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Minsk

Welcome to Minsk!

It would be regret to tour in Belarus without visiting its capital city of Minsk. Minsk is a large and modern European city with wide avenues, beautiful architecture, a fascinating "Trinity Suburb" with small picturesque houses and narrow cozy streets, impressive churches of the Old Town and astonishing sports arenas. It is easy for tourists to travel around the city: there are signposts in English and Russian languages next to the main tourist attractions; in the majority of museums they have explanations in English. Most restaurants provide English-language menus. There are many theaters in Minsk. It is only in the capital that you can enjoy an outstanding Belarusian ballet, attend concerts of the world famous "Khoroshki" dance ensemble "Byaseda" folk music ensemble, as well as the established during the independence new artistic groups, such as the Presidential Orchestra of the Republic of Belarus.

Read about Minsk

It is a good idea to start the acquaintance with the city with a sightseeing tour of Minsk 

"Old Town" of Minsk

 

• Minsk - Capital of the Republic of Belarus
• Walking city tour: "A Stroll into the Last Centuries"
• Minsk by night
• Khatyn War memorial
• "Dudutki" Ethnographical Museum of Ancient Folk Handicrafts and Technologies
• The Town and the Castle of Mir
• National Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve Nesvizh

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Museums:

National State Art Museum of the Republic of Belarus

The museum’s five halls are currently displaying three collections: a retrospective exposition of the12th – the first third of the 20th centuries Belarusian art, the late 16th– early 20th centuries West European art, a collection of Russian and Belarusian pre-revolutionary art. The only existing portrait of Mark Chagall made by his first teacher Yu. Pen is exhibited in the museum.

• Address: 20, Lenina Street, Minsk,  Republic of Belarus, metro Oktyabrskaya/Kupalovskaya 
• Tel: +375 17 227 56 72, 227 45 62
• Website: www.artmuseum.by

Belarusian State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War

This is perhaps the richest World War II museum in the ex-USSR. The exhibition is dedicated to all major defensive and liberation battles of the Soviet Army, partisan and resistance movement on the territory of Belarus. There are documents, photographs and other exhibits reflecting the contribution of the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition. 

• Address: 25a, Prospekt Nezavisimosti, Minsk, Republic of Belarus, metro Oktyabsrjaya/Kupalovskaya
• Tel: + 375 17 226 15 44 
• Website: www.warmuseum.by

Museum of the sculptor Azgur

This is a museum-workshop of one sculptor. One can find a similar museum only in Paris - this is the museum of Roden. In the sculptural hall with ceilings of eight-meter height there are shelves, which display busts of leaders, partisans, writers, musicians, philosophers from the bottom to the top: Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill, Karl Marx, Vera Horuzhaya, Ho Chi Minh, Alexander Pushkin and Maxim Bogdanovich - heroes and evil geniuses of the 20th century - this is not a complete list of the sculptor's works that can be seen in the museum. In all, there are more than 300 works; behind each stand a person, fate, and era. In the sculptural hall, visitors can see 19 sculptures of Lenin, a typical Nikita Khrushchev, as well as of Belarusian classics: Yanka Bryl, Kondrat Krapiva, Maxim Tank, Arkadiy Kuleshov, Mikhas Lynkov and many others. In this room you will see the monument to Stalin that used to stand in October Square in Minsk. In the workshop you will get acquainted with the fascinating process of sculpture creation, tools and instruments and have an opportunity of  making a sculpture yourself.

• Address: 7, Azgura Street, Minsk, Republic of Belarus, metro Pervomayskaya
• Tel: +375 17 294 73 01
• Website:http://azgur.by/

«Stalin Line» Historical and Cultural Complex

Distance from Minsk — 30 km

Open-air museum of the 1930-s military fortifications is probably the most interesting excursion for those who are interested in World War II history. The defense line with anti-tank obstacles and ditches as well as machine gun pillboxes can be observed. Worth visiting is the exhibition of World War II military weapons and equipment.

• Address: Loshany village, Minsk district, Minsk region,  Republic of Belarus
• Tel: + 375 17 503 20 22
• Website: www.stalin-line.by

«Khatyn War Memorial»

Distance from Minsk — 54 km

The memorial was erected on the site of the Belarusian village of Khatyn burnt down by the Nazis in March 1943. A six meter bronze sculpture of the «Unconqued Man», common grave of the villagers of Khatyn, «Wall of Sorrow», «Wall of Life» and other highly expressive sculptural compositions dully commemorate every fourth citizen of Belarus who died during World War II.

• Address: 223110, Logoysk district, Minsk region, Republic of  Belarus, 
• Tel: + 375 17 745 57 87
• Website: www.khatyn.by

The Town and the Castle of Mir

This tour is certainly for lovers of the antique. The main attraction of the town is a Castle, an example of a purely Belarusian stone defensive architecture of the 16th century. It is the only castle & palace complex on the road from Brest to Moscow. It was included into the UNESCO Heritage List in the year of 2000.

• Address: 2, Krasnoarmeiyskaya Street, Korelecheskiy district, Grodno region, 231444, Republic of  Belarus
• Tel: +375 01596 28 2 70
• Website: http://mirzamak.by

The Town of Nesvizh

Distance from Minsk - 130 km

This town has been famous as a cultural center of the 16th century. Among its attractions are:

- a magnificent Catholic Cathedral of the Divine Body of the Christ built in 1593 to a design of an Italian architect Yan Mariya Bernardoni, the first temple in the Eastern Europe built in the baroque style. The Cathedral is famous for a family burial-vault of many generations of the Radziwills and its frescoes.
- Nesvizh Palace – the Residence of the Radziwills, representing the most distinguished dynasties of those days.
- Nesvizh parks presenting unique monuments of park & garden art arrangement.

Nesvizh Palace and Park Ensemble was included into the Heritage List of UNESCO monuments in 2004.

• Address: 19, Leninskaya Street, 222603, Nesvizh,  Minsk region, Republic of Belarus
• Tel: +375 1770 20 602
• Website: http://niasvizh.by

"Dudutki" Ethnographical Museum of Ancient Folk Handicrafts and Technologies

Distance from Minsk — 40 km

An open–air museum which recreates an economic mechanism of the country estate of the 18th-19th centuries. The tour includes:
 — visit to workshops of wood-processing, a porter’s, a smithy, a bakery,  a cheese dairy, a distillery as well the only surviving wind mill in Belarus;
 — watching fascinating technologies of making a ceramic pot, wooden spoon, horse — shoe. 
You will certainly enjoy tasting of bread, cheese, butter and “samogon” (moonshine) made on the basis of recreated ancient recipes. The excursion is a fascinating combination of learning and entertainment. 

• Address: Ptich village, Pukhovichi district, Minsk region, Republic of  Belarus
• Tel: + 375 1713 7 25 25
• Fax: +375 1713 7 57 47
• Website: www.dudutki.by

Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture (Strotchitsa)

Distance from Minsk — 15 km

A Skansen museum of People’s architecture and everyday life of the -18th — 19th centuries presents an original wooden architecture of a Belarusian village, traditional interior, household premises, handicrafts, production and rites. The museum also recreates the aura of the past. You will experience such a feeling while visiting a wooden Orthodox church, a public barn, primary school, a pub; dwelling houses of villagers both of the middle class and of the  rich, of Orthodox and Catholic believers, a smithy, a wind-mill and other interesting constructions. You may enjoy dishes of the Belarusian national cuisine at the 19th century pub under the accompaniment of local musicians.

• Address: village of Ozertso, Minsk region, Republic of Belarus 
• Тel; + 375 1713 7 25 25
• Fax +375 1713 7 57 47
• Website: http//etna.by

Berezina Biosphere Wild Life Reserve

Distance from Minsk - 120 km

Berezina Biosphere Wild Life Reserve was founded in 1929. Since then its territory has been prohibited for industrial production. It is distinguished by the virgin forests, inhabited by rare animals and birds (the black stork), pure water of the Berezina river with the Europe largest beaver population. The reserve territory is the cleanest one in Belarus. 

• Address: village of  Domzheretsy, Minsk district,  Minsk region, Republic of Belarus
• Tel: + 375 1713 7 25 25
• Fax: +375 1713 7 57 47
• Website:http://www.berezinsky.by/
  

"Trostenets" memorial complex

The memorial was opened in 2015 at the site of the largest death camp created by the German fascist invaders on the occupied territory of Belarus during the Second World War. The camp had existed from the spring of 1941 to October 1942. During its existence, 206,500 civilians, prisoners of war, as well as Jews brought from the occupied countries of Western Europe: Poland, Austria, Germany, Czechoslovakia, were killed in the camp.

The memorial complex includes:

• Gates of Memory:  Their height is 10 meters. The gates are made of bronze, their surface is rough symbolizing scars that can be healed, but remain forever. The bodies of prisoners are intertwined with gate wings and barbed wire and their faces are full of pain and suffering;
• Road of Death was built by the prisoners themselves and led to the place of mass shootings called "Blagovshina". On both sides of the road there are memorable signs displaying names of the cities and towns of Belarus and the concentration camps that existed on their territories, as well as the number of perished people in each of them.
• The monument on the site of the crematorium, in which 50,000 people were burned alive;

On the territory of the memorial you can   also see the ruins of the camp structures, the zone where prisoners were kept. The author of the monument is the Belarusian sculptor Konstantin Kostyuchenko.

Address: Selitskogo Street, Minsk, Republic of Belarus, metro Mogilyovskaya, then by buses 110, 110b, 110v, 110d, 161А)