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Brashevich Orthodox Church

The modern Orthodox church in Braszewicze was built in 1911 from brick. The iconostasis of the church was made in 1867 by engineer Kandruntsev (transferred from the previous church).

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During the Second Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Polish: Rzeczpospolita Polska, II Rzeczpospolita) 1918 - 1939. On maps it is marked as a church.

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Schubert’s maps of 1866-1887 indicate the church in Braszewicze as Orthodox.

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Schubert maps 1866-1887.

In the book “Descriptions of churches and parishes. Grodno Orthodox Church Calendar. Volume 1” there is a mention of the church:

In the village of Braszewicze, Kobrin district, Bezdez subordination, in the parish church. The church is wooden, with the same bell tower, in a wooden fence, built in 1686 by Bishop Venedikt Zhukhovsky. It was built 42 versts away from the town of Kobrin. - Parishioners at the church: 1315 males and 1239 females, and a total of 2554 - in 8 villages: Braszewicze, Volk, Gumniszcze, Dymsk, Ziolow, Illiszice, Simonowicze, and Szarewicze, of which the most distant from the parish church, Simonowicze, is 8 versts away. - There is a church attached to the Trinity Church in Braszewicze, a church school in Gumnicze with 20 boys, and a public school in Braszewicze. – The parish consists of two persons: a priest and a psalmist, with a salary of 522 rubles 8 kopecks. The church land in use is 11076 tens: homestead land 4.15 tens, plowed land 63.01 tens, plow land 30.52 tens, pasture land 7.93 tens, flax land 0.35 tens, and some other land 4.80 tens. Lit. Eparch. 1876 г. №24: 1055.

There is also a 2nd record of the church:

In the village of Braszewicze, Kobrin district, Bezdez sub-district, attached to the parish church of Transfiguration. The church is wooden, with the same belfry, in a wooden fence, - it was built in 1867 from an empty old church building, unknown when it was built.

On the 1864 maps of Grodno province from Rittich’s atlas, the church in Brashevichi was marked, and the settlement was designated as Catholic.

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Rittich’s 1864 maps.

At the time of the Union, the church in Brashevichi was a Uniate church from 1596 to 1839. This is confirmed by the records of vicars and priests of the church:

Gruszewski Jan, Hruszewski Jan, saint of the tsar in Braszewicze Brescenski Pav. Brashevichy of Brest Pav. 20.09.1785 (formerly). [132, арк 21.]

Agievich Ignat, Ogievich Ignatius, *1802. Highlighted by the Brescian episcapist-suffragan L.-L. Yavarovski 1824; the tsar’s vicars in the v. Brashevichy of Kobrinysk pub. 1832-1836. [575, арк. 61; 576, арк. 70 адв.- 71]

Ohijewicz Mikołay, Ohijewicz Mikołay, * 1767. He was from Poland; highlighted by the Polish-Turowski episcapist G. Dashkovich-Garbatsky in 1789; saint of the tsar’s church in the town of Lagigin, Pinsk province. Lagigyn of Pinsk Pav. 28.04.1798 (formerly); assessor of the Pinsk suragationary spiritual canvass 28.04.1798-1799; lived in Pinsk 1799; “nothing from his mother, only a couple of canes” 1799; saint of the tsar in Braszewicze Kryshchyna; saint of the tsar in Braszewicze Kryshchyna. Braszewicze of Kobrynsk Pav. 1836 - 25.02.1837; examiner of the Dragichynskiy dekanate 1836. Wife Agata, * 1776; daughters: Feliciana, * 1791, Mary, * 1794, Ganna, * 1796, Izabella, * 1797; brother Simon, * 1776, unmarried 1799; daughter Daminika, * 1744, boa 1799; her son Iosif, * 1781; daughter Anastasya, * 1782. [141, арк. 1 адв.; 143, арк. 3 адв.; 222, арк. 1-142; 576, арк. 69 адв. - 70; 695].

There is also a sketch by Napoleon Orda of what the Uniate church in Brashevichi looked like.

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Around the XVIII century

There are also gravestones from the time of the Unia near the church.

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It’s also worth adding that on the marmon website survived records of the metric orthodox books: Greek Catholic Church. Brashevichi (Kobrin) - 1823

There are also metrivi in RGIA about the Uniate church in Braszewicze from 1767 to 1801:

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In the list of Christian Catholic settlements of 1726 - Brashevichi is mentioned as the center of the parafia.

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References and information used in the material:

  1. ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Брашевичи
  2. be.wikipedia.org/wiki/Брашэвiчi
  3. https://radzima.org/ru/mesto/brashevichi.html
  4. http://drevlehranitel.by/rus/churches/view/835
  5.  Святар у беларускім соцыуме: прасапаграфія ўніяцкага духавенства 1596–1839 гг. / Дзяніс Лісейчыкаў. – Мінск, 2015. – 719 с., [16] л. іл.