Brest, born about one thousand years ago,  survived numerous invasions, floods, several major fires.

In the early 19th century, a spacious Fortress replaced the old city. A new city with pragmatic street layout was started by Russian developers from scratch 2 km east of the former location.

The arrival of two railroads in 1870 assured Brest�s prosperity.

Today it is a fast-growing spacious city with about 314.000 people (January 01.2008) living within the city limits. 

This website is dedicated to the many Brests of Brest. Brest today has gone through years of good times and tragedies. It has passed through both World Wars and survived numerous fires. During all of that time Brest has been changing slowly but surely. At times throughout its history it has been inspired and influenced by other towns, been forced to rebuild by war and fire, and has expanded beyond all conceived limits. Brest has displayed several different types of cities and these pages explore the different streets that Brest displays.

As late as 1911, there were 36 streets and lanes in Brest with the total length 30 km. Paved streets made up 40 per cent. The city's land area, that was officially endorsed in 1911, was about 6 sq. km. The city's boundary line was made up by the railway lines, the river and the Brest Fortress.

In August 1915, when the city was seized by Kaiser Germany,  it lay in ruins. There are many German postcards showing the ruins of Brest. Nevertheless after the end of the war the city was rebuilt and even expanded its land area up to 19,7 sq. km in the 1930s. Polish government provided the money to turn the town into the region�s major city. Most streets were paved.

During WW2 the Brest Fortress and the city were severely devastated. It took over 20 years to rebuild the city.

The population of Brest has increased steadily throughout the late 20th century. In the 1970s, Brest and its suburbs entered a vigorous period of growth and development. Steady growth and housing development were eliminating the farmlands that once covered much of the area. New suburban and industrial areas were spreading out eastward toward Minsk, southward toward Ukraine.  Today's major building boom is boosting the population in new residential areas. The city is sprawling eastward along Moscow Street, that is the longest street in Brest (9,3 km) and its main traffic artery, that proceeds eastward to the transcontinental highway, running from Paris to Moscow, and westward to  Masherov Avenue.   Today Brest covers a land area of 145 sq. km with its extensive network of 696 small and big streets. The city is known for its modern architecture and design, and for its beautiful blending of tree-lined streets, parks, gardens and neighborhoods. That's why we call Brest green.  However, today Brest faces the challenges similar to all large urban areas, including pollution, overburdened transportation systems,  and a changing economy. Brest  has had some success in facing these problems, that is seen even during a stroll across the city.
It's impossible for one person to describe all streets of Brest. That's why, I have chosen some major streets, mostly in the Downtown, that were laid out in the mid-19th century.

As the streets have been renamed several times, I refer to the major periods as follows:

Russian Period - till 1915

Have a look  at the map below:

Brest map, 1914

Polish Period - 1921 - 1939

Have a look  at the map below:

Brest map, 1939

Soviet period - 1944 - 1991

Belarusian Period - from 1991

Have a look  at the map below:

Brest map, 2000

today's Brest

At my pages the previous names of the streets are given referring to the periods above. Period 1939 - 1944 is omitted, so far. Researchers can contact me to get the names for the said period.

 In the Soviet period most of the streets were named after writers, poets, scientists, revolutionaries, war heroes, prominent Soviet statesmen. As a matter of fact, few streets have been renamed in the Belarusian Period. Unless the Belarusian period is mentioned, the street names  at my webpages  dating from the Soviet period are still valid.

One of the few streets that was renamed in Belarusian period was Moshensky Street, to commemorate the late entrepreneur Mikhail Moshensky, who set up  a fish trading business Santa Impex Brest in the early 1990s and was a well known businessman in Belarus. He died in May 2000.