Sights of Minsk and its environs. Minsk, Belarus. Museum of War, Minsk

The sights of Minsk and its environs deserve a long and careful study. This beautiful and very modern city of the European level was once almost completely buried under the ruins of World War II. However, he managed to rise from the ashes, and most of the historical buildings in it managed to be preserved. Some architectural monuments had to be restored according to the surviving testimonies and photos, but from this they did not lose their value. This article will be devoted to the description of the sights of the capital of Belarus.

Museum of Civil Aircraft

Acquaintance with the city with many travelers begins with the airport. The national Belarusian airport Minsk-2 is located forty-two kilometers from the capital. To get from the city to the airport and vice versa, you can take the bus number 300E, which for about 15,000 Belarusian rubles will take you to the Central Bus Station. Museums of Minsk will be interesting to visit any traveler. One of them, dedicated to civil aircrafts of the times of the USSR, is located on the airport territory. The best examples of Soviet aircraft construction are exposed in the open air. The pearls of the collection are: Tu-134A (Tu-134 version), created in the 1960s Yak-40 (short-range aircraft), intended for regional flights, nice AN-2 (corn-cob) developed in the distant 1940s.

"The Minsk Gates"

Sights of Minsk and its environs are located not far from the railway station of the city. This building itself is a very beautiful architectural monument. In addition, here newly arrived guests of the Belarusian capital can do a lot of necessary things: snack, exchange money, stock up on medications or buy souvenirs. On the station square there are two towers, created in the style of Stalinist classicism. This structure is called the Minsk Gate and is one of the most recognizable symbols. Symmetrical eleven-meter towers were built from 1947 to 1953. The upper part of the left building is decorated with a huge clock, whose diameter is four meters. This huge mechanism was created more than 100 years ago in Germany and brought to Minsk after the end of the Great Patriotic War. On the right side of the Minsk gate is the coat of arms of Belarus.

Independence Square

The map of Minsk with sights immediately leads us to one of the most significant places in the city - Independence Square. There are several attractions of the capital. Church of St. Simeon and St. Helena, the locals call "red". This building is one of the most famous and popular Catholic churches in Minsk. A beautiful legend is connected with its construction. It says that in the family of Voinilovichi, at the expense of which the church was built, one day her daughter Elena was seriously ill. In a dream the girl saw the temple and asked the pope and mother to erect it after her death. Then another son died in the family, the son of Simeon. Irresponsible parents fulfilled Elena's request and now the Red church adorns the main square of the capital.

Opposite the church there is a statue of St. Michael, the main patron of Belarus. Nearby is the Government House - one of the most monumental and magnificent monuments of constructivism. On Independence Square is the building of the Belarusian State Pedagogical University, in the lobby of which there is a Foucault pendulum , a mechanism that clearly demonstrates the rotation of the Earth.

Karl Marx street

Minsk is a city in which there is an analogue of the Moscow Arbat. On weekends, in the summer, on the street of Karl Marx traffic is blocked, and it becomes pedestrian. Musicians, artists, artisans and sellers of hand-made music like to stop here. Various cultural and entertainment events are held at Karl Marx. In autumn 2013, the first in the Belarusian capital forum of street theaters was held on its territory.

Independence Avenue. The KGB building

Minsk (Belarus) was badly destroyed during the war with the fascists. It took a long time to restore the metropolis, but after that it shone with new bright colors. Independence Avenue was one of the first to be revived. Architecture here is a bizarre mixture of Art Nouveau, Empire style and classicism. One of the most significant attractions is the KGB building, built in 1947 on the site of the hotel, which was destroyed during the bombing. On its roof there is a tower with an observation platform, called "the tower of Tsanava". The head of the Ministry of National Security, Lavrenty Tsanava, personally supervised the construction of the building in the 1940s, and the construction of an extra architectural element on the roof is attributed to his personal order, even a caprice. However, in reality, the "Tsanava Tower" is a compositional center for the reconstruction of the avenue from Victory Square to Independence Square.

Upper city. Freedom Square

The map of Minsk with sights shows that the most interesting and significant objects of deep antiquity are in the Upper City. Here is the Freedom Square - the historical, cultural, commercial, religious and administrative center of the old city. Once it was called the Cathedral Square and the Great Market. On her were festivities, holidays, fairs, meetings of citizens. There are many architectural monuments of the past on the square: the Jesuit and Bernardine churches of the 17th century, the Gostiny Dvor of the 18th century, the complex of the Basilian monasteries, as well as houses, whose construction dates back to the 18th-19th centuries.

Nearby is the town hall. Its erection in 1600 was timed to receive Minsk Magdeburg law. Destroyed in the war years, the Town Hall was restored in 2003 according to old drawings and drawings. Now near to it points of sale of souvenirs are established. On the Freedom Square you can find the arch-cathedral of the Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary, also known as the Jesuit church. Only this building testifies to the fact that once there was a quarter of a mighty church order.

Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit

The sights of Minsk and its environs have many places connected with the cultural and religious traditions that reign in these parts at different periods of history. Their list would be incomplete without the description of the Cathedral of the Descent of the Holy Spirit, also located on Liberty Square. It holds the most valuable shrine of the city - the icon of the Minsk Mother of God, to which miraculous properties are attributed. According to legend, Prince Vladimir of Kiev transferred this icon from Constantinople to Kiev. During the invasion of the Crimean Tatars, the relic was thrown into the Dnieper, but swam not upstream, but upstream, after which, on August 26, 1500, was found off the coast of Svisloch. Now this day is considered a holiday of the Minsk Mother of God.

Trinity Suburb

In the Troitskoye suburb, the city of Minsk (Belarus) has been preserved as it was at the beginning of the last century. This is another historical center of the capital. It is located on the left bank of Svisloch. Here is the Kitaev synagogue (now - the House of Nature), the literary museum of Bogdanovich Maxim, dedicated to the Belarussian soldiers-internationalists who died in Afghanistan, the memorial "Island of Tears." This monument is made in the form of a temple, on all four sides of which are depicted women mourning for their sons, husbands, lover, brothers and grandchildren. You can reach the Freedom Square, the Upper Town and Troitskoye suburbs by metro (Nemiga Station).

Oktyabrskaya square

This is the main square of such a city as Minsk. The sights, the visit route described in this article, are especially significant in this part of the city. Here is the majestic Palace of the Republic, there is a cult sign "Zero kilometer", which marks the beginning of all roads of Belarus. On October Square you can visit the National Academic Theater named after Yanka Kupala (Kupalovsky), which was preserved exactly in the form in which it was built in the 1920s. It is one of the oldest cultural centers of the republic. The square in which the theater is located is named in honor of Alexander Nevsky and appeared in 1869. Here is the oldest and most beautiful fountain of the capital - "Boy with a swan", built in honor of the opening of a water pipe with pure artesian water. You can get to these sights of the city by going down the metro and going to the station "Oktyabrskaya" or "Kupalovskaya".

House of the Vankovichs

The house-manor built in the 18th century, and now the museum, belonged to the noble family of the Vankovichs. The most outstanding representative of this kind was Valentin Vankovich - one of the Belarusian painters who became famous abroad. Minsk is a city inhabited by the most famous representatives of the country's cultural and social life. You can get an idea of the life and life of these famous people by reading the expositions of such museum houses.

Area of the Paris Commune

The map of Minsk shows that in this large and beautiful city there are many interesting and significant places in historical and cultural terms. One of the most loved and visited by local residents - the square of the Paris Commune, which boasts a snow-white building of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater - a very spectacular complex in the historical part of the capital. There also operates a magnificent fountain, which often come to be seen both by the guests of the capital, and the citizens of Minsk themselves. To get to this pretty place you can only 10 minutes from Nemiga metro station.

Museum dedicated to the history of the Second World War

In 1943, on September 30, the Byelorussian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War (Minsk) was established by the decision of the Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolshevik). In 1944, on November 7, it first opened its doors to numerous visitors. Initially, only two expositions were shown in the museum - about arming partisans and printing in Belarus in wartime. In 1966, a new museum building was erected, in which several unique artifacts of WWII time were carefully preserved: homemade partisan banners and military magazines, leaflets written with blueberry juice, a large number of photos, documents, military tools and newspapers.

On July 4, 2014, the War Museum (Minsk) moved to the new building at 8 Pobediteley Avenue. Now this is a grandiose memorial complex, forming a single whole with the Minsk City-Hero Obelisk. The total area of the museum is 15 thousand square meters. There are 10 exposition halls and a magnificent Victory Hall, which is under a transparent glass dome. The modern building is equipped with multimedia complexes (installations and plasma screens).

Monuments in Minsk

Many grandiose buildings in the capital of Belarus are associated with the victory over the Nazis during the Second World War. One of them is an architectural ensemble on Victory Square. A grandiose granite monument depicting large-scale figures of soldiers and partisans has a height of 38 meters and is a symbol of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. On the square named after the great Belarusian writer - Yakub Kolas - there is a monument to him, as well as sculptural compositions dedicated to the heroes of his works - "Grandfather Talash" and "Symon-music".

In the vicinity of the capital there are many impressive architectural compositions known all over the world. One of them, of course, is the memorial complex "Khatyn", dedicated to the victims of the Great Patriotic War, located on the 56th kilometer of the route Minsk - Vitebsk. Another grandiose monument to the Great Patriotic War - the Hill of Glory - is located on the 21th kilometer of the Minsk-Minsk-2 National Airport in Smolevichy district. The height of the structure is 35 m, the diameter of the base is 100 m.

The memorial "The Line of Stalin" located on the 28th km of the Minsk-Molodechno highway is of interest. It is dedicated to the heroic struggle of the Belarusian people against the fascist invaders and represents a symbolic line of defense.

In this article, not all the sights of Minsk and its environs are listed. Some of these unique places have no analogues throughout the world, many are of extraordinary historical value. Visit this huge metropolis will be interesting for every traveler.