Luninets

General information

Luninets is a town in the Brest region and is the center of Luninetsky district. Situated near the river Pripyat the town is also the railway junction. Luninets annually attracts tourists due to its old buildings, paved streets and an old bridge creating the impression that you are in a European town. The population of Luninets is about 24,000 people and it is located 240 kilometers to the east of Brest. Luninets area is more than 4000 ha and hosts more than 3,300 buildings. The surface is mainly plain with the highest point of 152 meters. Among the minerals; granite (Mikoshevichi), sand, clay, and sapropel can be found on Luninets territory.

History of Luninets

There are many ancient legends about the origin of the name Luninets. In ancient times it was located on a hill outpost, which lit signal lights or in other words ‘mooned’ and thus warned residents about the appearance of the enemy (Luna means moon in Russian). Luninets is mentioned for the first time in history in 1449 under the name ‘Maliy Lulin’. The town received its modern name in 1561. During its long history Luninets repeatedly changed owners, among who were Nemirovichi, Dovoyny and Dolmati. However, the town began to fully develop in the 1880s, with the construction of a railway junction.

Luninets reference information

Sightseeing in Luninets

One of the main attractions in Luninets is the church of St. Joseph. The church was built in 1931, but with the advent of Soviet power it was acquired and used as a warehouse. Only with the collapse of the Soviet Union was the church returned to the Catholic community. It is also worth paying attention to the Holy Cross Church built in 1921. Regular buildings in Luninets stand out as well. Having survived the challenging ‘Polish times’ buildings perfectly blend in with paved streets and walking along these streets allows one to soak in the unique atmosphere of the town’s historical past.

Luninets is proud of its natives and residents. Famous Belarusian Pesnyar Yakub Colas lived here at the beginning of the 20th century and later began writing one of his greatest pieces – ‘Symon the Musician’. From 1916 to 1917, Russian poet Alexander Blok served in Luninets in the engineering and construction squad. In honour of these writers, memorial plaques were erected in the town. In addition, there is also a monument to Karl Marx and aircraft designer Pavel Sukhoi who taught mathematics at a local school.

The District Local History Museum in Luninets demonstrates a lot about the history of the region, its traditions and crafts. The exhibition features peasant homes with their rich interiors, tools, handmade clothing and footwear, as well as artifacts of archeological excavations.

Accommodation in Luninets

There is a hotel and wellness center called ‘Svitanok’ for accommodation.

Economy

Luninets is represented by a number of diverse industries such as machine building, metal processing, timber and wood processing, building materials, dairy and cheese-making. The largest income in industrial production comes from construction materials (59.8%). The district has 12 major industrial enterprises. The largest are, ‘Granite’, ‘Polesyeelectromash’, ‘Spetszhelezobeton’, ‘Luninetsles’ and ‘Luninets molochniy zavod’. Food industry specializes in the production of sausages, bakery products, butter and whole milk products. Exports include gravel, wood products, timber, lumber, electric motors, Electro rings, flagstones, concrete pressure pipes, and skimmed milk powder.