All excursion routes of Belarus start from the capital of the country – the city of Minsk . The city is located in the center of the country on the Minsk Upland. In 1974, Minsk was awarded the title of Hero City. The main historical districts of Minskare the Upper Town, the Trinity and Rakovskoe suburbs. The upper city began to be populated in the 12th century and became the center of Minsk in the 15th century. In the area of the Upper Town, the largest number of historical monuments have survived to this day. Here, at the confluence of the rivers Nemiga and Svisloch, in ancient times there was a Castle, meaning the “beginning” of the city. Now one of the numerous squares of Minsk is located in its place.. The current center of the Upper City is Freedom Square.. In the 21st century, work was carried out to reconstruct the ensemble of the square. Here you can see the reconstructed City Hall of the 17th-18th centuries, the Gostiny Dvor of the 16th-18th centuries, the Holy Spirit Cathedral, on the site of which the Bernardine Convent stood in the first half of the 17th century. The miraculous icon of the Mother of God is kept in the cathedral. Its author is considered St. Luke the Evangelist. During the Tatar-Mongol invasion, the icon was drowned in the Dnieper, but in 1500 it appeared on the Svisloch River. Also on Freedom Square is the current archcathedral church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, built in 1700-1710. In addition, the Bernardine monastery of 1652, the Jesuit Collegium of the 18th century, the Church of Mary Magdalene of 1847, the Exaltation of the Cross Church of the 19th century, the memorial church of Alexander Nevsky, Russia in the Russian-Turkish war of the late 19th century, the Church of St. Joseph, the House of Masons of the 18th century and the Catherine’s Church of 1613.
Trinity Suburb occupies the central part of Minsk. It got its name from the name of the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity erected here in 1506, near which a large trading square arose. The Trinity Suburb was the outskirts of the city, where trade and craft people settled. The development of the Trinity Suburb took place at the same time as the development of the Upper Town.
According to harvardshoes, Rakovskoye Suburb is one of the most ancient districts of Minsk. It began to be settled in the 11th century. On the banks of the Svisloch, at the site of the excavation of an ancient temple of the 11th century. a commemorative sign has been erected. In the Rakovsky suburb there is a memorial complex “Pit” – the place of the mass execution of Jews. The obelisk dedicated to the tragic events was opened in 1946.
The main street of the modern city, where the most outstanding buildings of the 20th and 21st centuries are concentrated, is Independence Avenue. The avenue was laid along the ruins of Minsk at the end of World War II. It has a length of 2900 m. Independence Avenue starts from Independence Square. On the square are the Government House of 1934, the Belarusian State University, the building of the capital’s mayor’s office and the church of Saints Simeon and Helena of the early 20th century, popularly known as the “Red Church”. Walking along Independence Avenue, you will see the main sights of the city: the Palace of the Republic, Oktyabrskaya Square with the sign “Beginning of the Roads of Belarus”, Minsk Vernissage, the House of Officers, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, which is one of the best museums in the world telling about the events of World War II, Yanka Kupala Park, which was laid out in the middle of the 20th century in honor of the famous Belarusian poet, Victory Square, built in 1954 in memory of Soviet soldiers and partisans.
There are many interesting museums in Minsk. These are the Belarusian National Museum of History and Culture on Independence Avenue, the building of which is the “pearl” of modern architecture in Minsk, the Belarusian State Art Museum with a collection of paintings from the 17th-20th centuries, the Museum of Ancient Art, the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, the Museum of Samovars and Household Items of the 19th century and many literary museums. Minsk is full of parks and squares. In the city, you can walk along the Gorky Central Children’s Park, where vacationers are offered a variety of attractions, the Chelyuskintsev Park of Culture and Leisure, Victory Park, the Central Square, which was formerly called the Alexander Garden, the Park of Stones and the Central Botanical Garden.
21 km from Minsk on the Minsk-Moscow highway is the “Mound of Glory”, created in 1966 in honor of the heroic deed of Soviet soldiers in the fight against Nazi Germany. The barrow is an earthen mound 35 m high. 4 bayonets 35.6 m high each emerge from its top. Around the base of the bayonets there is a ring of Glory, decorated with words of gratitude and bas-reliefs. A concrete staircase, consisting of 241 steps, leads from the foot of the mound to the monument. The ethnographic complex “Dudutki” is located 40 km south of Minsk on the Ptich River.. These places called Dudichi are mentioned in the Tale of Igor’s Campaign. In the 19-20 centuries, representatives of the world-famous Yelsky family lived here, thanks to which various crafts began to develop in the village and numerous fairs were held. The ethnographic complex was founded in 1993 on an area of 160 hectares. The atmosphere of rural life of the 19th century has been preserved here with numerous craft workshops: pottery, forges, cheese dairies and bakeries. The complex contains a real mill, which was built in 1905 in the village of Berezovka, Gomel region, and in 1994 was transferred to the museum. On the territory of the complex “Dudutki” there is also a restaurant of Belarusian cuisine and a bathhouse. In 2007, a Temple was built here.
