russia: bryansk

I'm not sure why I chose to go to Bryansk. It's not well known, there is nothing particularly spectacular to see or do. Either way though, I enjoyed my weekend there, as I do most of my weekend trips around Russia.

Bryansk is 380 kilometers southwest of Moscow, with over 415,000 residents. The first written mention of Bryansk goes back to 1146, when it was called Debryansk. Wikipedia tells me local archaeologists and authorities think the city goes back almost 200 years earlier to 985, when it was a fortified settlement on the Desna River.

Like other Russian towns of the era, Bryansk didn't fair well when the Mongols invaded. The town was conquered in both the 13^th and 14^th centuries. In the mid 14^th century Lithuania gained control of this area, and various factions of Lithuanian royalty fought over the town of Bryansk.

Moscow finally conquered the town in 1503, after which it was turned into a proper fortress. During the Time of Troubles the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth occupied the town in 1610, and it remained in Polish hands as part of Smolensk Voivodeship until the Truce of Deulino in 1634. 

(I don't know what the Smolensk Voivodeship and Truce of Deulino are, these names come from Wikipedia.)

Bryansk was one of the battlegrounds of the 1812 French invasion of Russia. Just after the October revolution Belarus claimed the area, then the Bolsheviks came in a year later and took it back. During WW2 the Germans were in charge for a couple years, the war in general wasn't good for Bryansk.

Wikipedia goes on to tell me the city is now a center of steel and machinery production. 

The main industries are machine building, metalworking, chemicals, electrical equipment, electronics, wood, textile and food industries, locomotives, diesel engines, freight cars, motor graders, pavers and other road equipment, agricultural equipment, construction materials, and garments.

My train arrived in Bryansk long before sunrise, so I ended up hanging out in the train station for a while. When I got off the train it seemed like there were two buildings that made up the train station, but I was only able to go in one of them, the one that looked more boring. Darnit.

When I finally left the train station I was greeted with a dark day. The clouds were heavy, and it felt as if it was going to start raining any minute. And it was cold. Not freezing, just really cold.

It made me feel better when I spotted a Lenin statue just in front of the train station. The statue was not marked on the maps I'd seen, so it was a nice surprise. After taking those photos, I followed the roads over a bridge and around a corner to a small park and WW2 memorial that were 'behind' the train station. (I always think of the 'front' side of the train station as facing the city, and the track side as 'behind,' though there is probably a better way of describing them.)

The memorial had an eternal flame, but was generally the same as most of the others I'd seen. Also in the park was another Lenin statue. Yay. I wonder why this one was so close to the other, and I wonder when each statue was raised.

After taking the photos I wanted, I walked back across the bridge, heading toward the city of Bryansk. (The train station is nowhere near the city center, it's not at all convenient.) The bulk of the city is on the right bank of the Desna River, while the train station is on the left bank. Argh.

While walking over the bridge over the river, I noticed a beach area along the water. 

Instead of continuing to walk, I figured out how to get down to the beach. Since the day was dark-ish and heavy, the sand felt the same. I imagine the area 'feels' a lot better in late spring and summer, but I still got a kick out of a beach trip at the end of November.

I saw two large city signs on my way into the city, but both of them were in places where it would be impossible to take photos with the signs. Argh. One of the signs was near the ugliest apartment complex I've ever seen. The buildings were orange and blue, yuck.

The main part of Bryansk used to be fortified, and/or part of a fortress, so it makes sense that it was on a hill. Yours truly got to figure out how to get up the hill on her own, as neither Google nor Yandex had the roads marked correctly on my phone. The area through which I walked was filled with beautiful wooden homes, though most of them needed at least one coat of paint.

On my way to my accomodation I passed at least three different churches. One of them stood behind locked gates, so I wasn't able to go inside.

Since that particular church had an exterior of red brick, I didn't mind not going in. I have no idea why, but I don't like red brick as an exterior.

I was happy to go on the property of the Bryansk Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. The property was quite large, with big empty areas around the main church. The bell tower was completely separate, at least 20 meters away.

The outside of the cathedral was all white, with gold onion domes on top. The inside was big and open, with a few columns to support the ceiling, I liked it. 

The church must be quite new, as there were a lot of frescoes all over, but there was still a lot of unpainted space. There was even scaffolding near the walls in one area, to support the people doing the painting. I wonder how long it will be before the entire church is painted.

My hotel was still decorated in old school Soviet style, complete with single beds and ugly comforters. That being said, my room was warm, so I didn't care. After warming up and resting a while, I went back out to walk around more.

My first sight was an obelisk honouring 1000 years of existence of the city. (Obviously, the city used the 985 date for this to happen.) It is listed as an obelisk, but that's not what it really was. Just a tall memorial, with three different sections coming together at the top. I was able to stand at the bottom and look up to see where they connected.

In front of the monument was a statue of a guy on a horse, looking out over the valley area. The guy on the horse is supposed to be a monk warrior, Alexander Peresvet, from the trinity monastery of St Sergius. 

When you know this it makes sense that there are prayer ribbons wrapped around the spear carried by the monk.

From there I continued going down the hill, eventually ending up on the land surrounding the Friendship theatre. I was drawn to the lifesize matrioshka dolls lined up in one area, just because. I assume they were there as part of the city holiday decorations.

After taking a few photos, I walked along this street until I found a cross street allowing me to go back up to prospekt Lenina, where I'd started my city walk. 

I followed that street for a while, simply to walk for a bit longer. Bryansk isn't a city with heaps of things to see, but it hadn't gotten dark just yet, so I wanted to walk.

During this walk I saw several monuments. All of them looked like typical Soviet monuments, so I didn't make particular note of them other than to take photos. Not too long after darkness fell, I made my way to a pizza parlour for dinner. Even though I'd rested for a couple hours earlier that day, I still crashed early that night.

The next morning I woke up early as I always do, then eventually got myself sorted out. I packed up and checked out, taking my backpack with me. Thankfully the weather was a lot better this day, though it was still cold. It's always a lot easier to motivate myself to move along when the weather is better, is better, I suppose that's normal.

First up for the day was another Lenin photo. This statue stood in the platz right in front of my hotel, but I had waited to take the photo, since it had been so dark the day before.

I walked to the end of Prospekt Lenina, which put me in the platz in front of another monument. In typcial Soviet style, this one honours the liberators of Bryansk, though I haven't done enough research to know which particular liberation the monument refers to. WW2 presumably, as that is the norm for most of these monuments.

Across the platz I found another city sign, and I was able to take a photo of me with the sign, yay!

At the back of the platz was the museum I wanted to visit: the state museum of local lore. Basically the history museum of the region. I was disappointed to have to pay the full entry fee (which wasn't big,) only to discover that half the museum (the upper floor,) was closed for renovation. Argh.

That being said, the floor I did get to see was pretty good. It was arranged in chronological order, starting with the flora and fauna of the area. As 'time passed' the exhibits focused more on human habitation, and how that changed over time. 

There were photos and information, as well as clothing and religious item exhibits.

One of the exhibits in the fauna section was a stuffed moose, with a sign encouraging you to take a selfie. Obviously, I did.

After leaving the museum I started walking toward my last intended sight in the city. I walked for over an hour, stopping a few times to take photos, as I always do. One of the places I stopped was at a Chornobyl memorial. As Pripyat is more than 450 kilometers away, and the winds of radiation blew west, not east, I'm not sure why the memorial is in Bryansk. 

That being said, its always good to remember the disaster, so hopefully those mistakes are never made again.

At last I got to my last stop for the day/weekend. Called the Kurgan Bessmertiya, it's a big memorial area. A very big memorial area. At one end there is a stelae that designates Bryansk as a city of military glory, it looks just like all the other such stelaes I've seen in Russian cities.

At the other end is the main monument. It sits on top of a special hill, with stairs going up each side. It's a star of sorts, with a mosaic mural wrapped around the whole thing. It definitely makes you stop for a moment, to appreciate what it is and what it honours.

After hanging out for a little while, I walked back to the train station. It was another long-ish walk, but I had the time. My route took me past more cute wooden houses, which were nice to see. 

Back at the station I was able to sit around for a little while before boarding the train and arriving back in Moscow exactly on time.

I don't feel the need to return to Bryansk, as I think I saw everything on my list.