Minsk in one day

Hrystaphor

Hilkevich

MINSK IN ONE DAY

MINSK I N O N E D AY

g u i d e

MINSK IN ONE DAY Photos by Syarhei Plytkevich Теxt by Hrystaphor Hilkevich

© УП «РИФТУР», 2014

Республика Беларусь, Минск, пр. Победителей, 19а Тел. (+375 17) 203 27 14, 226 94 90 E mail: print@tio.by Свидетельство о государственной регистрации издателя, изготовителя, распространителя печатных изданий № 1/201 от 27.02.2014 выдано Министерством информации РБ Типография ООО «ТМ Арго-Графикс» Тираж 3000 экз. Заказ № Лиц. № 02330/110 от 03.04.2009 выдана Министерством информации РБ

ISBN 978 985 7047 56 7

MINSK IN ONE DAY

Hrystaphor

Hilkevich

MINSK M I N S K I N O N E D AY

Photos by Syarhei Plytkevich

MINSK

2014

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Important Dates March 3, 1067 Minsk is mentioned in the annals for the first time in connection with a battle between the armies of the Duke of Polatsk Useslau Charadzey and the Dukes Yaraslavichs on the River Nyamiga 1104 A chronicle describes Minsk as the centre of an independent nation on Belarusian territory Early XIV century Minsk joins the Grand Duchy of Lithuania March 1499 Minsk is granted the privilege of self-government according to the Statute of Magdeburg January 1793 Incorporation of the central part of Belarus, which includes Minsk, into the Russian Empire as a result of the second division of Rzecz Pospolita

March 25, 1918 Minsk becomes the capital of the People’s Republic of Belarus January 1, 1919 Proclaimed as the Socialist Soviet Republic of Belarus, with Minsk as capital June 28, 1941 – July 3, 1944 Occupied by the army of Nazi Germany July 27, 1990 Belarus declares its independence as USSR virtually breaks apart. Minsk remains the capital December 1991 Minsk is announced as the capital of CIS, the Commonwealth of Independent States

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Towns are like people Some are rich and influential from their conception; others need to acquire such qualities over centuries. Minsk is an example of the latter. Though founded as a border fortification in the Polatsk Principality, over its millennial history Minsk has managed to be the predominant centre of power in an appanage, capital of a province and at long last the capital of an independent nation counting 10 million people.

Over the centuries Minsk has been burnt to the ground more than once, its citizens perished, and yet every time it has rejuvenated and grown even prettier. After the city was freed from the Fascists in 1944, the authorities were all but decided on moving the capital of Belarus to Magileu or building a city anew on an untarnished spot, thus leaving the ruins of the former capital untouched. It was thought the carcass of the butchered metropolis should serve eternally as a reminder of what Nazism meant: in three years of occupation more than 80 percent of buildings were destroyed, the population decreased from 270 to 80 thousand. Yet once again, the city rose from the ashes and its once noisy streets and leafy parks started to revitalise. However, even today there are some wounds which have not been healed. Whole architectural complexes and countless historical monuments have been irrevocably lost, as, in places, the all too new parts of the old city centre testify. Nonetheless, that’s the idiosyncratic face of Minsk: a combination of the old and the new.

If you are in Minsk on business or just here for a weekend and do not have a great deal of time to discover the city more fully, this guide should prove particularly useful. Author recommended route begins in Pryvakzalnaya Square, especially handy if you’ve just arrived here by train, or you could start at any point along Minsk’s "Golden Ring". With this guide you are more than welcome to cut corners, jump from one point to another using the map (see reverse) or the capital’s underground system – one of Europe’s most beautiful, with the granite and marble decorated stations on the first, Maskouskaya Line, particularly of note. Perhaps you’ll pass an afternoon in one of the recommended museums (see pages 139–141) or restaurants; after all, a 15-kilometre route for one day will not be to everyone’s taste! That is of course, unless you find yourself so captivated by Minsk as to extend your stay a while longer. Although one day is really too short a time, it should be enough to get acquainted with Minsk, and – who knows – perhaps even fall in love with it.

For the practical needs of tourist we’ve placed the "main sights of interest" section at the back of the guidebook (see page 138). In addition, our publication provides a number of old photographs and images of the old, pre-revolutionary Belarusian capital. We hope you will enjoy your visit.

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Vilnya Station. On its platform in September 1895 one could meet the first Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin and in December 1904 the last Russian Emperor Nicholas II

MINSK CITY GATES MINSK IN ONE DAY

Vilnya Station with two intricate towers was considered the main entrance to the city at the beginning of the last century

Let us begin our exploration of Minsk from the central entrance to the new train station.

You may ask: if this construction is seen as "new", then what is "old"? The fact is that while most visitors admire the bright gloss and size of these "city portals", many Minsk citizens still cast their mind nostalgically to the old two-storey, red-brick building with patterned walls and attractive arch-shaped windows which used to stand in this place until 1991. That was the original Vilnya Station building assembled in 1890 to accommodate the

Moscow-Brest and the LibavaRomensk rail lines which happened to crisscross exactly at Minsk.

Apart from linking north and south,

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east and west, they increased the city’s importance as a rail junction.

Today in place of the old station, which by the end of the 20th century grew too small for modern needs, there towers a gigantic glass and concrete structure with enough room for 7,000 passengers. On the ground floor of the new station a visitor will find coin locker and

bureau de change services. Situated on the first and second floors are shops, fast-food cafes, restaurants, souvenir stalls, and also, boasting an original suspended ceiling, a waiting hall where time can be whiled away with the help of a couple of bars, some games machines, a chemist’s, and a kiosk selling a range of books, magazines and other practicalities. To the left

Glass windows of the main facade allow us to appreciate monumental Pryvakzalnaya Square from the every floor of the building

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Hundred years ago this clock counted time in Germany

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of the entrance is a travel agency offering a bus tour of Minsk. There are currency exchange services on all levels of the building, stores and "Zvezdny" restaurant under the roof.

Below the railway station runs the city’s longest underground pass (over 240 metres) connecting Druzhnaya Bus Station in the south with Pryvakzalnaya Square to the north – the direction we shall now follow.

After the end of WWII, Vilnya Square was no longer viewed by architects as simply the ceremonial entrance to the resurrected capital, but as the gates to the whole of the USSR. Therefore, it is not surprising that an idea arose to create two pompous multi-storey buildings in the style of the old Minsk Castle defence towers. All the constructions which are part of the complex earned the title of "City Gates" and were richly decorated with various ornaments, flowers and animals. The upper stories were designated by the sculptors to hold concrete statues of peasants, workers and Red Army soldiers. Soon after completion, however, the concrete figures started to crumble endangering passers-by. Eventually, this resulted in their removal from the ledges.

Some of these lofty sculptures were later adapted as park monuments in smaller towns around Belarus. New sculptures, featuring a soldier, partisan girl, peasant and engineer, this time made of silumin, were placed

on their spots on the towers in spring 2004.

Now let’s turn our attention to one of the 11-storey apartment blocks of the Stalin era. From it hangs Belarus’ largest clock, captured as a war trophy in one of the last battles with the Nazis. The clock is more than 100 years old and over three and half metres in diameter.

Now, let’s walk through the twin gate towers which should bring you into Kirov Street. In this direction lies Minsk’s largest micro-district (in Europe second only to France’s remodeled district of Calais). The place is really a whole town in itself with its own housing, shops, kindergartens, workshops, bars and cafes – great replenishment stop-off points on any long trek around the city. At 3 Kirov Street you’ll find an accommodation bureau – useful if you are planning on an extended stay.

Two hundred metres down Kirov Street you will find yourself in front of a late 19th century four-storey, red-brick building fashioned in an eclectic style. Initially it housed the fourth district police department; and it is from those windows that the police opened fire on demonstrators fleeing Pryvakzalnaya Square on October 18, 1905. More than 80 people died in the aftermath of this Kurlov Shooting, named after the Minsk Governor at the time who ordered his protesters shot. In 1910 the building had new tenants

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in the form of a private girl’s school.

The bulk of the subjects taught concerned the humanities and the arts: particular attention was paid to religious teachings, Latin and ancient Greek and literature.

Despite the high tuition fees affordable only for children of well-to-do families, at the beginning of 1917 the school counted more than 500

"City Gates" complex bears distinctive features of the Belarusian wooden architecture despite the fact it has been built in Stalin Classicism style At the beginning of the last century the Reiman private grammar school was one of the most prestigious education establishments in the city

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girls. Now this old building houses Eurasian Economic Community Court.

Right next door is the cosy Mikhailausky Park occupying what was a town plaza in the 1920-s.

Recently the park has gained a cer-

tain celebrity status due to its unusual "inhabitants". We are talking about three bronze sculptures of daily life by Minsk’s own Uladzimir Zhbanau. Almost right at the entrance of the park, facing the old school, you’ll meet Girl Under an Umbrella; further in the park sits the

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enchanting, but unapproachable lady Stranger. At the trolleybus stop, stood on a manhole is a young man who is sure to give you a wink and ask for a light. That’s Lokhovskoy, a character from a popular film produced by BelarusFilm Studios at the end of the 1990s.

Why not share a smoke with him, or if you are a non-smoker, just a photo? Some time in the future, looking back at the snapshots with these bronze citizens of Minsk memories of the eclectic and colourful area are bound to bring a smile to your face.

Today it is difficult to imagine that once Mihailausky Square was drill ground and then a market

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BSU Rector's Office

BELARUSIAN STATE UNIVERSITY MINSK IN ONE DAY

The oldest monument in the University campus was erected to commemorate the teachers and students of BSU who lost their lives during the war

To continue your exploration exit Mikhailausky Park into Leningrad Street (which, as its inspiration, was named Petersburg, then Petrograd Street), walk a further twenty metres, then nip to the right in between two high-rise student halls of residents. You are now in the campus of Belarusian State University (BSU).

BSU counts July 11, 1921 as its birth date. Already in the university’s inaugural year, 1390 students enrolled in the then three faculties with a teaching staff of 49, fourteen of those Professors. At the present time the number of teaching staff alone is twice as much as students in 1921, and BSU is alma mater for more than 30,000 young people.

In the heart of the campus there are some remaining constructions from the 1920s erected in the mode of Constructivism. Your attention is bound to arrive at the beautifully restored two-storey cottage that functions as the Rector’s office, and also the sculptures along the sides of the alley leading towards it. The tradition of placing monuments on campus comes from medieval times.

This was the way of eternally preserving the memory of those who made an outstanding contribution

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to science. On BSU campus too, since the turn of the current century, there have appeared the figures of Francysk Skaryna, Mikola Gusousky, Eufrasinnia Polatskaya, Symon Budny, Vasil Tsyapinsky and Kiryl Turausky. The oldest monument, added to the campus in 1975, is not in memory of a specific individual. It merely depicts a rifle to commemorate the teachers and students of BSU who lost their lives during the war.

Leaving the hospitable courtyard of the university, let us take the steps and enter the main section of BSU build in 1961 – the year of the first man in space. This coincidence would have hardly merited a mention if it had not been for the naming of a newly discovered star in the Andromeda galaxy as "BSU".

Kiryl Turausky – preacher and writer of XII century, author of solemn "Tales", sermons, prayers and canons

It looks like scientists of the Age of Enlightenment made of bronze and placed in the inner square of the Belarusian State University are still discussing something, 450 years after the beginning of their dispute

Eufrasinnia Polatskaya (1110–1169) is likely the most admired saint in Belarus

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NEZALEZHNASTI (INDEPENDENCE) SQUARE MINSK IN ONE DAY

Minsk Municipality Office

To open the sizeable front gates of the BSU is no mean feat, yet once through you will find yourself in the administrative centre of Belarus’ capital – Nezalezhnasti Square, one of the largest in Europe (450 m by 150 m, an area of 7 hectares). Under the square is an immense trade and recreation centre "Stalitsa" with three underground streets of restaurants, cafes, boutiques, as well as a large parking

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lot ("Stalitsa" is open daily, 10.00– 22.00). The square itself now belongs to pedestrians who admire its flower beds and multi-level cascade fountains.

If you have a spare minute, take a look into the hall of the lofty 14-storey building of Pedagogical University – you will see a pyramidal Foucault pendulum, which proves to any doubting Thomas that the Earth does rotate. All European capital cities have an aluminium ball of the kind hanging on a steel wire, and Minsk followed suit.

The square’s principal sites of interest are situated on the north side. Government House (1930– 1933) takes pride of place in the middle as the biggest pre-war building in Belarus. Back in 1929 there was a national contest held to design a residence for the Minsk authorities, duly won by Joseph Langbard from Leningrad (in fact, he was born in the Grodna Region).

According to Langbard’s initial idea, Minsk’s "number one" building was to be erected in a semi-circle around the square, with the adjacent wings meeting on the third floor and form-

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Buildings of various epochs and architectural styles frame the Nezalezhnasts Square

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This Monument to Lenin was the highest in the USSR

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ing a hundred metre gallery.

However, as is often the case, such a scheme could not be followed through with the means available and anything beyond the essentials had to be foregone. In 1933 a seven metre high monument to Lenin was placed on a black pedestal in front of Government House. Oddly enough, the first ever monument to Lenin in USSR appeared back in 1922 in the Belarusian town of Krasnapol’ye in the Magileu Oblast while the revolutionary number one was still alive. That monument was completed from clay by the sculptor Alyaksandr Grube. In 1925 the very same Grube was responsible for Minsk’s first memorial to Lenin which is standing in front of the by now familiar to us BSU building.

In mid-2000-s the Nezalezhnasts Square became pedestrian

Just as a side note: don’t be led into thinking Belarus is continuing the former path of communism because of the plethora of Soviet paraphernalia and sculptures you come across. It is just that Belarusians are a rather conservative kind of people and do not rush to alter their surroundings so much.

It is indeed a miracle that Government House has survived the World War II intact. The Fascists had planned to blow it up just before their retreat from the city, yet determined action by Soviet forces and partisans managed to avert the tragedy: on July 3, 1944 field engineers defused over one hundred 250-kilo delayed-action bombs placed around the building. Now, from here let us

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head in the direction of the Neo-Romanesque Roman-Catholic Church of St. Simeon and St. Helen (1905– 1919), another miracle survivor, but this time of the anti-religious purges of the Soviet years. During the short walk across you have a chance to check your watch against the main clock in Belarus. It hangs on a lofty tower on the opposite of the square which is crowned with an iron weathercock: that’s the offices of Minsk’s Underground (Metro) Authorities.

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Church of St. Simeon and St. Helen (15 Savetskaya Street)

History of the Red Church (the church of St. Simeon and St. Helen got this another name due its bright red colouring) traces back to the tragedy of the Vaynilovich family. On the left of the main entrance inside the church one can see snow white bust of handsome man, he is the last representative of the famous family, landowner from Slutsk, Edward Vaynilovich. After an extended illness his son, Simeon, passed away at the age of twelve, followed six years later by the daughter, one day short of her nineteenth birthday. In the year of

The ancient Minsk coat of arms on the Chyrvony Roman Catholic Church

his daughter’s death, 1903, Vaynilovich made this entry in his diary: "My once mighty family line has shed leaf after leaf to leave my condemned self only to die, like a lightning-struck tree which no spring can revive". In memory of the children the landowner sacrificed all of his estate for the building of a new Roman Catholic church in Minsk; he arranged it with the municipal authorities that the church would be christened in honor of Saint Simeon and Saint Helen, and negotiated the right to choose his own church design.

Legend has it that not long before her death the landowner’s daughter Helen saw a church of amazing beauty in a dream and thereafter etched its like on paper.

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Roman Catholic Church, beginning of the XX century

In charge of the project was the architect Tomash Poyazdersky who in accordance with the young woman’s sketches designed the enormous church to incorporate

Church of St. Simeon and St. Helen

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Nagasaki Bell commemorates atrocities of all nuclear catastrophes

two small towers (commemorating the two children) and, befitting the grief of the parent, another tower 50 metres high, which immediately turned it into the symbol of the city well seen from any place.

Nowadays, the red church building, which has already served as Belarusian SSR’s National Polish Theatre, a film studio and a cinema, has since 1990 been returned to believers, but it serves not only a religious purpose. Concerts and exhibitions often take place in the so-called "Lower Church" situated under the upper basilica. The cathedral is also famed for its organ music recitals and the Adam Mitskievich Library, named after a classic Belarusian and Polish author born in Novagrudak, Belarus. One of the most treasured religious possessions of the church is a copy of

the Turin Shroud of Christ presented to the Belarusian people in April 2002 by the Turin Cathedral in Italy, where the original shroud with imprints of the body of Christ is kept in a treasure house. In 2006 remains of Edward Vaynilovich moved from Poland have been buried here.

In September 1996 a bronze sculpture of Archangel Michael, the patron saint of Belarus, was placed in front of the entrance to the Red Church. Precisely four years on, in September 2000, a dozen metres away from the Archangel there appeared the memorial "Nagasaki Bell", an exact replica of the "Angel" bell, which miraculously survived the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Minsk’s copy of the "Angel" bell was given as a gift to the Belarusian people by the Catholic diocese of Nagasaki to

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serve as a warning and a reminder of the more recent nuclear tragedy, that of Chernobyl. Inserted into the foundation of the memorial are capsules containing earth from Jerusalem, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear testing grounds in Novaya Zemlya and Semipalatinsk and also from other regions which suffered as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe.

Just before we leave the government square, let’s take quick note of its other points of interest. Not far from the church is a commemorative spot where the first editor of the underground newspaper "Zvyazda" and organiser of the underground printing press during the period of Fascist occupation, Uladzimir Amel’yanuk, perished (1917–1942).

The monument depicts a pile of bullet-punctured papers blown up by the breeze. Well worth a look are two formerly tenement houses at 17 and 19 Savetskaya Street, decked out in the modern style by two architects with amusingly assonating surnames – Guy and Guydukevich; the houses are linked by a wooden-block pavement. Before the war, the whole area leading away from Independence Avenue (formerly Savetskaya Street and before that – Zaharyeuskaya Street), was built up with such pretty, almost doll-like houses, right up to Svislach Bridge.

Nowadays, at number 17 there’s the restaurant "Gastiny Dvor" where you can enjoy a range of traditional and European cuisine while gazing at the canvasses of prominent men in Belarus’ history hung around the main hall. Next to the house at number 19, which for a period of time was the home of Rygor Shirma, a choir conductor and folklore scholar awarded the rank of People’s Artist of USSR, hides a cozy, picturesque yard complete with a fountain. Here you can rest awhile or visit the Museum of Belarusian Cinema (see page 139) situated in a recently restored, pre-Revolution private residence. And if you stand with your back to the church, facing "Minsk" Hotel, through the trees just in front and to the left, you can make out white turret towers. They belong to Pishchallausky Castle – the next stop on our itinerary.

Founder of the Belarus Choir Rygor Shyrma lived in this house

"Youth" sculpture appeared near the "Minsk" Hotel in 1978

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VALADARSKY STREET MINSK IN ONE DAY

Minsk’s Pishchallausky Castle, named after the architect Rudolf Pishchalla, does not allow tour groups within its walls; its gates are fastened shut day and night. The reason comes from the castle’s practical nature: throughout its two hundred year history, pre and post-revolution, during the Nazi occupation and since, it has always been used as a prison. The four round towers of this three-storey rectangular isle, completed in a retrospective style, were erected in the outskirts west of Minsk in 1825. Just six years later its cells were cramped full of Belarusian patriots – the members of the 1830–1831 National Uprising. The suppression in 1864 of yet another uprising which was led by Kastus Kalinousky forced the prison authorities to go as far as closing most

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There are plans to turn the old Pishchalausky Castle into an exotic hotel

of the castle’s workshops to make room for the new influx of political prisoners. From October 1864 to December 1865 one of the newlyreformed cells accommodated a classic Belarusian dramatist, Vincent Dunin-Martsynkevich. Fifty years on and it becomes common to find a famous writer within the prison walls: in 1907 it is the turn of Ales Garun, for "antigovernmental activities", and during two spells, 1905–1906 and 1910–1911, it that of the writer Karus Kaganets. Finally, in 1908, one of the founders of modern Belarusian literature, Yakub Kolas, is sentenced to three years imprisonment for taking part in an underground gathering of teachers. It is within these same cramped walls that he conceives and starts working on his most famous poem, "Novaya Zyamlya" (A New Land).

Before construction of the "Minsk" Hotel windows of the building 12 on Valadarsky Street fronted the prospect

Today, the stone keep, nicknamed by people in Minsk as "Valadarka", is used by the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs as an isolation ward for prisoners awaiting preliminary sentences (in 2008 the decision has been made to gradually move pre-trial prison outside Minsk encircling highway). Valadarsky Street which holds the prison formerly bore the name of Serpuhovskaya, and was by and large populated with Jews. There were Jewish schools, a vocational college and a synagogue. The latter has survived till the modern day. It was built at the end of the 19th century in a Moresque style, but was later adapted to fit the Gorky National Drama

It is not easy to discern the former Choral Synagogue in nowadays’ facade of the Gorky Drama Theatre

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This is how the Choral Synagogue building looked at the beginning of the XX century

"Belarus" Hotel (now is "Crowne Plaza" Hotel) was built in 1934–1938.

Theatre (5 Valadarsky St.). Although at first glance the ornamental facades added since the war seem to have completely covered any trace of the synagogue’s original arches and columns, a walk around the building will reveal its true age in the shapes of its windows and buttresses. Among the former patrons of the synagogue were the parents of Israel Goodkind (advisor to American ex-president Richard Nixon), and of Louis (Laser) Myer (one of the founders of Metro-GoldwinMyer movie studios); both families immigrated to the US from Belarus at the beginning of the 20th century.

After the revolution the building of the former synagogue was used to hold party congresses, the constituent assembly of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR and even the premiere of the first Belarusian movie called "Forest Truth". This is also where later

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the poet Vladimir Mayakovski performed his famous poem "Well!".

Certainly the old synagogue walls contain many a splendid memory.

The pre-Revolution constructions on Valadarsky Street have preserved

themselves well over time. At the beginning of the last century, one of its attractive houses served as Belarus’ only school of dentistry. At that time it also ran a public surgery absolutely free. Take a look at a smart, neobaroque style house at 12 Valadarsky

Street. On the second floor of the opposite house, at 9 Valadarsky Street, the first independent state of Belarus in the 20th century, named Belarusian People’s Republic, was declared on March 25, 1918.

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Karl Marx and Valadarsky Streets crossroad

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INDEPENDENCE (NEZALEZHNASTSI) AVENUE MINSK IN ONE DAY

Before changing the pace from the gentle stream of Valadarsky Street to the stormy white-water of Belarus’ main road, Independence Avenue, which links the south-west and the north-east of the capital city, we should get a little better acquainted with it.

Sculpture "Archtect" in front of the "Minsk" Hotel

The avenue was laid after the war on the grounds formerly used by the destroyed Savetskaya and Barysau routes. Its length is more than 11 kilometres, the width measures between 48 and 70 metres in places. Together with adjacent streets the avenue forms the largest and most integral ensemble of what is known in modern architecture as "Stalin Empire style". In the early 90s the central part of the avenue

was included in the Register of architectural and cultural monuments of Belarus, and in the mid2000s UNESCO specialists said there was a possibility of a two-kilometre long section of the avenue to be included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Immediately after the construction the avenue was named after Stalin; after the personality cult was debunked the avenue acquired a new name, this time of another Soviet leader, Vladimir Lenin; in the 1990s the avenue was renamed Skaryny Avenue to commemorate the Belarusian and East Slavonic book printer. The modern name was given to the avenue in 2005.

The avenue’s principal building could be said to be the Main Post Office (10 Independence Avenue), built in 1949–1953. Its striking appearance is bound to draw your attention to the lavishly tall attics, ancient Corinthian columns and the

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massive gateway arch. At the Main Post Office you can make a telephone call (7am–11pm), send a letter, telegram or parcel to any country in the world. On entering the Post Office be sure to glance inside the round, dome-shaped main hall. The marble hall’s main attraction consists of 15 stain-glass windows depicting Belarusian architecture from the 11th to the 18th centuries. Among them are such wonders as the St. Barys and St. Gleb Church in Grodna, the St. Sofia Cathedral in Polatsk, Vitsebsk

and Niasvizh town halls, the Jesuit collegiums in Pinsk, and the stone keep in Kamyanets. In other words, in a few minutes the stain-glass windows take you on a mini-tour through the whole of Belarus.

The first floor of the building next door to the Post Office (12 Independence Avenue) is host to several cafes, shops and a gallery, comprising the contemporary works of the Painter’s Union of Belarus, "Mastatstva". The works are available for browsing or purchase. The gallery also offers a wide spectrum of souvenir items, from craft work made out of straw to human size sculptures. Upon entering the gallery "Mastatstva", you will notice a

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Before the WWII on site where the Main Post Office now stands, building of the Minsk City Museum with collections of minerals, skeletons of prehistoric animals, ancient implements and manuscripts was situated

"Mastatstva" (art) Gallery is considered to be one of the best souvenir shops in the city

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memorial plate in honour of the place’s former resident (1953–1973), the writer Mikhas Lynkou. If you turn your attention towards the other side of the avenue, past the three arched embrasures, you’ll notice the

entrance to one of Minsk’ oldest cinemas "Tsentralny". The cinema originally opened in 1954, and underwent a recent reconstruction in 2003, during which unique stucco mouldings were restored (after

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being ruined during the previous redecoration campaign). Besides boosting the number of seats, the make-over installed the latest movie technologies, remodelled the foyer area and built a buffet on the first floor, both in a retro style to resemble the look of half a century ago.

Continuing along the avenue, be sure not to miss the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) building.

This neoclassic style, four-storey house at 15 Independence Av. was built in 1915. Before the Revolution it belonged to the city’s Agricultural Insurance Union. It is one of only ten constructions along the thoroughfare to have survived the war.

Its pre-revolution history is all but lost, apart from fragments of mould-

ed decor attached to the corner lodge and a statue of the Greek goddess of fertility Demeter, reinstalled in 2004.

The MIA building blends itself rather well with the gigantic residence of the Belarusian KGB at 17 Independence Avenue which was constructed in 1945–1947, also using a classic, architectural mode.

There’s quite an interesting tale surrounding the eight-sided tower you have probably noticed by the KGB building. After the liberation of Minsk from the Fascists, one of the first to be erected along the then Statue of the Goddess Demeter with children stands on the Ministry of the Internal Affairs

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Nobel Prize winner in physics Zhores Alferov graduated from the Minsk School No. 42

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Stalin Avenue was the KGB mansion.

Put in charge of overseeing the construction was the Belarusian equivalent of USSR’s notorious head of the secret police Lavrenty Beria, a highly unsavoury and finicky character – Lavrenty Tsanava. Expert on Minsk local history Mikhail Volodin tells such story. When the architectural director, Uladzimir Karol, brought the building plans for approval to Tsanava, the later spent an age probing about this and that, why there are exactly four columns at the entrance, and would it be possible

for just one man to open the enormous front entrance doors, and so on. Then suddenly, he pointed the pencil towards the top right corner of the plan and pronounced: "And here we’ve got to have us a little tower". "But that’s impossible", Karol started to argue, "it doesn’t follow the symmetrical balance of the design. If towers have to be built, then we need two". Tsanava’s reply, punning on the architect’s surname ("karol" means "king" in Russian), was simply this: "Now look, comrade Karol. In Belarus there is one law,

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and that’s the law of Tsanava. You may be a king in your architectural world, but I am the king here. And make sure the tower turns out nice, won’t you."

Looking on with a serious mien at the windows of the KGB building since 1947 is the bust to Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the AllRussian Special Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage (Cheka). In fact, this man who was once named as "Iron Felix" hales from Belarus. He was the son of a Polish landowner, EdmundRuhfin Dzerzhinsky, and was born in 1877 on the Dzerzhinovo estate, in the Minsk locality.

Two hundred metres or so separate this champion of the revolution from yet another landmark connected with a world-renowned Belarusian. We are talking about secondary school number 42, at 21 Kamsamolskaya Street. Its alumni include Zhores I. Alferov, Nobel Prize winner in the area of information and communication technology. We use his works every day, in CDs and computer disc drives.

Now, let’s return to the main avenue. In the house where you can see the central branch of "Kniharnya", one of the city’s best bookstores which celebrated its half centenary in 2002, used to be occupied by film director Uladzimir

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People’s Artist (title of honour) of Belarus and USSR Stephaniya Stanyuta lived in the No. 19 building

Korsh-Sablin, the maker of Belarus’ first sound film, "Zapadny Front" (Western Front). Curiously enough the pre-war occupant of 19 Independence Avenue, where "Kni-

harnya" now stands, was Hotel "Odessa", and one of its patrons was the Belarusian poet, Yanka Kupala.

In the part of the building which now houses the confectionary "Lakomka" a hundred years back stood the so-called Frankel House, where in 1896 Moisey Nopelbaum opened his first photo studio.

Nopelbaum was responsible for many famous photo portraits, of the writer Alexander Blok, poets Anna

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Akhmatova and Sergei Esenin, and author of Dr. Zhivago – Boris Pasternak. It was Nopelbaum too who can claim to have taken the first photograph of Vladimir Ulyanov-Lenin.

GUM (State Universal Shop) windows on the 4th floor level decorated with bas-relieves

Despite the fact that Minsk has almost a thousand years of history, the appearance of the city is largely dictated by 20th century architecture. We hope you can enjoy some of its details as you walk through Independence Avenue, the central part of which has often been compared to the Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg, Champs-Elysees in Paris. Wide, tiled walkways, bars, shops, cafes are just the thing for a visitor on foot. At 21 Independence Avenue you will find the city’s largest department store, GUM.

GUM is a state-owned department store opened on November 6, 1951. In its first week, several hours before opening gigantic queues would form next to the doors: for Minsk’s citizens after the war GUM was more than just a shop, it was like a museum and a temple all in one. The interior decor was furbished with several precious types of wood, each of the three floors using its own particular type. Tiled floor, mirrors, magnificent lampshades fitted with fluorescent lighting (GUM being the first civil building to have such lamps) all helped to create a festive atmosphere, so it is no wonder that the entrance of the palatial department store, guarded by a hefty doorman, immediately became a favourite meeting place for lovers.

Minsk’s older citizens still remember that in the first few weeks of opening, the sales revenue ran so high that the amount of money received from the customers did not fit into the cash registers’ compart-

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ments. It was decided to throw money discreetly into large bins placed next to the cashiers. Today this memory may merit nothing more than a smile... but should you dare to try overloading the cashiers with stacks of notes today – and the wide range of goods available is enough to precipitate quite a spending spree – the staff will not be put out, I’m sure! However, if you are not in the mood for seeing your own money passes over shop counters, a good place to turn to is the Money

Museum, in the building of the Belarus National Bank – directly opposite the department store. Due to the proximity of the national vaults, you will be required to show some kind of ID to gain entrance into the museum.

The next quarter of Independence Avenue is a heaven sent for a tired and hungry traveller. This is the true "stomach" of the avenue and there are eateries to fit any pocket. Just as a taster: 10 US dollars should fill you up at a McDonald’s, and for a little more you can have lunch at cafe "Seven" or the restaurants "Friday’s", "PechkiLavochki". If you’re on a budget, the cafeteria of supermarket "Centralny" can aptly cater to your needs; over a coffee and a sandwich you might be even a little intrigued glancing at the lavish 50s decor made up of casts symbolising food abundance.

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Before the 1917 revolution Lenin Street was named Gubernatorskaya and Frantsiskanskaya (before that)

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KASTRYCHNITSKAYA (OCTOBER) SQUARE MINSK IN ONE DAY

Sculptures on the Trade Unions Palace

The geographical and cultural centre of the capital – Kastrychnitskaya Square – is at its most lively on national holidays when there are a number of outdoor traditional fairs or concerts taking place. Midweek the square is generally a haven for youngsters on rollerblades or skates. Ten thousand years back, however, the masters of these plains were woolly mammoths, a fact discovered during the building of the underground metro system when well-preserved remains of the ancient animals were found in the soil.

In the centre of the square there is a zero kilometres sign to mark "the beginning of all roads in Belarus"; and it is from this point that all distances to and from the capital are measured. A moment spent at the pyramid-shaped stone, pink marble from Portugal, will soon bring you up on some facts about distances from Minsk to, say, Warsaw (600 kilometres) or Moscow (700 kilometres), Kiev (573 kilometres) or Vilnius (185 kilometres).

Minsk’s most important "pyramid", gigantic and mysterious, is also situated here. And although the shape of the Palace of the Republic is not exactly that of a pyramid, the secrets and legends surrounding it are enough to rival those of the pyramids in Giza. At the end of the 1970s there was an open competition seeking the best proposal for the Palace of the Republic. Each architect’s vision was bigger and more fantastic than the previous one: a semi-sphere without a single thing protruding from it, a structure in the shape of a bird about to take off, its wings wide apart, and so on. Yet the bravest idea suggested building the palace as a kind of base pedestal on the top of which would be placed two figurines of workers holding a flaming torch, one representing the Slavic people, the other – people from the Caucuses, to symbolise the friendship of all nations of the USSR. This utopian vision of the Belarusian style "Statue of Liberty" was not fated to be set in stone.

However, the palace which was erected according to the design of Mikhail Piragou did nonetheless become an architecturally dominant and energetic part of the square. You may