Church of St. Nicholas in Brest

The first written mention of the Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker dates back to 1390 on the occasion of the granting of Magdeburg rights to Brest. Old people, from the words of their ancestors, report that a certain merchant, a Cossack by origin, driving past Brest, got stuck in the river. Mukhavets, from which he could not otherwise free himself, as soon as he made a vow to build a church in Brest in the name ofSt. Nicholas. This merchant managed to get out of the swamp and fulfilled his vow.

The temple was built of stone, not plastered, had a roof with a wooden dome in the middle. The top of the dome was covered with tinplate, the cross was iron. A wooden porch was attached to the side of the temple.

The interior decoration of the temple was distinguished by simplicity and abundance of icons of ancient writing, among which the image of theSavior, revered as miraculous, stood out especially located in the temple «in the foreground». To the left of the royal gates is the face of the Mother of God, on the northern and southern gates -the image of St. Archangel Michael.

In the 16th century a cathedral brotherhood emerged at the church, one of the oldest in Belarus, which existed until 1604 as Orthodox, and then continued activity as a Uniate one. One of the first schools operated under the brotherhood. A hospital was also established here.

In 1836 the construction of a fortress began. However, on the archival plans of the fortress up to 1840, the church of St. Nicholas is listed. Probably, the temple was supposed to be preserved as a garrison. For this purpose, in1837were removed its measurements and a reconstruction plan was developed. But these plans were not destined to come true. In 1840 the ancient church was dismantled.

But in 1870-1876 in the Citadel a new Orthodox St. Nicholas Church was built according to the project of an academician of the Russian Academy of Arts architectD. I. Grimm