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Russian:Столин
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Byelorussian:Столін
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German:Stolin -
Polish:Stolin -
Hebrew: סטולין
Stolin is a town, 250 km east of Brest,
Belarus. It is the administrative center of 1 of the 16
districts in Brest Region. Its population is 12,500.
Stolin grew up at the heart of the Polesie
region on the Goryn (Haryn) River, at the crossroads of two
important routes, one leading northwards to Pinsk, the second
eastwards to Davyd-Gorodok and Turov, that are now in Belarus,
the third southwards to Sarny and Kiev, that are now in the
Ukraine.
The
Belarusian-Ukrainian border is about 15 km away, thus Stolin is
now a border town that hosts many Ukrainians on the market days.
Russian speech is common here, but villagers prefer their
numerous dialects that are akin partly to Byelorussian, partly
the Ukrainian language.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the area which Stolin now
occupies, was settled as far back as the 12th century AD. The
first record about Stolin dates to 1555. It was a thriving
trading center on the Goryn River. It was protected by a castle
that did not survive. It was on the riverbank on the territory
of today's park in the town center.
There are several legends regarding the
origin of the name "Stolin". One legend says that a group of
fishermen once cast their fishing nets into the river and pulled
out the nets with 100 tenches (a freshwater fish). To mark the
wonderful place they called it Stolin, putting togeather 2
words: "sto" (100 in Byelorussian) and "lin" (tench in Russian).
Another legend refers to a ferry which sunk in the river. 100
men had to drag it out, using 100 ropes. Again 2 words could
have originated the name: "sto" (100 in Byelorussian) and "lina"
(rope in Byelorussian). The most probable legend narrates about
twelve brothers who once ruled the area and used to meet here to
discuss their affairs at table, hence "Stolin" that derived from
the word "stol" (table in Byelorussian).
Today's central Square is close the place of the former market on the
river bank. Here 3 roads meet: Goryn St. leading
to the railway station Goryn (5 km to the west), Pinsk St.
leading to Pinsk (80 km to the north), Sovietskaya St. leading
to Davyd Gorodok (40 km to the east).
There are two parks in Stolin. One in the
central part, the other on its eastern outskirts is theoldes, it
was laid out by the Radziwill family in 1885. It was one of
their summer residences.
The road to the railway station in Goryn
and Pinsk St, were paved with hexagonal massive flagstones that
remained intact after 2 devastating wars.
The town lies on the Goryn River at the
confluence of the tiny Kopanets River, that is rather a creek.
Originally the creek was the old bed of the Goryn River. In the
course of centuries it shifted 2 km southwards.
The town occupies 11.2 sq. km.
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Harvest Festival in 2008 |
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Glimpses of the town in
September 2009 |
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This monument in the
central square commemorates the first record about Stolin dating
back to 1555 |
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The panorama of the
southern side of the central square with the House of Culture in
the center.
Here in the Central
Square the roads have been intersecting for ages. |
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the House of
Culture was built in the 1960s and rebuilt in the1980s. |
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The panorama of
the northern side of the central square with the 2-storied bar
under red roof (former department store). It was constructed
after the war, the buildings to the left of it were constructed
before the war and rebuilt after the war. |
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The bar in
winter lures the passers-by |
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The houses to
the right were constructed before the war. Between them there is
a narrow street |
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The view from
the narrow street. The Bar is to the right now and a prewar 2
storied house is on the left |
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The 2-storied
building was rebuilt several times. It was a bust station
photographer's shop, a dwelling house. Now it houses an
insurance company. |
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Now the bar is
to the left.
If you go down the street you will see
the walls of the former synagogue, dating from the 18th century.
That is the oldest structure in Stolin |
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The panorama of
the eastern side of the Central Square |
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the road
running north of the square is leading to Pinsk, another road to
the left is leading to the Ukraine |
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the prewar
structure at the corner of the said 2 roads. |
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The road is
leading to the Ukraine. The Russian church is seen at the
distance. |
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Pinsk Street is
paved with massive pre-cast concrete hexagonal slabs
that were named "trilinka"
(trylinka)
after the Polish
engineer Wladyslaw Trilinski who invented and patented this
type of road pavement combining broken stones and concrete. The
pavement was laid in the 1930s, saw many troops marching along,
including German panzers and soviet tanks,
yet it remained intact. |
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The new
bus station of Stolin is in Pinsk Street |
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The road starts
from the Central Square and is running in the eastern direction
to Davyd-Gorodok. This is Sovietskaya Street. |
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the war
memorial at the entrance to the city park |
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The monument
commemorates the liberation of Stolin in July 1944 |
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the
administration of the district before the reconstruction in 2008 |
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Goryn Hotel
before the reconstruction in 2008 |
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department
store in Lenin Street before the reconstruction in 2008 |
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in the city
park before the reconstruction in 2008 |
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the stadium in
the park before the reconstruction in 2008 |
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the library for
children before the reconstruction in 2008. This old red brick structure that was nicely decorated
with wooden carvings, was pulled down in 2008 |
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The restaurant
is the best in Stolin is named after the Goryn River |
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Sovietskaya
Street is running to eastern settlement |
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the hospital in
the eastern settlement |
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the entrance to
the old park of Mankovichi, the former summer residence of the
Radziwill's family, is at the end of the Sovietskaya Street. |
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These empty
alleys saw better times. A
flamboyant palace in the park on the river bank was the pride of
the owners. Unfortunately the palace was destroyed at WW2, only
the stretch of the road paved with trilinka once was leading to
the building. The ever first car that appeared in Stolin
belonged to the owners of that estate. To enable pleasant drives
around the town and trips to the nearest railway station of
Goryn (5 km west of Stolin), some roads were paved in
Stolin in the 1930s. Even today they are in use. |
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the foundation
stone of the park, that was laid out in 1885 |
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this landmark
in winter looks enchanted |
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old trees of
the park enhance the veiw of the fairy tale |
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winter fairy
tale |
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the central
alley in winter |
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the local musem
is in the park today |
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wonderful
presentation of the local flora and fauna |
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the historic
displays objects, silent witnesses of the horrors in the Nazi
occupied Stolin |
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the palace was
destroyed at war. Today the nice scale model in the museum give
an idea about this structure that hosted many celebrities of
Poland in the 1930s. |
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The array of
linen towels look joyful! |
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the former
blacksmith's shop in the town. |
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straight and
long streets look lonely in winter |
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Back to the List of towns of Brest Region
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Views of Brest
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