Baranavichy

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City in Brest Region, Belarus

title: "Baranavichy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["baranavichy", "populated-places-in-brest-region", "baranavichy-district", "novogrudsky-uyezd", "holocaust-locations-in-belarus"] description: "City in Brest Region, Belarus" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baranavichy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary City in Brest Region, Belarus ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

FieldValue
nameBaranavichy
native_namebe
ru
settlement_typeCity
image_skyline{{multiple image
borderinfobox
total_width268
image_styleborder:1
perrow2/2/1
caption_aligncenter
image1Bank Baranavichy.jpgOld Bank of Poland building
image2Baranovichi, Belarus - panoramio (5).jpgRailway museum
image3Будынак пажарнага дэпо.jpgFire station
image4Баранавічы, Пакроўскі сабор.jpgChurch of the Protection of the Holy Virgin
image5BarSU.jpgBaranavichy State University
caption1Old Bank of Poland
caption2Railway museum
caption3Fire station
caption4Protection Church
caption5Baranavichy State University
image_flagFlag of Baranavichy.svg
image_shieldCoat of arms Baranavičy.svg
shield_size75px
flag_size150px
pushpin_mapBelarus
pushpin_map_captionLocation in Belarus
subdivision_typeCountry
subdivision_nameBelarus
subdivision_type1Region
subdivision_name1Brest Region
established_titleFirst mentioned
established_date1706
established_title2City status
established_date21919
area_total_km253.64
population_as_of2025
population_footnotes
population_total170,817
population_density_km2auto
timezoneMSK
utc_offset+3
coordinates
elevation_m193
postal_code_typePostal code
postal_code225320
area_code+375 (0)163
registration_plate1
website
::

|name = Baranavichy |native_name = be ru |settlement_type = City |image_skyline = {{multiple image |border = infobox |total_width = 268 |image_style = border:1 |perrow = 2/2/1 |caption_align = center |image1 = Bank Baranavichy.jpgOld Bank of Poland building |image2 = Baranovichi, Belarus - panoramio (5).jpgRailway museum |image3 = Будынак пажарнага дэпо.jpgFire station |image4 = Баранавічы, Пакроўскі сабор.jpgChurch of the Protection of the Holy Virgin |image5 = BarSU.jpgBaranavichy State University |caption1 = Old Bank of Poland |caption2 = Railway museum |caption3 = Fire station |caption4 = Protection Church |caption5 = Baranavichy State University |image_flag = Flag of Baranavichy.svg |image_shield = Coat of arms Baranavičy.svg |shield_size = 75px |flag_size = 150px |image_map = |map_caption = |pushpin_map = Belarus |pushpin_map_caption= Location in Belarus |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name = Belarus |subdivision_type1 = Region |subdivision_name1 = Brest Region |subdivision_type2 = |subdivision_name2 = |leader_title = |leader_name = |established_title = First mentioned |established_date = 1706 |established_title2 = City status |established_date2 = 1919 |area_magnitude = |area_total_km2 = 53.64 |area_land_km2 = |area_water_km2 = |population_as_of = 2025 |population_footnotes = |population_total = 170,817 |population_metro = |population_density_km2 = auto |timezone = MSK |utc_offset = +3 |coordinates = |elevation_m = 193 |postal_code_type = Postal code |postal_code = 225320 |area_code = +375 (0)163 |registration_plate = 1 |website = |footnotes =

Baranavichy or Baranovichi is a city in the Brest Region of western Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Baranavichy District, though it is administratively separate from the district. As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817 and is the eighth largest city in the country.

The city is home to an important railway junction and to Baranavichy State University. It is characterized by a favourable geographical position and is a major junction of the most important railways and highways. It is close to the main gas pipeline, has a developed system of energy and water supply, and a favourable climate. A number of large industrial enterprises are located in the city, which is one of the most important industrial, cultural, and educational centers of Belarus.

History

Early history

In the second half of the 17th century, the village of Baranavichy housed a Jesuit mission. In the second half of the 18th century, Baranavichy was the property of Massalski and Niesiołowski families. The village was administratively part of the Nowogródek Voivodeship until the Third Partition of Poland (1795) when it was annexed by Imperial Russia. In the 19th century, it belonged to the Countess E.A. Rozwadowski. It was part of the Novogrodek (now Navahrudak) okrug, which was part of Slonim Governorate, the Lithuania Governorate, the Grodno Governorate and then the Minsk Governorate.

Growth

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Baranavičy_Centralnyja.Баранавічы_Цэнтральныя(1880-89).jpg" caption="The central railway station in the late 19th century"] ::

The town's history began on 17 November 1871 (O.S., 29 N.S.), the beginning of construction of a railway line to a new section of Smolensk-Brest. The name of the station arose during the construction of the nearby village, Baranavichy, whose first mention was in the testament of A.E Sinyavskaya in 1627. Then, in 1871, not far from the station, a locomotive depot was built.

In 1874, a railway junction appeared. In the wooden station buildings lived the railway workers of Baranavichy. The new railway linked Moscow with the western outskirts of Imperial Russia.

The impetus for more intensive settlement of the areas adjacent to the station from the south was the 27 May 1884 decision by the governor of Minsk to build a town, Rozvadovo, on the lands of the landlord, Rozwadowski. The town was built according to the governor's approved plan. The contained 120 houses and 500 people.

The plans approved by Emperor Alexander III assumed that there would also be one railway linking Vilnius, Luninets, Pinsk, and Rovno. Therefore, 2.5 km from the station, the Moscow-Brest railway crossed the track of the Vilnius-Rovno from Polesie railway. At the junction was another station, Baranavichy (according to Polesie Railways), which became the second centre of the city.

As before, workers and traders settled near the station. The new settlement was called New Baranavichy, unlike Rozvadovo, which became informally called Old Baranavichy. It was developed on the land owned by peasants of the villages near the new station (Svetilovichi, Gierow, and Uznogi). More convenient than the landlords' land, its lease terms and proximity to administrative agencies contributed to the rapid growth of this settlement.

20th century

At the beginning of World War I, Baranavichy was the location for the Stavka, the headquarters of the Russian General Staff, until the Great Retreat.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/Baranavičy,_Marynskaja,_Bank._Баранавічы,_Марынская,Банк(1930-39).jpg" caption="Bank of Poland in Baranowicze in the 1930s"] ::

After the settlement was left by the Germans, it was captured on 5 January 1919, by the Soviets. In the early stages of the Polish–Soviet War, it was briefly captured by the Poles on 18 March 1919 and again captured, for a longer period, in April 1919, five months after Poland regained independence. The Russians retook it on 17 July 1920, but the Poles took it again on 30 September 1920.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Monument_of_Artur_Buol_in_Baranavičy_in_1930_(standing_on_stairs_László_Magasházy_and_Wacław_Szalewicz).JPG" caption="Pre-war monument of Artur Buol"] ::

On 1 August 1919, as Baranowicze, Baranavichy received city rights and became the administrative centre of a powiat in the Polish Nowogródek Voivodeship. According to the 1921 census, the city had a population of 11,471, 56.2% Jewish, 25.5% Polish, 16.6% Belarusian and 1.5% Russian. Soon, the city started to grow and became an important centre of trade and commerce for the area. The city's Orthodox cathedral was built in the Neoclassical style from 1924 to 1931 and was decorated with mosaics that had survived the demolition of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Warsaw. In 1930, a monument to Hungarian Lieutenant colonel Artur Buol, a hero of Polish fights in the Polish–Soviet War, was unveiled in Baranowicze. In the interwar years, the grandparents and the father of Polish politicians Lech Kaczyński and Jarosław Kaczyński lived in Baranowicze.

The city was also an important military garrison, with a KOP Cavalry Brigade, the 20th Infantry Division and the Nowogródzka Cavalry Brigade stationed there. Because of the fast growth of local industry, a local branch of the Polish Radio was opened in 1938. In 1939 Baranavichy had almost 30,000 inhabitants and was the biggest and the most important city in the Nowogródek Voivodeship.

During the invasion of Poland at the start of World War II, the Soviet Union took the city on 17 September 1939 and annexed it to the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The local Jewish population of 9,000 was joined by approximately 3,000 Jewish refugees from the Polish areas occupied by Germany. After the start of Operation Barbarossa, the city was seized by the Wehrmacht on 27 June 1941. It became part of Generalbezirk Weißruthenien in Reichskommissariat Ostland during the German occupation. In August 1941, the Baranavichy Ghetto was created in the city, with more than 12,000 Jews kept in terrible conditions in six buildings on the outskirts. From 4 March to 14 December 1942, the entire Jewish population of the ghetto was sent to various extermination camps and killed in gas chambers. Only about 250 survived the war. Hugo Armann, head of a unit that arranged travel for soldiers and security police, saved six people from a murder squad and another 35 to 40 people who worked for him. The Germans operated a subcamp of the Stalag 337 prisoner-of-war camp in the city.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Советские_части_проходят_по_освобождённому_городу_Барановичи_Брестской_области.jpeg" caption="Soviet troops passing through Baranavichi, July 1944"] ::

The city was recaptured by the Red Army on 8 July 1944. It was the seat of the Baranavichy Voblast from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1944 to 1954. Meanwhile, intensive industrialization took place. In 1991, the city became part of independent Belarus.

Demographics

As of 2025, it has a population of 170,817.

The population density is more than 2,000 people per 1 km2.

Geography

The city of Baranavichy is located on the Baranavichy Plain at the confluence of the Shchara River and a tributary, the Myshanka. The city is located on a straight line connecting the regional center Brest (206 km distant) and Minsk (149 km). Nearby cities include Lyakhavichy (17 km), Slonim (42 km), Nyasvizh (51 km), Navahrudak (52 km), and Hantsavichy (72 km).

Baranavichy is located on flat terrain at an altitude of from 180 to 200 m above sea level, with the altitude of the city itself being 193 m above sea level. The city extends 10 km from west to east, 7 km from south to north, 8 km from the southwest (from Brestskaya Street) to the northeast (to Fabrichnaya Street), and 6.3 km from the north (Sovetskaya Street) to the southeast (Frolenkov street). The total area of the city is 80.66 km2, as of 12 August 2012).

The northernmost point of the city is Korolik Street, located to the north of the Baranovichsky automatic lines plant at 53°10' north latitude, and the southernmost is the village of Uznogi, located at 53°06' north latitude. The extreme western point is located in the vicinity of Badaka Street at 25°57' east longitude, and the extreme eastern point is located in the vicinity of the intersection of Egorov Street and Kashtanovaya Street at 26°04' east longitude. The geometric center of the city is Lenin Square. In total, the city has about five hundred streets and lanes with an overall length of 252.8 km, 129.8 km of which are landscaped and 240 km lighted.

Climate

|metric first = Yes |single line = Yes | Jan record high C = 13.0 | Feb record high C = 15.1 | Mar record high C = 25.5 | Apr record high C = 29.0 | May record high C = 31.5 | Jun record high C = 34.3 | Jul record high C = 34.7 | Aug record high C = 35.7 | Sep record high C = 33.5 | Oct record high C = 25.5 | Nov record high C = 17.8 | Dec record high C = 11.4 |year record high C = 35.7 | Jan high C = -1.5 | Feb high C = -0.2 | Mar high C = 5.2 | Apr high C = 13.3 | May high C = 19.1 | Jun high C = 22.5 | Jul high C = 24.4 | Aug high C = 24.1 | Sep high C = 18.2 | Oct high C = 11.2 | Nov high C = 4.3 | Dec high C = -0.1 |year high C = 11.7 | Jan mean C = −3.8 | Feb mean C = −3.0 | Mar mean C = 1.2 | Apr mean C = 8.1 | May mean C = 13.6 | Jun mean C = 17.0 | Jul mean C = 18.9 | Aug mean C = 18.3 | Sep mean C = 13.0 | Oct mean C = 7.2 | Nov mean C = 2.0 | Dec mean C = −2.2 |year mean C = 7.5 | Jan low C = -6.0 | Feb low C = -5.6 | Mar low C = -2.1 | Apr low C = 3.3 | May low C = 8.2 | Jun low C = 11.8 | Jul low C = 13.6 | Aug low C = 12.9 | Sep low C = 8.5 | Oct low C = 3.9 | Nov low C = 0.0 | Dec low C = -4.2 |year low C = 3.7 | Jan record low C = -34.5 | Feb record low C = -35.4 | Mar record low C = -28.8 | Apr record low C = -9.6 | May record low C = -4.1 | Jun record low C = 0.9 | Jul record low C = 3.9 | Aug record low C = -0.5 | Sep record low C = -3.4 | Oct record low C = -11.2 | Nov record low C = -19.5 | Dec record low C = -29.9 |year record low C = -35.4 |precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 41 | Feb precipitation mm = 36 | Mar precipitation mm = 37 | Apr precipitation mm = 38 | May precipitation mm = 68 | Jun precipitation mm = 77 | Jul precipitation mm = 96 | Aug precipitation mm = 53 | Sep precipitation mm = 55 | Oct precipitation mm = 47 | Nov precipitation mm = 43 | Dec precipitation mm = 45 |year precipitation mm = 636 | Jan snow depth cm = 6 | Feb snow depth cm = 8 | Mar snow depth cm = 4 | Apr snow depth cm = 0 | May snow depth cm = 0 | Jun snow depth cm = 0 | Jul snow depth cm = 0 | Aug snow depth cm = 0 | Sep snow depth cm = 0 | Oct snow depth cm = 0 | Nov snow depth cm = 1 | Dec snow depth cm = 4 | year snow depth cm = 8 |Jan rain days = 9 |Feb rain days = 7 |Mar rain days = 8 |Apr rain days = 11 |May rain days = 15 |Jun rain days = 15 |Jul rain days = 15 |Aug rain days = 12 |Sep rain days = 13 |Oct rain days = 14 |Nov rain days = 13 |Dec rain days = 10 |year rain days = 142 |Jan snow days = 16 |Feb snow days = 16 |Mar snow days = 11 |Apr snow days = 3 |May snow days = 0.1 |Jun snow days = 0 |Jul snow days = 0 |Aug snow days = 0 |Sep snow days = 0 |Oct snow days = 2 |Nov snow days = 8 |Dec snow days = 15 |year snow days = 71 |Jan humidity = 87 |Feb humidity = 84 |Mar humidity = 79 |Apr humidity = 69 |May humidity = 68 |Jun humidity = 73 |Jul humidity = 74 |Aug humidity = 73 |Sep humidity = 79 |Oct humidity = 83 |Nov humidity = 88 |Dec humidity = 89 |year humidity = 79 |source 1 = Pogoda.ru.net{{cite web | url = http://www.pogodaiklimat.ru/climate/26941.htm | title = Weather and Climate-The Climate of Baranavichy | access-date = 8 November 2021 | language = ru | publisher = Weather and Climate }} |date=May 2013

Transport

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/47/Baranovichi_Law_Institute.jpg" caption="Former Baranavichy Law Institute is now a constituent part of Baranavichy State University"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5e/Baranovichi_Fountain_at_Central_Square.jpg" caption="Baranavichy. Fountain at Central Square"] ::

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Belarus-Baranavichy-Ballistic_Missile_Monument.jpg" caption="Ballistic missile on display in Baranavichy"] ::

The city is on the main east–west highway in Belarus, the M1, which forms a part of European route E30. As of 1 January 2019, 81,829 passenger cars are registered in Baranavichy. Almost every second citizen of the city owns a passenger car.

The first rail line through the city opened in around 1870. Additional railways helped the city become an important rail junction.

The large airbase, south of the city, is used by the Belarusian Air Force.

Attractions

As a fairly young city, Baranavichy does not have many cultural heritage monuments. Most are buildings erected in the interwar period, including the Catholic Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, the former Bank of Poland building, the building of the Polish Radio Baranowicze station, the fire station and the Orthodox Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin. A few old houses from the early 20th century are preserved. There is a railway museum in the city.

In October 2016, a local furniture factory opened a zoological landscape park Dipriz. The 400-hectare site is home to ornamental birds and rare animals, as well as all the species of trees native to Belarus.

Tourists can also visit Baranovichi Railway Museum.

File:Kasciol Uzvysennia Sviatoha Kryza (Baranavicy).jpg|Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross File:Bank Baranavichy.jpg|Former Bank of Poland building File:Radio Baranavičy.jpg|Polish Radio Baranowicze station File:Будынак пажарнага дэпо.jpg|Pre-war fire station File:Orthodox church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin, Baranavičy 4.jpg|Church of the Protection of the Holy Virgin File:Frolenkova 50.jpg|One of the preserved old townhouses

Twin towns – sister cities

Baranavichy is twinned with:

In 2022 Jelgava, Latvia (2006) suspended the cooperation agreements with Baranavichy due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Notable people

Significant depictions in popular culture

Notes

References

References

  1. "Численность населения на 1 января 2025 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2024 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа".
  2. (2010). "Назвы населеных пунктаў Рэспублікі Беларусь: Брэсцкая вобласць". Тэхналогія.
  3. (1967). "Nicholas and Alexandria". Ballantine Books.
  4. Lech Wyszczelski, ''Wojna polsko-rosyjska 1919–1920'', Bellona, Warsaw, 2010, p. 70 (in Polish)
  5. Paweł Wlezień. "Baranowicze – Nowogródek kwiecień 1919".
  6. . (1923). "Skorowidz miejscowości Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej. Tom VII. Część I". *Główny Urząd Statystyczny*.
  7. Sławek Zagórski. (12 August 2015). "Artur Buol - węgierski bohater Wojska Polskiego".
  8. (17 April 2015). "Kim był ojciec Jarosława i Lecha Kaczyńskich?".
  9. "Jewish Heritage Research Group in Belarus".
  10. "Armann Hugo".
  11. (2022). "The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Encyclopedia of Camps and Ghettos 1933–1945. Volume IV". Indiana University Press, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.
  12. Soviet General Staff, ''Operation Bagration'', ed. & trans. R. W. Harrison, Helion & Co., Ltd., Solihull, UK, 2016, Kindle ed., vol. 2, ch. 10
  13. "Города-побратимы". Baranovichy.
  14. [https://www.jelgava.lv/en/news/jelgava-suspends-cooperation-agreement-with-twin-cities-magadan-russia-and-baranovichi-belarus/ Jelgava suspends cooperation agreement with twin cities Magadan (Russia) and Baranovichi (Belarus)]
  15. [https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2021/12/belarus-scathing-sentence-for-opposition-leader-following-politically-motivated-case/ Belarus: Scathing sentence for opposition leader following politically motivated case]
  16. (18 February 1925). "Official South African Governmental Query Response".
  17. "Lithuania (M2TW-K-TC faction)".

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baranavichypopulated-places-in-brest-regionbaranavichy-districtnovogrudsky-uyezdholocaust-locations-in-belarus