Sights in Minsk
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Praspekt Francyska Skaryny
Minsk's main thoroughfare impresses in its sheer girth. Hectic and huge, it tripled in width when it was rebuilt after WWII and extends over 11km from the train station to the outer city. The busiest section - with the best architectural examples of Soviet monumentalism - is sandwiched between pl Nezalezhnastsi and pl Peramohi, with the block between vul Lenina and vul Enhelsa doubling as a popular evening youth hangout.
The stubbornly austere and expansive ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi (Independence Square; ploshchad Nezavisimosti in Russian) is dominated by the Belarusian Government Building (behind the Lenin statue) on its northern side, and the equally proletarian Belarusia…
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Dudutki
Near Dudutki, 40km (25mi) south of Minsk, is an open-air museum where 19th-century Belarusian country life comes to life. Traditional crafts, such as carpentry, pottery, handicraft-making and baking are on display in wood-and-hay houses. Best of all is the traditional meal you can order, washed down with a shot of local samagon (moonshine).
If you only make one day trip from Minsk, let this be the one. You can wander around the grounds spying on a working farm as it was a century ago. Nearby is a working windmill which you can climb. You can also go horse riding or just rest on bales of hay. Public transport to Dudutki is iffy. About three daily buses go to Ptich from Min…
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Traetskae Prodmestse
A minuscule area on the eastern bank of the Svislach River, bordered by vul Maxima Bahdanovicha, has been rebuilt in 17th- and 18th-century style to recreate the look and feel of what much of Minsk once looked like. This Old Town is known as Traetskae Prodmestse (Trinity Suburb). It's the city's most photographed area, and there are a few cafés, bars, restaurants and craft-gift shops to tempt you for a lazy hour.
By the river banks is the Ostrov Slyoz (Island of Tears), in memory of Belarusians who lost their lives to war. There sits a fantastic monument in the shape of a chapel, ornamented with mourning female figures; nearby a guarding angel weeps for having failed to …
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Ploshcha Svabody
Ploshcha Svabody, to the southeast of the overpass, bordered by vul Lenina, became the new city centre in the 16th century. The surrounding area is known as Upper Town (Verkhny Garad). The baroque, twin-towered Orthodox Holy Spirit Cathedral, off the northern end of the small square, stands on a small hill and was once part of a Polish Bernardine convent (founded in 1628) along with the former Bernardine Church next door.
There are several side streets in the triangle formed by vuls Lenina, Torhovaja and Internatsjanalnaja, on which some houses remain from the pre-WWII period. They are in poor condition, but their old-world charm offers a welcome respite in a city whose p…
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Former Residence of Lee Harvey Oswald
Just across the bridge over the Svislach River, on the west bank, is the former residence of Lee Harvey Oswald; it's the bottom left apartment. The alleged assassin of former US president John F Kennedy lived here for a couple of years in his early 20s. He arrived in Minsk in January 1960 after leaving the US Marines and defecting to the USSR. Once here, he truly went native: he got a job in a radio factory, married a Minsk woman, had a child - and even changed his name to Alek.
But soon he returned to the United States and…you know the rest.
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Museum of the Great Patriotic War
Don't leave town without visiting the Museum of the Great Patriotic War, where Belarus' horrors and heroism during WWII are exhibited in photographs, huge dioramas and other media. Particularly harrowing are the photographs of partisans being executed in recognisable central Minsk locations. The big sign above the building (ПОДВИГУ НАРОДА ЖИТЬ В ВЕКАХ) means 'The Feats of Mankind Will Live On for Centuries'.
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KGB Building
This yellow neoclassical building occupies an entire block and its ominous, temple-like Corinthian portal looks down over Independence Square (ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi). On the opposite side of the street is a long, narrow park with a bust of terror-monger Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the KGB's predecessor, the Cheka.
The downing of his statue in Moscow was one of the defining moments of the breakup of the USSR in 1991; this is one of the world's last remaining statues to the person responsible for much bloodshed.
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Island of Tears
At the end of a little footbridge near the Old Town is the evocative Afghan war memorial, Island of Tears. Standing on a small island connected by a walking bridge, it's built in the form of a tiny church, with four entrances, and is surrounded by towering gaunt statues of sorrowful mothers and sisters of Belarusian soldiers who perished in the war between Russia and Afghanistan (1979-89). Look for the small statue of the crying angel, off to the side - it is the guardian angel of Belarus.
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Metro Entrance Memorial
The congested overpass that now carries vul Lenina over vul Njamiha near the Njamiha metro station was the site of Minsk's main marketplace in the 12th century. In May 1999 the metro entrance was the site of a brutal stampede in which 53 people died. The tragedy occurred when hundreds of young people ran into the pedestrian tunnel to escape a sudden thunderstorm at a beer festival. There is now a touching memorial at the metro entrance, with a bronze rose for each of the people who died.
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Palats Respubliki
Between vulitsa Enhelsa and vulitsa Janki Kupaly is a square that is still referred to by its Russian name, Oktyabrskaya ploshchad (in Belarusian, it's ploshcha Kastrychnitskaja). This is where opposition groups gather to protest against Lukashenko from time to time, and it's where they attempted the Denim Revolution in March 2006. Here you'll find the impressive, severe Palats Respubliki, which is a concert hall.
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Lee Harvey Oswald Apartment Building
The Lee Harvey Oswald Apartment Building is where Lee Harvey Oswald - the alleged assassin of US president John F Kennedy - lived for a few years in his early 20s. Few locals know or are interested in this fact, though the building - and Oswald's stay in the city - remains a curiosity for most tourists. He was lucky enough to have lived on one of the city's prettiest streets, excellent for riverside strolling.
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Belarusian State Art Museum
The Belarusian State Art Museum is a very interesting place. Here you'll find the country's largest collection of Belarusian art, in two rooms devoted to works depicting the depopulated agrarian bliss of the 1920s and 1930s. There are also impressive works by Arkhip Kuindji, Nikolai Ghe, Ilya Repin, Isaak Levitan and Konstantin Makovsky.
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Museum of the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party
The Museum of the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Workers' Party is where the Russian Social-Democratic Workers Party - Russia's original Marxist party - held its illegal founding congress in 1898. Today, you can wander around the small museum inside, just as Fidel Castro did in 1972.
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Church of Sts Simon & Elena
Breaking the theme of Soviet classicism that dominates ploshcha Svabody is the red-brick catholic Church of Sts Simon & Elena, built in 1910. Its tall, gabled bell tower and attractive detailing are reminiscent of many brick churches in the former Teutonic north of Poland.
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St Mary Magdeline Church
The attractive little St Mary Magdeline Church was built in 1847 in the ancient Orthodox style, with a pointed octagonal bell tower over the entrance and a single sweeping dome over the cruciform plan. It's the nicest church in the city and is located near Hotel Belarus.
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Sts Peter & Paul Church
Across the vulitsa Lenina overpass is the attractively restored 17th-century Sts Peter & Paul Church, the city's oldest church (built in 1613, looted by Cossacks in 1707 and restored in 1871). Now it is awkwardly dwarfed by the surrounding morose concrete structures.
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Palats Mastatsva (Art Palace)
While it doesn't necessarily hold the largest or most impressive collection of Belarusian art, Palats Mastatsva is a cool place to hang out. There are several exhibition halls showing modern art, used book and antique stalls and a general buzz of free-spirited activity.
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Town Hall
A new town hall was constructed in 2003 on the square using old photographs and drawings to replicate the long-destroyed original. A general reconstruction plan for the Upper Town has been drawn up which will see many buildings in the area repaired, restored or rebuilt.
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Church of St Aleksandr Nevsky
Church of St Aleksandr Nevsky. Built in 1898, it was closed by the Bolsheviks, opened by the Nazis, closed by the Soviets and now it's open again. It's said that during WWII, a bomb crashed through the roof and landed plum in front of the altar, but never detonated.
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Belarus National Museum of History & Culture
Most visitors leave here with their head spinning (Belarusian-only explanation panels don't help). It takes you on a journey into the turbulent history of the nation, and features a replica of the printing press used by national hero Francyska Skaryny.
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Holy Spirit Cathedral
The baroque, twin-towered orthodox Holy Spirit Cathedral, built in 1642, stands confidently on a small hill. It was once part of a Polish Bernardine convent, along with the former Bernardine Church next door, which now houses city archives.
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Praspekt Nezalezhnastsi
After it was obliterated in WWII, Minsk was rebuilt from the ground up, under the direction of Stalin. A walk down Praspekt Nezalezhnastsi is a testament to the grandiose monumentalism the Soviets were so famous for.
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Bust of Felix Dzerzhynsky Statue
On one side of Ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi is a long narrow park with a bust of Felix Dzerzhynsky, the founder of the KGB's predecessor (the Cheka) and a native of Belarus.
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Presidential Administrative Building
Beyond the Officer's Building is the lifeless-looking, seriously guarded Presidential Administrative Building, where Lukashenko practises his bully routine.
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KGB Headquarters
An entire block at No 17 is occupied by a yellow neoclassical building with an ominous, temple-like Corinthian portal - the KGB Headquarters .
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