St. Nicholas Cathedral is an Orthodox temple in the territory of the Brest fortress. It is an architectural monument of the Russian-Byzantine style.

St. Nicholas Garrison Cathedral in Brest was built in 1856–1879 by an architect David Hryma. Officers of the Brest garrison and military clergy were raising funds for the construction of the temple.

St. Nicholas Cathedral was conceived as architectural and compositional center of the Brest fortress. The temple was built in the Byzantine style, but had a squat shape, because it had to fulfill also a protective function. In 1906, St. Nicholas Garrison Cathedral became the main military temple of the Russian West Frontier District.

During the First World War, the cathedral got hurt from shells. Before the arrival of Germans in 1915, the bells were removed to Russia. In 1919, the temple was converted into a garrison catholic church of St. Casimir (according to other sources the Holy Trinity) in accordance to the architect Julijan Lisiecki. In 1928 it was rebuilt once again, resulting in acquiring traits of an Augustinian church, which was once in this place.

After joining the Western Belarus to the BSSR in 1939 and the establishment of Soviet power, the cathedral was used as a garrison club. During the war, the temple was strongly damaged. In 1972, the building was preserved and incorporated into the memorial complex "Brest Fortress – Hero".

On June 22, 1991 the solemn liturgy was served here for the first time in the postwar period. In 1994, St. Nicholas Cathedral was returned to believers, restoration work and restoration of interior decoration of the temple began. In 2004, St. Nicholas Cathedral had received as a gift from the government of Ukraine a bell, with the installation of which the restoration of its appearance was completed.

Publication date: 10.07.2019.

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