On the banks of the Bérézina, in Stoudienka,
a site steeped in 2000 years of history
The term Bérézina evokes in french a disaster, a rout, in short an event particularly dramatic and catastrophic.
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Why this peaceful tributary of the Dnieper which winds through present-day Belarus has this terrible reputation ? The origin comes from the passage of the Berezina by the Grande Armée in retreat during the Russian campaign in 1812. This episode was tragically marked by more than 20,000 victims on both sides of the belligerents. However, the military reality of the event is glorious for the Napoleonic eagles.
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beyond of this period of the 1st Empire which gave it its reputation, the site of the passage of the Berezina by Napoleon 1st is a place loaded with more than 2000 years of history.
Indeed, this river very swamp, including the vast alluvial plain extends sometimes on several kilometer s wide, has a barrier physics on the road connecting old moscow To europe. Few places allow it to ford, and the site of Stoudienka / Brili where Napoleon crossed the Bérézina is also the one used by the Swedes of Charles XII on June 15, 1708, who fought there against the troops of Peter the Great.
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At the end of the 1st world war, during the war Soviet-Polish the line of Berezina marked the maximum advance of the Polish troops; the Stoudienka site is one of the points of the fights.
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This is also where the German armies then Russians in 1945 crossed the river , at the cost of deadly fighting.
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At the time of the High Middle Ages, the site of Stoudienka was inhabited. This time it is the crossroads between the north-south land trade axis already mentioned and the river trade route connecting the Scandinavian countries and the Arab countries via the Berezina then the Dnieper and the Caspian Sea.
A Viking treasure of 250 dirhams with several Viking weapons and objects was found on the site of the Napoleon Passage in 2000.
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Recent excavations carried out have allowed to update many pottery in the vicinity of the natural ford, the oldest of which date from the 5th century .
From traces of prehistoric habitat could also be updated, still on the same place.
