SMALL HOMELAND

The village Peski is known as one of the most ancient settlements on the territory of Bereza district since1503.

About the origin of  the name of the village.

One of the legends tells that there was a dog pack in the estate, which belonged to Leo Sapieha’s descendant. A dog means “pyos” in Polish. It gave the name to the village. But there is also another version: the first settlers who travelled here remembered the sand which made the way difficult to go. By the way the name Peski is quite common. For example, there is a village with the same name in Kobrin district.

Until recent times its inhabitants divided the village into Starye Peski and Novye Peski. 

Old Peski’s history started with the estate Peski owned by Alexander Yagelonchik, later Yakub Puslovsky bought his part. His wife Barbara inherited the second part of the estate. By 1939 there was the family residence of the Count Puslovsky.

At the end of the 18th century they built a palace (it burnt down in 1843), a stable( later it was rebuilt into living space which has survived up to our days), an entrance gate. The park of rare species of trees was planted here.

In 1827 the Trinity Church was built in Starye Peski. It has survived until now as a monument of wooden architecture.

In 2012 the church was reconstructed.

According to the census of enumeration of 1897 65 households with 365 inhabitants were registered in Novye Peski (Kostynyovo). There was a baker’s shop and a windmill.

The centre of the village Council has been located in Peski since 1940.There is a  distillery, three schools, steam and wind mills, an ambulance station, a library, a post-office, a hospital, a shop.

In 1941-1944 the villages Starye Peski and Novye Peski were occupied by German fascist invaders. Bereza secret Committees of CPB and LCYLB were based in the woods near Starye Peski. There was also the editorial office of the underground newspaper “Plamya” and a partisan troop.

On March 16, 1987 the villages Starye Peski and Novye Peski were united into the village Novye Peski. Since 2002 it has been renamed as the village Peski. On March 11,2008 the village Peski was reorganized into the agro town Peski by the decision of Bereza district Council of deputies № 64. Today there are 811 households and about 2040 people live there.

There are a lot of tourist sights on the territory of the village (read more here).

About school.

Originally, the school building was located opposite the church. But during the war it was burnt. After the war a new school building was built next to the church. The basic school was located there until 2009. In 1956 the school was reorganized into a secondary school. With the increase of students’ number it became necessary to build a new secondary school which began functioning in August 1962.

In 2002 due to changes in the demographic situation Peski primary school was closed and the same happened to Peski basic schoolin 2009.

Nowadays there is one school in Peski. It is the state educational establishment “Peski secondary school” of Bereza district. In 2017/2018 academic year there are 196 students in 11 classes. The school week lasts 6 days, including 5 days for studying in two sessions. The sixth day is for after-school activities.