Kamyenyets or Kamenets (until 1940 - Kamenets-Litovsky) is a city
in the west of Belarus in the Brest region on the Lesnaya River,
located 40 km north of Brest. Center of the Kamenets district. As of
January 1, 2020, the population of the city was 8,400 people.
Founded in 1276 by order of the Volyn prince Vladimir
Vasilkovich, it was built by the town planner Aleksa. According to
the Ipatiev Chronicle, it was Aleksa who chose the place for laying
the Kamenetsky Detinets.
Founded in 1276 by order of the Volyn prince Vladimir
Vasilkovich, built by the town planner Alexa. According to the
Ipatiev Chronicle, it was Alexa who chose the place for laying the
Kamenets citadel.
In the XIV century, it became part of the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania. During this period, Kamenets was in the
possession of the princes of Keistut and Vitovt.
In 1289,
Kamenets was captured and completely destroyed by the grandson of
Daniil of Galicia, the Drogichin prince Yuri Lvovich.
Since
1373, the city was regularly attacked by the crusaders, the knights
of the Teutonic Order. In 1375, Theodor von Elner, Komrut from
Balga, made a major raid, devastating Kamenets and capturing many
prisoners. Campaigns were repeated in 1378 and in 1384.
In
1382, the city was captured by the Polish prince Janusz Mazowiecki,
in the form of an alleged dowry of his wife Danuta (Keystuta's
daughter). The siege lasted 7 days. However, a year later, Jagiello
recaptured the city.
In 1500, the Crimean Tatars of Khan
Mengli Giray unsuccessfully stormed Kamenets.
In 1503 the
city received the Magdeburg Law.
In 1517, the diplomat and
historian Herberstein passes through the city. In his travel notes,
he wrote: "Kamenetz is a city with a stone tower in a wooden
castle."
The city was badly damaged during the Russian-Polish
war of 1654-1667.
In 1795 it was annexed to the Russian
Empire. Before the revolution, Kamenets was part of the Brest
district of the Grodno province.
In the period from
1795-1940, the city had the official name Kamenets-Litovsky to
distinguish it from the Ukrainian Kamenets-Podolsky.
By the
middle of the 19th century, the majority of the population were
Jews. There were six synagogues in Kamenets.
In 1899,
academician of architecture V.V. Suslov arrived in Kamenets to study
the possibility of restoring the tower and drew up a plan for its
restoration. The project was approved by Nicholas II and in 1903 the
work was completed.
Since April 14, 1921, it was part of
Poland according to the results of the Riga Peace Treaty of 1921,
after the end of the Soviet-Polish war.
On September 13,
1939, the 3rd Panzer Division entered Kamenets. On September 15, the
headquarters of Panzer General Heinz Guderian settled in the city.
Since November 2, 1939, Kamenets has been part of the BSSR.
On June 22, 1941, the city was occupied by Nazi troops. A Jewish
ghetto was created in Kamenets, and in November 1942 the Jews were
sent to the extermination camp Treblinka. During the Great Patriotic
War, more than 6 thousand people were killed in the city.
The
occupation ended on July 22, 1944.
June 24, 1983 Kamenets
received the status of a city.
Since 1991, Kamenets has been
part of the Republic of Belarus.
On September 4, 2005, the
Day of Belarusian Literature was held in the city.
On
September 8, 2012, the Brest Regional Festival-Fair "Dazhynki" was
held for the 2nd time in the city.
The city has preserved a defensive watchtower, often erroneously
referred to as Belaya Vezha. The tower was built by the “hail-cutter”
Aleksa on the orders of the Volyn prince Vladimir Vasilkovich between
1276 and 1288 as the central fortification of a wooden fortress.
Tower dimensions: height 30 meters, wall thickness 2.5 meters, outer
diameter 13.5 meters, foundation diameter 16 meters, its height 2.3
meters, the total area of the premises is about 300 m².
The
foundation of the tower is made of field stones sprinkled with river
sand. The material for the construction of a brick is “palchatka” (dark
red and yellowish colors). Mortar consists of two components: slaked
lime and filler - "trout" (finely crushed brick fragments). The brick is
lined with Vendian masonry (two whole parts (“spoons”) alternate with
one quarter (“poke”)).
The walls of the tower are cut through
with loopholes at different levels. In the first tier there are two of
them, in the second and third - three each, on the fourth - two
loopholes and one lancet opening, which led to the balcony and
previously served as the entrance to the tower. There are four loopholes
on the fifth tier, which are different from all the others - through
them the view of the area is much wider.
In the thickness of the
wall of the fifth tier, a brick staircase begins, which is illuminated
by two narrow windows and leads to the battlements.
The
observation platform of the tower is fenced with 14 teeth, through one
cut through holes, which served as observation windows. Since the 13th
century, only one tooth has survived intact, all the rest have been
restored at different times.
Above the fifth tier there was a
brick vault (its load-bearing elements were preserved), and along the
perimeter between it and the wall there was a gutter, into which water
was collected and discharged outside the walls through 4 through
channels. Now the roof is a wooden dome upholstered with tin.
The
internal appearance was modest and maximally adapted for defense. On the
ground floor there was a rather spacious cellar with a brick vault.
There was a warehouse with food supplies and a well with water. Wooden
ceilings made of oak divided the inner space of the tower into 5 tiers.
The tiers were interconnected by wooden stairs.
In appearance,
the following decorative elements can be noted: in the upper part of the
tower, under the battlements, there is a “ribbon” of 4 rows of bricks
laid “at the corner”; the ancient entrance at a height of 13 meters is
framed by a modest Gothic portal; four niches on the 5th tier were
whitened. The Kamenets tower is a monument of the Romanesque style with
early Gothic elements.
In 1957 it was whitened due to the
erroneous opinion that it was whitened in the old days. From 1960 to the
present day, the museum "Kamenetskaya Tower" has been operating in the
tower. belayavezha.kamenets.by. Retrieved: March 1, 2021. At the moment,
the tower requires the attention of restorers in order to stop the
destructive effects of precipitation.
Places of worship and buildings
St. Simeon Church
The stone
Simeonovskaya Church was built in 1914 in the Russian style on the site
of an old wooden church. In its composition, a high tower with a hipped
roof stands out, which, together with five domes, forms the silhouette
of the building.
Church in honor of the Monk Martyr Macarius
Igumen Kamenetsky (under construction).
Location of the Church of the
Annunciation
Location of the Nativity Church
Location of the
Church of the Resurrection
Location of the Resurrection Monastery
Church of Saints Peter and Paul
Chapel at the cemetery
Synagogue
and Yeshiva Talmud Knesset Beit Yitzhak
Synagogue "Der Meyer"
The building of the yeshiva was used in the construction of the house of
culture.
Trading area "Market"
Gymnasium
Pharmacy Ossovsky
Residential building Vigutov
Hotel Galperna
House of Stepnicki
House of Reb Borukh Ber Leibovich
Beit Midrash School
Today
the building of the old Jewish school was occupied by the district
military registration and enlistment office. According to some sources,
there was a yeshiva here for some time.
Bakery
Rubin's Mill
Residential building on Sovetskaya street
Orthodox Catholic Cemetery
central square
Burials of World War II
Mass grave of soldiers of
the Red Army and partisans
Grave of Pivnenko Ya.I.
Memorial sign
"700 years of Kamenets"
Monument to the "city cutter" Alex
Memorial sign to the victims of the Holocaust
Population size:
In 2017, 118 people were born and 89 people died
in Kamenets. The birth rate is 14.1 per 1000 people (the average for the
district is 12.5, for the Brest region - 11.8, for the Republic of
Belarus - 10.8), the death rate is 10.6 per 1000 people (the average for
the district - 17.1, in the Brest region - 12.8, in the Republic of
Belarus - 12.6). The birth rate in Kamenets is one of the highest among
the regional centers of the Brest region (higher only in Zhabinka and
Malorita).
The city has a butter and cheese plant, a bakery, the production of dumplings, as well as the production of polymeric materials.