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Belarusian Government Building
Ploshcha Nezalezhnastsi (also called ploshcha Lenina) is dominated by the Belarusian Government Building on its northern side.
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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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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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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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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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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.
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