Every time I crossed the Belarusian-Polish border, going by car, bus or train through Grodno to Poland or returning home, I always ended up in the Belostotskaya Forge. I always visited the forge while passing through, even if I had to stay there longer, I was never further than the station or the border crossing. For most travelers, Kuznica Białostocka (in Polish Kuźnica Białostocka) remains only a border crossing point when passing through the Bruzgi crossing of the Grodno district of the Grodno region from the Belarusian side, or a station for transferring to another train. However, this small settlement has its own interesting history, and knowledge of what is in it will not be superfluous for those passing through. This summer I had to explore the Forge a little, which I will gladly share with my readers.
I found practically no information in Russian about Kuznitsa, so I will retell the information from Polish that I could find on the Internet. Many people passing by think that Kuznica is a city, but in fact Kuznica is a village or the whole (wieś), as they say in Polish. The forge is the center of the rural commune (gmina Kuźnica) in the Sokul district (powiat sokólski) of Podlaskie voivodeship (województwo podlaskie), making up 6.49% of the commune's territory. The commune covers an area of 133.41 square kilometers, 73% agricultural land and 19% forest. The gmina had a population of 4,312 as of June 2004.
The reason for the founding of the settlement was the development of an iron mine located on the banks of a river well known to the residents of Grodno, Lososyanka (Łosośna) (length 46 km, including 24 km in Poland), which flows into and is a tributary of the Niemen River in the territory Belarus. Iron smelting from bog ores began around 1504. Unnoticed, a princely court appeared nearby. Under the patronage of Queen Bona, in 1536 Jerzy Zielepucha founded the city of Forge, which in 1546 received Magdeburg Law. In 1545, Zygmunt August built a Catholic church. In 1679 the city had four streets and a market. There was a royal pheasant nursery in the city.
I’ll digress a little from the history of the Forge and say a few words about the bazhantaria. Bażantarnia is a place where human-raised pheasants are found. Pheasant is called bażant in Polish. A bazhantaria can be an area, usually fenced, planted with trees and shrubs, sometimes in the form of a park, as well as a room for keeping these birds, especially in winter. You can see how the pheasant park, for example, in the city of Elbląg, which often no longer has birds, is mistakenly called Bazanteria, giving such a park its own name (Bazanteria Park), which causes misunderstanding.
| Forge on brown Google Maps |
The forge has increased in size by our time, which may be due to the Belarusian-Polish border crossing. I can’t say exactly how many streets the Forge now has, but there are more than a dozen of them. The street names are associated with the directions Grodzieńska (Grodzenska or Grodnenskaya, to put it more commonly in Russian), Sokólska (Sokulska or Sokulskaya). Of course, the streets are named after prominent figures of Poland Mikołajka Kopiernika (Nicholas Copernicus), Tadeusza Kościuszki (Tadeusz Kosciuszki), marszalka Józefa Piłsudskiego (Marshal Józef Pilsudski), Adam Mickiewicza, majora Stanisława Bilmina (Major Stanisława Bilmina). The names mentioned here are known far beyond the borders of Poland, but not many people know about Stanisław Bilmin, he is a native of these places, born in Chodorówka (now commune Suchowola) in Sokul County, was awarded the most honorable military award of the Order Military Valor (Order of Virtuti Militari), was martyred through the NKVD in Katyn. The streets also have beautiful and understandable Polish names: Wschodnia (eastern), Wodna (water), Polna (field), Leśąna (forest), Topolowa (poplar) and others.
Poland is a Catholic country and starting from Kuznice you will begin to encounter many Catholic churches. I had to read that there are no other churches in Poland, which I absolutely disagree with, because there are many Orthodox churches, especially in the eastern part of Poland. In Kuznica there is an Orthodox parish of the Church of the Ascension of the Holy Cross (cerkiew prawosawna Podwyższenia Krzyża Pańskiego), which, unfortunately, I did not have time to capture in a photograph, so there will be a reason, if possible, to walk around Kuznica again someday. During the history of the area, the Catholic church in it has also changed; the Church of Divine Providence (kościół Opatrzności Bożej), built 1860-1864, has survived to this day.
Quite by accident, while walking around Kuznitsa early in the morning, when almost everyone was still asleep, so the area looked deserted, I found myself in a place of eternal peace - a Catholic cemetery. It is located on a hill, which seemed very unusual. I wanted to talk about it in the same post, but I managed to take too many photos and it would be better to post them differently, devoting a separate post. So read the continuation of the story about Kuznitsa, where you can see how in a small settlement the inhabitants relate to their ancestors, there is also a story about how the Poles cherish the memory of the history of their country.You can leave Kuznica for Grodno by train at 13:18 and 22:54 Polish time. The cost of a ticket in the summer of 2013 was approximately 13 zlotys (at an approximate rate of 1 US dollar - 3 Polish zlotys). Trains depart from Grodno to Kuznitsa at 5:50 and 16:43 local time. A ticket will cost approximately 40,000 Belarusian rubles (the exchange rate of 1 US dollar is approximately 9,000 Belarusian rubles) as of summer 2013. The train journey takes 55 minutes, excluding the time for customs inspection. And don't forget to take into account the clock change between summer and winter time. Traveling by rail in Poland is always cheaper than traveling by bus. If you are traveling by train, then it is more profitable to buy tickets to or from Kuznica, but if you buy a ticket to Grodno from Warsaw or from Grodno to Warsaw, it will be more expensive. Tickets can be purchased directly from the conductor on the train, but the cost will then be higher, except if you boarded at a station where there is no ticket office.
In the Forge there are institutions that a traveler may need. These are, of course, currency exchange offices, of which there are several in Kuznitsa, both at the border itself and near the station, and a bank with an ATM. Bank Pekao S.A. is located near the train station at st. Sokólska, 26, where you can get cash from your card. In Poland, it is not a problem to pay by bank transfer, even in very remote places, but there are times when you must have cash with you when the bank terminal may not work. There is a post office not far from the station, and just in case of emergency, the police are nearby.
Recently there was a story about the city of Shalchininkai, located on the territory of Lithuania, on the border between Belarus and Lithuania. There he talked about how Lithuanians protect their native language by sticking Russian and Polish inscriptions on product packaging. In Poland the situation looks completely different. In all eastern Polish cities where tourists come to buy goods, everything is organized to attract your attention and so that you purchase the goods from them. Everywhere and everywhere there are inscriptions in Russian, which, unlike Lithuanian, is very similar to Russian. It must be said that using the Internet you can place an order at the Forge and do not need to travel around big cities in search of something. There are intermediaries in Kuznitsa who cooperate with all major online stores, which makes it easier to select and find the necessary item.Cross the border in 2,3,4 hours and this is not on the eve of any holidays or on big weekends, but during the least busy period of the year in January-February. This is the situation on the Polish-Belarusian border at the Kuznica-Bruzgi checkpoint.
In many ways, the passage through the checkpoint is being extended due to the fact that it has been ongoing since the summer of 2018.
From February 20, 2019, travel through this section of the border may take even longer. The Poles announced the start of repairs to their part of the checkpoint in Kuznitsa. Completion of work is scheduled for March 31, 2020.
The renovations for the Poles will involve increasing traffic lanes at the entry and exit points at the Kuznica checkpoint, as well as installing new and modernizing old pavilions for the registration of freight transport.
After repairs, in a bright future we are promised greater capacity at the Bruzgi-Kuznitsa checkpoint, and this will ideally allow us to cross the border faster. However, crossing the checkpoint today you can notice, not counting the repairs on the neutral strip connecting the two countries, the modernization of the Belarusians affects truck boxes and the Poles announced their intention to build only cargo pavilions, that is, “throughput and faster border crossing” will affect cars to a lesser extent transport.
Online video queue
Border crossing Bruzgi - Forge Belostotskaya is located in the Grodno region, Grodno district, village of Bruzgi. At this checkpoint across the state border there is a republican customs clearance point - PTO "Bruzgi-2" (operating hours around the clock). The specialization of PTO "Bruzgi-2" is customs operations related to the arrival into the customs territory of the Customs Union and the departure from such territory of goods transported in international road traffic.
The Bruzgi - Kuznitsa Belostotskaya checkpoint is located on the Belarusian side at the Bruzgi - Kuznitsa Belostotskaya border crossing near the settlement of Bruzgi, Grodno district, Grodno region, and is one of the Belarusian checkpoints, and on the Polish side, the Kuznitsa Belostotskaya checkpoint has international status. Designed for travel by citizens of any country and stateless persons.
Bandwidth The Bruzgi checkpoint capacity is up to 5,000 cars, 700 trucks, 100 buses per day in both directions. The checkpoint “Kuznitsa Belostotskaya” is capable of passing up to 5,000 mixed-type vehicles.
Border crossing length on the border Bruzgi - Kuznitsa Belostotskaya from the barrier of the Border Committee of the Republic of Belarus at the entrance to the Bruzgi checkpoint to the barrier at the exit from the Kuznitsa Belostotskaya checkpoint is 1.2 km.
Destinations served: Bialystok, Warsaw, Berlin: Brest - Warsaw, Vitebsk - Warsaw, Gomel - Warsaw, Minsk - Warsaw, Moscow - Warsaw. Additional directions: Krakow, Wroclaw, Prague, Vienna, Bratislava: Brest - Prague, Vitebsk - Prague, Gomel-Prague, Minsk - Prague, Moscow - Prague.
Nearest checkpoint is:
- - 69 km along the R-99 road.
Most travelers who plan to enter Polish territory through Grodno are interested in the Bruzgi queue at the border with Poland online. Understanding how many cars leaving the Republic of Belarus towards Poland have accumulated at the border crossing right now allows you to plan your trip and approximately imagine when you will reach your destination.
Checkpoint information
The Bruzgi checkpoint is located near Grodno, on Belarusian territory. On the Polish side, the border in this place passes through the border crossing "Kuznica Bialystok". It is designed to handle almost 300 vehicles per day. Of them:
- Passenger cars – 2100.
- Trucks – 800.
- Passenger buses – 80.
Attention! If you intend to cross the border checkpoint on a bicycle, you can do this, which is different from some other checkpoints.
Types of control performed
All main types of border and customs control are carried out in Bruzgi, including:
- Borderline.
- Customs.
- Transport.
- Sanitary quarantine.
- Veterinary.
How to get there
Remember! This border crossing is known for the fact that there is often a large queue on both sides. That is why it is recommended to view the queue in advance via the Bruzgi-Kuznica web camera both for entry and exit from Poland.
Getting to the checkpoint by car is not difficult at all. Moving from Minsk to the Grodno M6 highway, shortly before Grodno turn left and follow to the village. Tube. Having passed it, continue driving along the same M6 highway and you will reach the checkpoint.
Bruzgi webcam online
To find out what the track is at the crossing today, it is better to look at the queue at the Bruzgi checkpoint online. It will show the true state of affairs and the approximate number of cars. You will be able to decide whether it is worth going here or whether it is better to try crossing the border somewhere else.
