Bryansk Map, Geography & Facts

The administrative centre of the Bryansk Oblast in western Russia is the city of Bryansk, which is located on the banks of the Desna River approximately 379km to the southwest of Moscow. Established in 985, first mentioned in 1146, Bryansk had been one of the fortresses of medieval times, developed into a major regional trade centre in the course of an ancient trade route between Moscow and Ukraine. Being one of the oldest cities in the oblast, Bryansk is one of the major industrial and logistical centres of the region, which houses large-scale engineering, metalworking, cement and consumer-goods production industries, and being a city of culture, boasts its drama theatre and technical universities among others.

Bryansk is also located at the intersection of the rivers Desna, Bolva, which is why it has served as a strategic military and trade centre since the Middle Ages, being one of the strongholds of the Russian state on the edge of the southern border and the vital point of the Moscow-Ukraine trade route. The city is 186.73 km² in area, occupying 190 meters above sea level and incorporates the scattered fortifications, dense urban quarters, along with the sweeping parks and industrial quarters connected via six major rail lines to metropolises like Moscow, Smolensk and Kiev.

History

Archaeological discoveries made on the territory indicate that people have been inhabiting the territory of Bryansk since the Late Stone Age: the Venus of Eliseevichi, a Palaeolithic figurine dated about 14,000 years ago before present, is one of the finds. The ancient remains of a dog were also found in the Eliseevichi site, dating back around 15,000 years.

After the invasion of the Mongols on the Kievan Rus in 1237-1242, Bryansk became the northernmost centre of the Severian power, which remained a part of the Chernigov Rurikids. Roman Mikhailovich was the son of Prince Mikhail of Chernigov, who had been killed by the Mongols in 1246 and had so founded the independent Principality of Bryansk. Within the following century, the principality changed hands (it became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in 1356, then fell under the Principality of Smolensk, after which Lithuanian and Moscow princes struggled over its possession).

Bryansk became part of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1503 when Ivan III of Moscow conquered Bryansk after the victory over Vedrosha. The town became fortified as a southwestern outpost of Moscow against the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the Kingdom of Poland, and the Crimean Khanate. The fortress of Bryansk was a major plot during the Time of Troubles (15981613), followed by the Truce of Deulino in 1618, which gave part of the modern oblast to Poland, which in turn became Russian again through the 1654 Pereyaslav Agreement. In the early 18th century, administrative reorganisations additionally put Bryansk, in 1779, in Oryol Governorate, and gave it its coat of arms in the same year under Peter I and Catherine II.

Infant industrialisation began in the 18th and 19th centuries, especially in the manufacture of glass, since local sand deposits were abundant. Petty iron-working, milling and textile manufacturing establishments were opened at Bryansk and in such towns as Karachev and Sevsk. The economy of the region became a mixture of agriculture (grain, flax, breeding of cattle) and an increasing network of industrial workshops around the centres of transport activity of the Desna River and the beginning of the railroad network in the late 19th century.

The industries of Bryansk were nationalised after the 1917 Revolution and developed by the Soviet system of central planning. During World War II, the bulk of the future oblast came under the temporary occupation of German forces between August and October 1941. Local resistance and partisan warfare in the forests, 30,000 in the Bryansk forests alone, frustrated the occupier. After liberation, Bryansk Oblast was formally created on July 5, 1944, out of elements of Oryol, Smolensk and Kursk Oblasts in order to more effectively oversee reconstruction and defence of the borderland.

Culture

The cultural history of Bryansk can be identified as the heritage of the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian cultures. The ethnical composition of the 2020 Census presents Russians as 95.87 per cent, Ukrainians, Belarusians, Armenians, and Tatars, making up the rest. Traditional skills are felt in exquisite wood carving and pottery and glassware, then again far again in the 18th century explosion of town glass makers, such as Kletnya, and Dyatkovo.

The oldest traditions of the country are observed in folk music and dancing that enshrines its regional bands: Severnye (Northern) and Poleshye (Forest-region). Festivals are held annually in a combination of mournful remembrance and celebration of folk song and reenactments of partisan messages launched into Byransk forests (the Partisan Signal commemoration in the month of September being one such occasion).

The religious life in front is around the Russian Orthodox church. Historic locations are the Church of the Archangel Michael in Bryansk, dating back to the 12th century and Holy Transfiguration Monastery in Sevsk with its medieval frescoes and spiritual tradition. In the countryside scenery, wooden chapels are sprinkled as an example of the carpentry tradition of the area, which is skilled.

The Bryansk Museum of Local History, opened in 1921, is the leading cultural establishment. It holds more than 200,000 objects of art history and archaeology, including Palaeolithic tools and World War II remains and is the centre of educational outreach. As much as wartime losses destroyed much of the museum's exhibits, the endeavours of restoration after the wars have reconstructed its collections and facilities so that it is a must-visit destination for anyone interested in exploring the past of Bryansk.

Language

In Bryansk, there is an official and hugely dominant language, which is Russian. The standard Russian is used in all government, educational, and general communications.

Nevertheless, the provincial dialect is inscribed with borderland tradition. The local dialect has some features of the Central Russian dialect group, but near Ukrainian and Belarusian dialects influence the lexical and phonetic part, particularly in the rural villages neighbouring the state border. Researchers of the Bryanskaya dialektnaya zona indicate that rarer transitional vowel offence is observed, and other peculiar intonational patterns are characteristics of this Russian dialect.

Geography

Bryansk is situated on the East European Plain, which is between the watershed of the Desna and Volga river basins. The main tributary of the Dnieper, the Desna River, is the basis of inland navigation and high-fertility floodplains. Tributaries such as the Bolva and Navlya cut along wooded hills which rise to about 240 meters in the North and east.

Forest covers about 25 per cent of the Bryansk oblast, largely mixed and coniferous forest land, within the huge Bryansky Les Biosphere Reserve. The flora and fauna found in this reserve are diverse, including a reintroduced herd of European bison. The rich natural resources of the region also include peat, sand, clay, chalk, marl, and phosphorite, which provide the foundation for construction materials and chemical sectors.

Climate is temperate-continental. Winters are fairly cold, so January average tends to be -6.2 °C, whereas summer is mild with July average being 17.9 °C. The amount of rainfall is 550-650mm per year and is therefore suitable for crops such as grain growing and industrial crops.

The city is crossed by infrastructure corridors, the most important one being the M3 “Ukraine” highway and the Moscow-Krymsk-Kyiv railway. The city has proven the value of the environment and the possibility of tourism due to natural monuments, karst lakes in the Trubchevsk District, and more than 100 regional nature sanctuaries.

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