Itinerary I: Brest - Belovezhskaya Pushcha - Mir - Minsk - Bobruisk - Gomel
Day 1
Arrival in Brest. Check-in at the hotel Intourist. Lunch.
Sightseeing tour of Brest (founded in 1019), which was the center of Jewish communities of Great Lithuanian Principality (14th-17th century). The first Belarusian stone synagogue was built there. You will learn the history of Brest Kaghal. Visit to the Brest Fortress Memorial, famous for the unparalleled feat of its defenders in World War II. Later on the fortress received the title of Hero-fortress.
Dinner.
Day 2
Breakfast.
Departure to the National Park Belovezhskaya Pushcha (this is a unique area of woods in Europe with the last remnants of once enormous flat virgin forests with relic plants and animals, the Europien bison in the first place. The first mentioning of these woods in the Yepatiev Chronicle is dated by the year 983, the regime close to that of a forest reserve was introduced here in early XI century)
On the way visit to the historical monument Old Tower Belaya Vezha (White Tower), built in the 13th cent. It impresses with the power and elegance of its lines even today.
Arrival in Kamenuyki. Accommodation at the hotel.
Visit to the Father Frost residence. Visit to the museum of Nature and open air cages with animals. Excursion about the Pushcha by bus
Lunch.
Free time. Walking around (option: visit Russian "banya").
Day 3
Breakfast.
Departure to Minsk. On the way visit to Mir, famous for its medieval castle and yeshiva that functioned from 1617 to 1939. Mir is a birthplace of Solomon Maimon, Naphthali Berlin, Shazal Zalman. You'll see the historic Mir Yeshiva, Jewish cemetery, former synagogue, the Radzivils castle used by the fascists as a ghetto for their victims.
Lunch at the restaurant Rogneda in Mir.
Arrival in Minsk. Accommodation at the hotel.
Dinner.
Day 4
Breakfast.
City tour of Minsk will give you the idea of its history, Jewish life in the medieval, pre-war and modern Minsk. You will visit "Yama" - the monument to the victims of fascism, Pravednikov Lane - an alley in memory of people who saved Jews during the World War II, and hear the tragic history of the prisoners of the Jewish ghetto, see the Jewish blocks built in the last century.
Lunch.
Departure to Gomel. On the way short visit to Bobruisk, the center of cultural and political life of Belarusian Jewery at the end of the 19th century. 42 synagogues functioned there. Bobruisk is a birthplace of P.Vengerova, I. Nisenbaum, B. Katsnelson, D. Shim'oni, I. Tunkel. You will see a monument to 20 thousand Jews, victims of fascism.
Arrival in Gomel. Accommodation at the hotel.
Dinner.
Day 5
Breakfast.
City tour of Gomel, one of the former centres of habad trend in Hasidism. You will learn about development of Hasidism in Belarus. A walking tour about town will acquaint you with an architecture of Jewish dwelling buildings of the past century.
Lunch. Departure to the border.