In the central part of Brest preserved ancient cemetery, which is often referred to as "Polish“. Here you can see unusual tombs, several crypts, as well as chapel-tomb mid 19th century.
The cemetery itself was originally located on the outskirts of Brest-Litovsk, but with the growth of the city and active development, the location on the city map shifted to a new center.
Catholic cemetery in Brest closed to new burials in 1956. Some sources indicate that there are about 3000 graves and crypts here, but the actually surviving ones are much less and clearly do not exceed a thousand.
Attention is drawn to several burials with interesting gravestone sculptures. Most have traditional images - angels, the Mother of God, Jesus Christ. Now in cemeteries such architectural delights are extremely rare, and the old ones are mostly lost.
The oldest tombstone of the Brest cemetery dates back to 1836 year.
Walking through the cemetery you can find the grave Vladislav Visnevsky. This is the first burgomaster Brest-nad-Bug (as the city was called as part of interwar Poland from 1921 to 1939).
One of the few graves with a surviving bust on a stone belongs to a doctor of medical sciences Pavel Zalevsky.
Why one of the few? Unfortunately, the Catholic cemetery in Brest was often vandalized. On many slabs and obelisks, images of the buried are burned or knocked down.
Famous surnames are also found in the cemetery (in historical terms), for example, burial Maria Anna Radziwill. Most representatives of this ancient family in the territory Belarus buried in the family tomb in Nesvizh. Such an exception looks rather unusual, of course, this is a mere coincidence or even a namesake.
There are also military graves, mostly of Polish soldiers.
Grave of a Polish pilot and caterpillar crosses
Such an old cemetery cannot but have its own urban legend. According to rumors, several Polish pilots planned to set a record for the longest flight, but fate decreed otherwise and their plane crashed in a storm. They were buried just in this cemetery, and a monument in the form of an aircraft propeller was erected over the graves.
Next to the pilots, judging by the caterpillar crosses, Polish tankmen were buried.
Chapel at the cemetery in Brest
If on Kalvariysky in Minsk about 9 tombs have been preserved, then there is only one in the cemetery in Brest. The building is dated 1857 year (this date is indicated on the information wall).
The construction of the crypt was carried out by a certain M Lablockiabout which I have not been able to find any information. With someone buried even harder, the name on the wall is pretty hard to read (probably Leonora Lablocki ?), but unfortunately there are no reports here either.
Surely this chapel has an interesting story, if you know it, please write in the comments.
The cemetery is located on Pushkinskaya streetFrom Holy Cross Church a few blocks on foot, below the mark on the map:
If you are in Brest, I also recommend to see former church и Cathedral of Saint Simeon.
