Brest Region

 

PRUZHANY

Pruzhany is located at the confluence of the Mukha and the Vets that give rise to the Mukhavets River. There are several legends that explain the town's origin. However, the historian and writer Jyzef Kraszewski's assumption seems to be the most plausible one. According to him, a settlement in the place of the today's Pruzhany was established by the Baltic nations of Prussians escaping from the crusaders' invasion. This explains the town's name - Prussians, Prussiany, Pruzhany.

However, the official foundation year is considered to be 1433 when Pruzhany Volost was first mentioned in chronicles.

In 1589, Pruzhany was granted Magdeburg privileges. It is noteworthy that the coat of arms granted upon that was very similar to the coat of arms of Milan in Italy. The coat of arms features a grass snake on a silver background with an open mouth from which a baby is appearing. This similarity is owed to Anna Jagiellonka who granted this coat of arms in memory of her mother Bona, Polish Queen and daughter of Milanese Duke Gian Galeazzo Storza. Since then the town has had several coats of arms. In 1998, owing to local authorities, the district centre got its ancient coat of arms back.

PLACES OF INTEREST IN PRUZHANY

The palace-museum "Pruzhanski palatsyk"

The Saint-Alexander-Nevsky Cathedral in G. Shirma Street

Merchant house 'Belyie lavki"

The memorial to burnt villages

Statuary composition "Confluence of Mukha and Vets"

The Main Sights of Tourist Trail "Podlaskie White Stork Trail "

The publication was prepared with the support of European Union and United Nations Development Programme within the framework of EU/UNDP project “Assistance to the Local Development in the Republic of Belarus”.