Brest, Belarus
city of Belarus, capital of Byerastsye Region
Brest, formerly Brest-Litovsk (1600s–1923) and Brest-on-the-Bug (1923–1939), is a city in south-western Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the Polish town of Terespol, where the Bug and Mukhavets rivers meet, making it a border town. It serves as the administrative center of Brest Region and Brest District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2026, it has a population of 347,138.
Brest is one of the oldest cities in Belarus and a historical site for many cultures, as it hosted important historical events, such as the Union of Brest and Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Furthermore, the Brest Fortress was recognized by the Soviet Union as a Hero Fortress in honour of the defense of Brest Fortress in June 1941.
In the High Middle Ages, the city often passed between Poland, the principalities of Kievan Rus', and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. From the Late Middle Ages, the city was part of Lithuania, which later became a part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth from 1569. In 1795, it was incorporated into the Russian Empire with the Third Partition of Poland. After the Polish-Soviet War, the city became part of the Second Polish Republic. In 1939, the city was captured by Nazi Germany during the invasion of Poland and then transferred to the Soviet Union per the German–Soviet Frontier Treaty.
“Brest, Belarus” enters the record as city of Belarus, capital of Byerastsye Region. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Brest, Belarus and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Brest, Belarus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Brest, Belarus and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q140147. VIAF identifies the subject as 128548246. The Library of Congress control number is n81059006. Authority coordinates are 52.085, 23.657. 4 of 6 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 1 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1923, 1939, 2026 and 1941.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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Three-step research path
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This entry incorporates text from “Brest, Belarus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.