Press releases

8 Oct 2019

Brest Hero Fortress named best Slavic heritage site

An archive photo

BREST, 8 October (BelTA) – The memorial complex Brest Hero Fortress was bestowed one of the awards of the Ziva Award 2019 established by the Forum of Slavic Cultures, BelTA learned from the memorial complex.

The awards ceremony took place in the city of Bar in Montenegro. This year’s competition featured 25 museums from Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Poland, Russia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Croatia, and Czechia. Belarus was represented only by the Brest Hero Fortress. Over the year, a jury of 13 museum experts from Slavic countries and the European Museum Academy visited all participating museums. The jury announced its decision on 4 October. The Brest Hero Fortress won the award for the best Slavic heritage site. The award for the best Slavic museum went to Russia’s State Museum of Political History.

“I think this is an important event. The international cultural community has acknowledged the significance of our memorial complex in preserving the memory of the country’s defenders. This is a prestigious award. It will enable Belarusian museums to gain prominence in the world. Our museum is interesting, our expositions draw a lot of visitors from abroad,” director of the memorial complex Grigory Bysyuk said.

The Forum of Slavic Cultures established the Ziva Award in 2012. Since then, 117 cultural institutions from 13 countries have been nominated for the award.

In 2018-2020, the Brest Fortress is undergoing major overhaul and restoration. Following the restoration, some facilities will be turned into museums. For example, the new exposition The Chronicle of the Brest Fortress opened in January 2019. Conservation of the ruins of the White Palace and the engineering corps was completed. The basement of the 333rd rifle regiment was restored. Repairs of the southern barracks are underway. “We have started to restore the Eastern Fort. Next year we plan to open a new exposition there. It will be dedicated to the defense of the fort in June 1941. In 2020, we also intend to finish restoration of the 5th Fort and open a museum there too,” Grigory Bysyuk said.

The Brest Fortress Hero Memorial was set up on 25 September 1971. The Museum of Defense opened its doors to the public on 8 November 1956. Over the time more than 25 million tourists visited the legendary citadel.



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