Most
of the buildings in Minsk have been built since 1944 when Minsk's
recapture by the Soviet army left barely a stone standing. Minsk is
probably the best example of pure Soviet planning on a grand scale.
It almost carries off its attempt at worker utopia: its wide streets
and pleasant parks soften the uniformity of its monumental facades.
It has a bustling, cosmopolitan atmosphere and a cleaner, brighter
feel than other former Soviet cities.
Minsk's main street, praspekt
Skaryny, is a huge and hectic promenade. At the south-western end
of the street, the 500m (1,640 ft) long ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi (Independence
Square) is surrounded with government buildings and the attractive
Polish Catholic Church of St. Simon. The Park Janki Kupaly is a pleasant
stretch of greenery bordered on
two sides by the snaking Svislach River.
You can rent a rowboat or check out the house where Russia's Communist
Party held its illegal founding congress in 1898.
The Belarus National
Museum of History and Culture will take you on a trip through the
turbulent history of the nation, while the Belarusian State Art Museum
has a collection of
seventeenth to twentieth century paintings. The Museum of
the Great Patriotic War graphically displays the horrors of World
War II and
goes a long way towards explaining the country's apparent obsession
with the war. The
grisliest are the POW displays and photos of partisans
being executed.
The Old Town, west of praspekt Skaryny, is home to
the Baroque Cathedral of St. Dukhawski. The
cathedral was once part
of a Polish Bernardine convent
– the former monastery buildings have
been restored and now house a music academy. For a look at how Minsk
used to be, travel to the east of the Svislach River, where a neighborhood
has been rebuilt in
seventeenth and eighteenth century style.
Quaint and small scale,
it is scattered with cafes, bars, restaurants, and gift shops. Nearby,
the 1847 St. Mary Magdalene Church has a pointed octagonal bell tower
and a grand dome.
