UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Belarus

UNESCO's Description

The Białowieża Forest World Heritage site, on the border between Poland and Belarus, is an immense range of primary forest including both conifers and broadleaved trees covering a total area of 141,885 hectares. Situated on the watershed of the Baltic Sea and Black Sea, this transboundary property is exceptional for the opportunities it offers for biodiversity conservation. It is home to the largest population of the property’s iconic species, the European bison.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

Composition and ecology

Since the forest contains the last remnants of old-growth forests in the North European Plain, it has been the subject of intensive research into the history, succession stages, and community composition of individual tree species and assemblages.

The forest contains a number of large, ancient pedunculate oaks (Quercus robur), some of which are individually named. Trunk circumferences are measured at breast height, 130 cm (51 in) above the ground.

Great Mamamuszi. Circumference 690 cm (270 in) (2005), height 34 m (112 ft). One of the thickest oaks in the forest, with a beautiful column-like trunk. The tree's name comes from Molière's The Bourgeois Gentleman, in which the main protagonist (Mr Jourdain) was appointed the Mamamouchi by a Turkish ambassador.

History

The entire area of northeastern Europe was originally covered by ancient woodland similar to that of the Białowieża Forest. Until about the 14th century, travel through the woodland was limited to river routes; roads and bridges appeared much later. Limited hunting rights were granted throughout the forest in the 14th century. In the 15th century the forest became a property of Grand Duke Jogaila. A wooden manor in Białowieża became his refuge during a plague pandemic in 1426. The protection of bison stretches back to at least 1518, when some nobles were granted hunting privileges in the forest, but not for bison. Another notable piece of legislation on the protection of the forest dates to 1553, when a document issued by Sigismund I instituted the death penalty for poaching a bison.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q192666 (CC0).

Visiting Białowieża Forest

The Białowieża Forest and the Białowieża National Park (Polish: Białowieski Park Narodowy) is in Podlaskie Voivodship in Poland and extends across the border into Belarus (this part called Belovezhskaya Pushcha National Park). The Polish part was inscribed into the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979; the Belarussian part was inscribed in 1992.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Białowieża National Park (CC BY-SA 4.0).

UNESCO's Description

The construction of this castle began at the end of the 15th century, in Gothic style. It was subsequently extended and reconstructed, first in the Renaissance and then in the Baroque style. After being abandoned for nearly a century and suffering severe damage during the Napoleonic period, the castle was restored at the end of the 19th century, with the addition of a number of other elements and the landscaping of the surrounding area as a park. Its present form is graphic testimony to its often turbulent history.

From the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0).

History

Duke Juryj Ivanavič Illinič began construction of the castle near the village of Mir after the turn of the 16th century in the Belarusian Gothic style. Five towers surrounded the courtyard of the citadel, the walls of which formed a square of 75 metres (246 ft) on each side. In 1568, when the Ilyinich dynasty died out, the Mir Castle passed into the hands of Mikalaj Kryštafor "the Orphan" Radziwil, who refitted it with a two-winged, three-story stately residence along the eastern and northern inner walls of the castle. Plastered facades were decorated with limestone portals, plates, balconies and porches in the Renaissance style.

Key Facts

Facts from Wikidata Q209643 (CC0).