1. About us
2. Regions
3. Minsk

Minsk

Coat of Arms of the city of Minsk presents the Ascension of Our Lady. She is standing on a silver cloud wearing red and blue garments. She is supported by the two angels standing on their knees. Above her two cherubs with silver wings are floating. The image was prompted by the legend about the appearance of the wonder-working icon of our Lady of Minsk. The legend says that the icon was brought to Kiev from Constantinople by St. Vladimir of Russia after he had been baptized there and the icon was put into one of the Orthodox churches in Kiev, where it had been kept for 500 years. In 1500 after the attack of  the Crimean Tatars on Kiev, the church was destroyed, the icon was deprived of all the decorations and thrown into the Dnieper River. Miraculously, the icon started flowing upstream and reached Mink on the 26th of August 1500. The residents of Minsk believed that the icon could find its way to Minsk flowing upstream via the Dnieper and the Berezina Rivers thanks to the angels only. That explains why our Lady is depicted surrounded with angels.

Minsk on old photograph: Vilenskiy Railway Station, end of the 19th century

About Minsk: 

Minsk is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Belarus, situated on the  Svisloch River. The city is the administrative center of the Minsk district, and of the Minsk Region. In 2016, it had the population of 2,002,600. The earliest historical mention of Minsk refers to the year of 1067, when it was noted as a provincial town within the principality of Polotsk. In 1242, Minsk became a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received the Magdeburg Right in 1499. From 1569, it was the capital of the Minsk Voivodoship in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Czech Pospolita). It was annexed as well as the rest of Belarus by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a result of the Second Partition of Czech Pospolita. From 1919 to 1991, after the October Revolution of 1917, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic within the Soviet Union. Since August  25, 1991 Minsk has been the capital of the independent state- Republic of Belarus. (Wikipedia).

History of Minsk is the history of wars and destructions. During its existence it was destroyed 18 times, its people perished. However, every time the city was rebuilt and has grown even more beautiful than before. During the Second World War Minsk was destroyed almost entirely. There were suggestions to transfer the city to some other place to escape expenses for clearing the streets from the ruins and ashes but minskers decided to rehabilitate the city at its former place at any cost. The work continued from early morning till late at night without a single day-off, and there was something civic and bright in the highest sense of the word in the dedicated labor of all those people, young and old. The decision was made to build an essentially new city on the site of the destroyed one. It took only a few years to build up the main street with monumental public and apartment houses, decorated with Soviet symbols such as hammer and sickle, five pointed stars and etc. Monumental buildings of architectural value were put on the elevated sites of the city such as Ministry of the Defense, building for the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the BSSR and etc. A magnificent Victory monument was put in 1954 in connection with the 10th anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi invaders and in honor of heroism and valor of the Soviet army and Belarusian partisans, who made a great contribution in the liberation of the Belarusian capital. Thus, the post- war reconstruction turned Minsk into one of best examples of the Soviet planning in a Grand manner.

 Sight No1 in Minsk 

Each city has its main point of interest, or the people that have made it famous in the world. In Minsk, the number 1 tourist attraction is the State Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War. In 2016 the museum was visited by more than 500, 000 tourists, thus ranking the first in the list of the museums of the Republic of Belarus.

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. The museum moved to a new building, constructed in 2014, when Belarusian people celebrated the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Minsk from fascist invaders. The opening ceremony of the museum in the new building, which took place on July 3, 2014, was attended by President of  the Republic of  Belarus A.G. Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

• Address: 25a, Nezavisimosti prospekt, Minsk, Republic of Belarus, metro Oktyabsrkaya/Kupalovskaya
• Tel: + 375 17 226 15 44 
• Visit website: www.warmuseum.by

Other sights of  Minsk and  Minsk region can be forund in the section of the website "Excursions and museums"

Interesting Facts about Minsk and Minsk region:

• Minsk will host 2019 Second European games. This decision was taken by the 45th General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees held in Minsk in October 21-22. That decision was made due to the fact that Minsk has enough outstanding sporting facilities for the adequate holding of the games. Suffice it to mention “Minsk-Arena”, which was opened in 2010 and has the capacity of  20, 000 seats. It includes a multifunctional entertainment and sport arena with the capacity of 15, 000 seats, a bicycle track with 2, 000 seats, and a skating stadium with 3,000 seats. Competitions in 28 kinds of sport can be held here. Minsk 2014 World Ice-Hockey Championship took place in Minsk and was a great success. "Minsk-Arena" is also one of the most attractive tourist attractions of the capital. It was constructed in the Hi-tech. style and has an impressive appearance.
• The most remarkable building of the Soviet past in Minsk is the Government House, designed by the famous architect of that time, native of Belarus, Josef Langbard. The Government House was built  in 1936 within just 5 years in the modern then architectural style “Constructivism”. The building has a majestic appearance and at the same time is distinguished by strict proportions and dynamics. When built, it was the largest building in the Belarusian architecture of the pre-war period. Its volume is 240 thousand cubic meters. There are about 1 thousand rooms, 16 halls, 2 thousand windows up to 14 meters high, 4 thousand doors, and more than 3 thousand energy-efficient batteries. The Oval hall is illuminated with a unique chandelier in the shape of a star, weighing 5 tons with half a thousand light bulbs. In the early 1930s the building of the Government House was the highest building in Minsk. Other remarkable buildings, designed by Josef Langbard, include: building of the Bolshoy National Opera and Ballet Theater (1937), House of Officers (1939), building of the Presidium of the Belarusian National Academy of Sciences (1939). All Josef Langbard’s creations survived the war and now adorn the Belarusian capital.
• The most remarkable building of a contemporary Minsk is the National Library, designed by the most outstanding architect of today, native of Belarus, Viktor Kramarenko - twice winner of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, professor, and corresponding member of the International Academy of Architecture. It was built in 2006. The building of the Library is composed of aluminum structures and looks as a vast diamond-shaped sphere. Diamond is a symbol of knowledge and light. The surface of the diamond is covered with heat -reflecting glass. Inside there are two thermos-like jackets formed by concrete and glass walls.  Such a thermos-like technology allows to maintain an adequate book-storage environment at 20 degrees. The library is the largest information and cultural center of the country. It was designed to store 14 million books. There are 20 reading halls for 2, 000 seats. There are 170 kilometers of shelves, 700 kilometers of electric wires. The building of the library has been included in the book "100 Architectural Masterpieces of the World", according to the international rating the National Library of Belarus entered the list of the 28 most beautiful libraries in the world (1st place) and the most fantastic buildings in the world (11th place). Other creations of the architect include: State museum of the History of the Great Patriotic war, building of the Railway station in Minsk (a silver medal at the World triennalle of architecture in Sofia in 2003), complex of administrative buildings in Sverdlova Street, TV Tower in Minsk.
• Village of hypermarkets, designed by Viktor Kramarenko, is being constructed in the neighborhood “Kurasovshchyna” of Minsk. The "village" has been designed in the form of several hypermarkets, combined into a single ensemble in retro style. As soon as the Customer is the Belarusian-Swiss bank, a village is going to have an appearance of the antique Swiss town with small-rise boutique houses. Walking along pedestrian streets and squares, visiting the boutiques and hypermarkets will make one feel romantic atmosphere of a medieval town.
• The oldest fountain of Belarus can be found in the Alexander garden in Minsk. The fountain was created to mark the commissioning of the water supply system in the city in 1874. In the center of the fountain there stands one of the oldest and most romantic sculptures of Minsk «The Boy and the Swan". The author of the sculpture was the Italian sculptor Bertini.
• The Botanical Garden in Minsk is one of the largest in Europe, occupying an area of 153 hectares. By area, it exceeds the Royal Botanic Gardens “Kew” in London (132 ha) and the Royal Botanical Garden in Madrid. There are 10, 000 plants in the Garden including 2, 000 species and varieties of  tropical and subtropical plants.