds up to 3,090 spectators. The public garden beside the sports venue is laid out in a football style.
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| The 'Polissia' stadium |
In the common grave lie buried the defenders of Luninets who fell in 1944.
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| Radianska Street. The war memorial |
At the crossing of Radianska and 50 Years of October Street stands the children's school of arts. In the pre-revolutionary building, during the Polish period, administrative bodies were housed; under the Hitlerites it was the commandant's office. The building was damaged by bombing during the war and, after reconstruction, has an asymmetrical look.
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| 40 Years of October Street. The children's school of arts |
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| The children's school of arts. A memorial plaque about the town's liberation in 1944 |
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| 40 Years of October Street. A branch of the children's school of arts |
On the way back to the station, the building at 12 Frunze Street deserves attention. The former Polish barracks was built in 1939. Today the building, with the bas-relief coat of arms of Belarus, is occupied by the library and the court.
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| 12 Frunze Street. The library and the court |
By the entrance stands a bust of the Belarusian writer and local historian Mykola Kalynkovych.
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| 12 Frunze Street. The monument to Mykola Kalynkovych |
What I managed to see on the streets in two hours gave the impression of a well-kept, quiet, peaceful town, where they love cleanliness, sport and flowers, cherish history, cultural heritage and the names of their distinguished countrymen, and value labour and traditions.
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| Pryvokzalna Street. A restaurant |
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| Zaliznychna Street. A shop |
Coordinates of Lenin Square: 52°14’44"N 26°48’4"E
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