Minsk, Belarus
City of immaculately clean and orderly streets, buildings and grand edifices and wide boulevards. Great ex-Soviet feel yet cute in its parks, Old Town area and comical statues. Inexpensive with a big gastronomic scene and lovely people. A real find in a country that doesn’t shout about itself and is relatively unvisited ….. so go there …. I loved it and want to get back when I can.
Arrived! … so glad as I noticed the earlier flight I thought of taking was delayed n will be arriving after me …yyyaaayyyy. I flew to Minsk from Kiev, Ukraine (see Kiev post here). Flight was great, no delays or queues at either end of the flight and I was impressed so far.
A city of nearly 2 million people that was heavily destroyed during WW2. Today the streets are full of grand Soviet, and neoclassical style buildings. Some you look at and think wow, what important building is this because it is so big, ornate or in classic style and it is actually just apartments or offices.
Such is the grandeur of much of central Minsk. Buildings are immaculately maintained and I never saw a derelict or empty building anywhere! There is a huge sense of civic pride and maintained order
What to see in Minsk.
Independence Square
This huge square, as with any street and building in Minsk, is absolutely pristine clean and tidy. It has the Belarusian Parliament building, a statue of Lenin and the St Simon and Helens Church on one side and the Belarussian State University on the other.
Sometimes called Lenin Square, it has a large shopping Mall underneath.
The whole city is immaculate. Absolutely no graffiti, litter, broken pavements (which are wide) and buildings are superbly maintained, even in the outlying areas, really quite impressive. I haven’t seen a city this clean and immaculate since Tokyo and it is definitely the tidiest in Europe !
Church of St Simon and Helena.
This red brick church (also known as The Red Church) was actually finished in 1910, financed by a wealthy landowner/businessman.
It is named after his two children who also have Saints names i.e. Simon and Helena
During its time it was used as a theatre and cinema during periods of Russian repression and returned to its church status in 1990.
Minsk City Gates.
These twin, 11-story high symmetrical buildings are opposite the railway station and while there is nothing to see inside, they are impressive Stalinist style buildings.
One of the towers holds the biggest clock face in Belarus and the minute arm alone is 2 metres long.
National Arts Museum of Belarus
Great Art Museum, (click for info here). Small enough to wander around in an hour but what was inside was so interesting that I spent a bit longer. The interior was so captivating as well, as it was on different levels accessed by a beautiful classically styled staircase.
It is mainly Belarusian and Russian artwork exclusively so was all items I had never seen before. There was a 18/19 century paintings section with a great variety of styles.
They had galleries for different centuries but then also a Japanese and Indian Art section and a big modern art section that was fabulously creative. The porcelain section contained many sets of teapots, cups and tableware and the gold embellished items really stood out in their showcases. The abstract art section was actually quite large and I was not expecting such magnificent works in what I thought would be a very traditional art gallery.
There was a sculpture gallery and my fav piece was the silver looking alien in the centre of the room. Being such a culture vulture, for me, it was a really good find and one of the highlights of Minsk.
I took lots of pics but in case you are not into art I have formulated them into the scroll bar group below, so you can see them or pass , up to you.
Holy Spirit Cathedral
This Cathedral dates from 1633 and incorporates a large monastery and associated buildings attached to it. It is typically ornate inside and there was, unusually, a fee to enter.
There are many side chapels and prayer areas within the church, each very decorative.
There is the opportunity to go down into a lower area to see teh remaina of a revered saint and his tomb.
A unique feature of teh building is the gleaming silver doors as you enter. They really stand out due to their sheen and are the first entirely silver doors I’ve ever seen.
Minsk Upper City -Old Town area
Minsk was heavily bombed and large parts of the city destroyed, in the several wars it encountered in the last 150 years. Thus many of the buildings are not especially old and many are reconstructions, even though they look old.
The Old part of town around the Cathedral has been beautifully restored. Whilst there are many churches, University buildings, the old Town Hall and open squares etc, there are also many up scale restaurants and bars in this area. It is virtually pedestrianised and whilst walking around it you feel you are in a small town rather than a huge capital city, because of the atmosphere created by this little oasis.
I walked around admiring the scenes without using my map at this point as the street layout is easy to follow and at every turn there was a new vista. Being virtually traffic free it was easy to wander.
Trinity Hill, Minsk
This area is a restored area of buildings from the 17-18 century. They now contain residential houses, offices and restaurants and are great to just wander around. Next door is the Island of Tears in a small riverside lake, with its monument to the fallen soldiers of the Afghan War.
Cathedral of Peter and Paul
The full name of this Cathedral is “Cathedral in the Name of the Holy Apostles of the High Priests Peter and Paul”. A bit of a mouthful so it is often called the
Yellow Church.”
It is also is the city’s oldest and was built in 1613. Its setting now is not the best as a major highway runs right next to it and the surrounding area is a very Soviet concrete style of shops and apartment blocks. Inside the ceiling was beautifully painted and atmospheric and it had been clearly lovingly restored.
Belarus Opera and Ballet House, Minsk
This is the sumptuous building of the Belarus National Academic Opera and Ballet House, (click here for info). The present building was finished in 1939 and today its ballet troupe is regarded as one of the best in the world.
It sits to the side of Trinity Hill in its own grounds with a wonderful dancing fountain of white marbles, reflecting the buildings colour.
The gardens are well manicured with tall trees and hedges and interspresed with creative statues of well known culture figures of the past.
Belarusian State Circus.
Prospekt Nezavisimosti is the main road through Minsk. A modern wide highway that is dead straight for several kilometres and on its sides has many of the big sights in Minsk. This building is there too.
I couldn’t get tickets to go inside as it is so busy and pre-booking is advised but it was impressive from the outside..
Apparently animals are still used in the shows so in many ways am glad I didn’t get to see a show.
Many statues representing the acts are displayed around the grounds and they are not only works of art but fun too.
Civic buildings, Minsk.
There are so many huge and imposing buildings here, many from the Soviet era but their classical lines and solid looking construction is what makes this city so fascinating for me.
Below are pics I shot in no particular order as I walked the city. You may want to explore these more as you see fit, even tell me if I missed a great visit inside one of them.
There are plenty of adorable and colourful parks to break up the street plan, so nip into a few to get a respite from the walking and rest and watch on a park bench.
Sept, 2018
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Another city and country you are introducing me to. You are right, it looks clean and the architecture is very orderly with its straight lines. It must say a lot of the country’s culture. But the there is the circuses, too bad you weren’t able to get inside, I would love to see the interior.
It is a hidden gem of a city that I thibk we won’t be able to see much of for a while. Pity as I was so impressed by its beauty.
I have to say I really don’t know a lot about Minsk, so I really enjoyed reading this one. The one thing I noticed from all your photos is how clean and how quiet it is. There are almost no people.
It is super clean and tidy and magnificently preserved. Now you mention it, yes, it’s not a busy city, possibly due to the wide boulevards and squares where people can spread themselves around. O mau have caught it on a quiet few days otherwise.
Belarus is such a cool little country but I honestly don’t know much about it. Besides the lovely and clean condition of the city, I think it’s real cool how it still has remnants of its time with the Soviet Union. And the architectural designs of the buildings, statues and cathedrals are amazing as well!
It was also a relatively unknown country for me too, but once there I loved and would love to go back when the political strife has been resolved. It definitely still has a Soviet look in many parts but also some wonderfully classical style buildings. I also found the people to be very friendly and welcoming.
I have been seeing Minsk pop up in a few more travel circles lately and I have to say it was never on my radar but looks like a must add to the list!
Its was certainly getting noticed as a hidden gem, but recent political crackdowns have lessened its appeal to many now. It was one of the cities in Europe that surprised me the most – in a good way – as my post describes.
A city and country I’ll likely never visit because of its repressive government. The buildings do look lovely and the statues around the circus building are fun. Maybe one day they’ll be a more open society, and I won’t have as many qualms about visiting.
Very true. I was lucky to visit it before the last sham election and when Brits didn’t need a visa to enter. I really do hope Belarus achieves democracy as Minsk is a wonderful city just waiting for tourism.
At the moment, it looks as though a visit to Minsk isn’t something that we’d be able to do based on current political circumstances. However, it does look like a fantastic place to visit. The art gallery sounds lovely and we’d be particularly interested in the gastronomy scene. Throughout our travels over the years we’ve learned that local people are usually delightful – far more so than politicians. Let’s hope that we will be able to visit in future.
Yes, the politics at the moment are not a good for visiting Minsk! It is a fabulous city however and I’m sure you would be delighted in the gastro scene. I spent more time in the art gallery than I expected as the works were very creative and eye catching.