Belarus – Central and Northeast (Minsk, Vitebsk, Orsha) June 25-
MINSK (pop 2 million)
Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislač and the Nyamiha Rivers. The population in January 2018 was 1,982,444, (not including suburbs) making Minsk the 11th most populous city in Europe. Minsk is the administrative capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and seat of its Executive Secretary.
History. The earliest historical references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the Principality of Polotsk. The settlement developed on the rivers. In 1242, Minsk became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.
From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodeship, in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was part of a region annexed by the Russian Empire in 1793, as a consequence of the Second Partition of Poland. From 1919 to 1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, in the Soviet Union. In June 2019, Minsk will host the 2019 European Games. Tourists who have accreditation cards or tickets to sporting events can visit the country rom 10 June till 10 July 2019 without a visa
Etymology. The Old East Slavic name of the town was Měnsk derived from a river named Měn. The direct continuation of this name in Belarusian is Miensk.
Minsk Architecture.
Most interesting to see in Minsk are it’s “peoples palaces” large buildings erected in monumental Stalinist architecture. More then 80% of Minsk was destroyed during ww2, so there are hardly any buildings left older then 60 years. The best and most famous Soviet architects totally rebuild the “Hero city” directly after the war in monumental social realist style. It will take at least 2 days to see all the architectural highlights of the Belarusian capital. Begin walking Frantsisk Skoriny Avenue from Nezavisimost (Independence) square to Pobedy (Victory) square and see the Government house, City council, KGB headquarters, Post office, Gum warehouse, Palace of the republic, House of officers, the residence of the President. Take the metro further up Frantsisk Skoriny Avenue and get out at some stops to see many more great buildings like, October Cinema, Tjum warehouse and finish at the Vostok district with it’s giant fresco’s on flats. Also worth while are Nemiga street with and Masherov Avenue, wide streets with large Soviet concrete buildings, here you will find may shops, hotels and theatres.
Independence Square: Development of Nezavisimost (Independence) square until 1991 Lenin Square began at the end of the 19th century. The only buildings from that time having survived the second world war are the Cathedral of St. Simeon and St. Helen and a block of houses on Sovetskaya street. Most buildings are from the sixties and seventies right now an underground shopping mall is being constructed under the square. Independence square is a good starting point for a walk over Frantsisk Skoriny Avenue.
2nd European Games Minsk 2019. These were being held in Belarus from June 21-30 when I am there (this is just a coincidence). I would like to watch badminton. I saw the Commonwealth Games in Victoria in the 1980s and the World Finals in Dubai in 2016. Table tennis, gymnastics or trampoline would also be good. Tickets were available online at www.minsk2019.ticketpro.by and at 4 places around Minsk.
On June 25 with the European Games happening, trying to drive around Minsk was impossible. Streets were blocked all over the place, for no easily understandable reason, but I believe there was cycling race.
Minsk Railway Station. This is a modern station with no distinguishing features in a complex with the main bus station.
Minsk Gates. In the NM ?Modern Architecture Building”, city gates are two 11-storey towers built in 1953. They were once the real entrance to the city because the heart of Minsk was located near the railway station.
The buildings are one of the most remarkable examples of Stalin Empire style. On the top of the tower on the left there is a huge (3.5 meter in diameter), 100-year old clock, brought to Minsk as a trophy from Germany in 1945. Moreover, there are four 3.5m high sculptures in Soviet-realist style, symbolizing a worker, collective farmer, engineer and soldier, around the perimeter of each tower.
Originally, the towers were richly decorated with phantasmagoric creatures and Belarusian traditional ornaments, but they were made of low-quality concrete, so they soon started falling apart and eventually disappeared. They say that several Cyclopses were taken down and hidden away from the rain inside the two giant gates in the middle of the tower buildings. Who knows, perhaps some of them are still there.
The view of the city gates is spectacular at night, so we highly recommend visiting this place when it’s dark.
Victory Square. This square is in the centre of the City of Minsk located at the crossing of Independence Avenue and Zakharau Street. The square is located in the historic centre of Minsk nearby with the museum of the 1st Congress of RSDRP, Main offices of National State TV and Radio and City House of Marriages. A green park stretches from the Victory Square to the river of Svislach and to the entrance to the M. Gorky Park. Victory Square is the key landmark of Minsk. Holiday parades go through the square. The newly married traditionally take their picture at the square. Victory Square is the Belarusian version of Red Square in Moscow in the Russian Federation.
Buildings around the Victory Square. The red letters on the buildings read “Heroic deed of the people is immortal”.
Prior to 1958 the square held a name “Kruglaya” (Round). Builders led by architect R. Stoler started constructing two round buildings around the square. During the Great Patriotic War the buildings were partially destroyed. Before the Great Patriotic War a streetcar was running on Sovetskaya street through the square. Before the construction of the Victory Monument there was a memorial stone fenced with a chain.
Gorky park, the Museum of the 1st Congress of the Russian Socialist Democratic Labour Party and the house of Harvey Lee Oswald are all near the square.
Victory Monument (Minsk Hero City Obelisk)
A 3-meter replica of the Order of Victory crowns a 38m black granite column erected in the centre of Victory square. The Sacred Sword of Victory is at the base of the monument. The monument was built in 1954 in honour of the soldiers of the Soviet Army and partisans of Belarus.
The four facets of the pedestal hold bronze relief thematic images: “May 9, 1945”, “Soviet Army during the Great Patriotic War”, “Belarusian Partisans”, “Honour to Heroes who gave their lives for liberation”. They signify the four Fronts. The soldiers of these fronts gave their lives fighting to liberate Belarus from German Fascist invaders.
To open the memorial by the 10th anniversary of liberation of Belarus, the design was adjusted to use gray granite and make the column 10 metres shorter.
3 July 1961, on the 17th anniversary of liberation of Minsk, Honourable Citizen of Minsk, Hero of Soviet Union colonel-general Alexei Burdeinei lit the eternal flame at the foundation of the obelisk.
In 1984 the square was re-designed from round into oval to fit the exits from metro station. On 1 July 1984 granite blocks were mounted with capsules containing soil from Soviet Hero Cities: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Volgograd, Kiev, Odessa, Sevastopol, Kerch, Novorossiysk, Tula, Brest Fortress. In 1985 capsules with soil from Hero Cities Smolensk and Murmansk were added.
8 May 1985 in commemoration of 40th anniversary of Victory in Great Patriotic War a Memorial Hall opened in the pedestrian underpass under Victory Square. The Hall honours the Heroes of Soviet Union who gave their lives to liberate Belarus from Nazi occupation bronze star of Hero of Soviet Union is embedded in the hall’s wall. 566 names of natives from Belarus and other Soviet republics are listed on the wall. Those are the people who fought to liberate Belarusian soil and were awarded the title of Hero of Soviet Union for their heroic deeds.
In 2003 the square was slightly updated to improve the monument stability due to damage from metro trains running under it, as well as to replace the grown-up firs with grass lawns.
Holy Spirit Cathedral. It is the central cathedral of the Belarusian Orthodox Church. Plain white with a green roof and two bell towers, inside is also plain white with many gilt framed icons and a gilt/white iconostasis. Mass was happening, singing (choir), chanting, endless crossing. Great silver doors with intricate work.
The Theotokos icon in the Cathedral has been reported as miraculous. The cathedral dates back to 1633-1642, when the Bernardine monastery was built, at a time when the city was in centre of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The building was damaged by fire in 1741 and required the reconstruction of the entire monastery.
The Pit (Yarna Memorial). The Pit is a monument on the corner of Melnikayte and Zaslavskaya streets dedicated to the victims of the Holocaust in Minsk, Belarus. It is on the site where, on March 2, 1942, the Nazi forces shot about 5,000 inhabitants of the nearby Minsk Ghetto.
The small black obelisk was created in 1947, and in 2000 a bronze sculpture titled “The Last Way” was added. It represents a group of 30 (including 4 children) doomed victims (guant, in suffering poses) descending the steps of the pit. The sculpture was created by the Belarusian artist and Chairman of the Jewish communities of Belarus, Leonid Levin, and the sculptor Elsa Pollak from Israel. On the obelisk is written in Russian and Yiddish, “To the shining memory of the bright days of five thousand Jews who perished at the hands of sworn enemies of humanity, German-fascist butchers, March 2, 1942.”
When the reconstruction of the memorial was undertaken, no machinery was used and all work done by hand, a process that took eight years to complete. According to the original plan, the sculptural group was to be more detailed, but it was ultimately left with an expressive aesthetic, devoid of national colors, and includes figures of a violinist, children, and a pregnant woman, representing more collective characters. The memorial has been a target of vandalism. Funeral assemblies are held at the memorial every year on March 2. Free
Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War. In a wonderful piece of modern architecture, this details WW II and how it involved Eastern Europe (1941-45). There are a lot of photos, newspaper clippings, personal momentos that seemed to clutter the presentation. Then enter a large hall with tanks, mortars, grenades, trucks, an interesting field kitchen and guns.
The siege of Leningrad (900 days from Sept 1941- January 1944) entailed a starvation blockade – 1 million died. From Nov 1942-Dec 1943, the Red Army reversed the course of the war liberating nearly 50% of occupied territory.
The Nazis created 260 forced detention camps or death camps in Belarusian territory including the Dzanichi death camp, Polesiie region. In Stalag 352 in Masiukovschina village near Minsk, 80,000 POWs and civilians were killed over the course of the war. In 1941, 12 were publicly hanged in Minsk to try to enforce discipline in the civilian population. In the Koldychevo death camp, 22,000 died.
70,000 acted as partisans and played an active part in the war (this may be the best part of the museum.
The Soviet Union declared war on Japan on Aug 8, 1945 – the Japanese surrendered in September. Finish with the Victory Hall on the 4th floor, a huge glass dome and white marble with many of the names of people who died. 9 BYN
Church of Saints Simon and Helena. Also known as the Red Church, is a Roman Catholic Church on Independence Square. Built between 1905-10, the neo-Romanesque church was financed by Edward Woyniłłowicz (1847-1928), a prominent Belarusian-Polish landowner, businessman and civic activist. The church was named and consecrated in memory of Woyniłłowicz’s two deceased children, Szymon and Helena.
In 1921, Minsk became the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) within the Soviet Union and the church was sacked by the Red Army. In 1932, it was closed down by the Soviet authorities and was secularized. It was transferred to the State Polish Theatre of the BSSR. It was later used as a cinema. In 1941 during the Second World War, the German occupation administration returned the building to its original use as a church. After the war, it was again closed by the Soviet authorities and again used as a cinema.
In 1990, after two hunger strikes which were organized by the Minsk Catholic activists Anna Nicievska-Sinevicz and Edward Tarletski, the building was returned to the Roman Catholic Church. The church’s interior has been fully restored and it is now an important centre of religious, cultural and social life in Minsk. It has also become a centre for the revived Belarusian Greek Catholic Church.
In 2006, the earthly remains of Edward Wayniłłowicz and his wife were reburied in the church. In 1921, Wayniłłowicz, the donor who had the church built, was forced to leave his home and lands in Slutsk, Belarus, due to the territorial changes after the First World War as stipulated in the Peace of Riga. He resettled iln Bydgoszcz, Poland where he died in 1928.
Mass is celebrated in the church in Belarusian, Polish, Lithuanian, and Latin.
This church is lovely inside with white walls, geometric paintings on the ceiling and arches, big paintings on the sides, wood cut Ways of the Cross, and nice geometric stained glass. I entered during a service. Of the 20 people there, there were no men. Free
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema. Permanent exhibition on the history 3.5 BYN and a photographic exhibition “The Scratch” by Igor Savchenko was the temporary exhibition. With no labels it was hard to know what was going on here. Photos with dates 1992-3 of “old war scenes”; also some not interesting modern photography. Apparently this was 30 years of his creative work! What a waste of money. 4
Belarusian National History Museum. Archaeology with inventive labeling – pot, knife, ring with no providence.
Slutsk Belt. A famous symbol of Belarus, these were hand woven with thin silk, gold and silver thread. 2-4.5m long and 30-50cms wide, edges had a patterned border . Four –side belt were the most valuable. The originals had Slutsk in the corner if authentic. The ancient technology has been lost.
On the 2nd floor: room of modern art, portraits, some nice photography from the 60s (name of photographer???). 3rd floor: coins with several hoards, religious art, a jeweled Koran from Erdogan to the president of Belarus., traditional dress. 7.5 B
Belarusian National Arts Museum. I loved lots of stuff here. It started with sports with many interesting paintings and some great bronzes. 7.5 for the normal museum. 20 for the Salvador Dali or 24 for both.
Salvador Dali. Many Dali art pieces I have never seen before: large bronzes, glass, plates, small sculptures, silver sculpture, jeweled figures and many more.
Zair Azhur Museum. Zair Azgur (1908-1996) was a sculptor and this was his private studio, since converted to a museum. There are five large shelves of busts and many full size statures of many famous people including at least 21 of Lenin, several of Stalin and some of Western politicians. Also generals, philosohers on and on. The sweet lady showed me them all. He decorated the House of Parliament and the Opera and Ballet theatre. All his early works before 1940 were destroyed. He did at least 1000 sculptrues in his life with 434 in the museum. Most are plaster and many are painted. 5
Minsk Planetarium. In the middle of a huge park (most of which is an amusement park and playground), this planetarium uses the same ancient (1956) Zeiss projector that the Belgrade Planetarium uses, one of four remaining out of an original 100. Most shows are on the constellations and are in Russian. 7.5 BYR
Central Botanical Garden. At 53 hectares, is one of the largest botanical gardens in Europe both by the composition of the collection as well as by area. It was founded in 1932. The dendrarium is famous for its collection of coniferous trees. Its trees and shrubs are sorted by geographical sectors: North America, Europe, Central Asia, the Caucasus and the Crimea, Far East and Siberia. Also there are separately located unique collections of perennials from South America, the Caucasus, Australia, Pamir and Southern Europe. There is a small lake in the territory of the garden.
The Botanical garden is abutted by the 1928-31, 59 hectare Chelyuskitsev park. About 22 thousand trees are in the park. In the southern part of the park hardwood trees can be found, while in the Northern – coniferous trees. Pine, Norway maple and silver birch dominate in the natural plantings. Decorative species of trees are planted (chestnut, linden, maple, birch, rowan, spruce, etc.).
Museum of Aviation Technology. Baravaja. East of Minsk, this open-air aviation museum has all soviet planes, jets, helicopter and some passenger planes. All information is in Russian and thus not very interesting. 8 BYR
Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh. World Heritage Sites;
Niasviž Castle (Nesvizh Castle) is a residential castle of the Radziwiłł family in Niasviž, just west of Minsk.
History. 1919 – 1945 the complex was in Poland and was considered one of the most beautiful castles in the Kresy region.
The estate was owned by the Radziwiłł magnate family from 1533, when it was awarded to Mikołaj Radziwiłł and his brother Jan Radziwiłł after the extinction of the Kiszka family. Since the Radziwiłłs were one of the most important and wealthy clans of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, it was there that the Lithuanian Archive was moved in 1551. In 1586 the estate was turned into an ordynacja.
After the Union of Lublin the castle became one of the most important residences in the central part of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.
In 1582 Mikołaj Krzysztof “Sierotka” Radziwiłł, the Marshal of Lithuania started the construction of an imposing square three-storey “château”. Although the works were based on a pre-existing structure of a medieval castle, the former fortifications were entirely turned into a renaissance-baroque house. Construction was completed by 1604, and they added several galleries half a century later. The château’s corners were fortified with four octagonal towers.
In 1706, during the Great Northern War, Charles XII’s army sacked the castle and destroyed its fortifications. Several decades later, the Radziwiłłs invited some German and Italian architects to substantially renovate and enlarge the castle.
The most important structure in Nieśwież is the Corpus Christi Church (1587 to 1603), connected with the castle by a dam over a ditch and containing coffins of 72 members of the Radziwiłł family, each interred in a simple coffin made of birch and marked with Trąby coat of arms. The church is considered the first Jesuit temple patterned after Il Gesù in Rome, the first domed basilica with Baroque facade in the world and the first baroque piece of architecture in Eastern Europe. Apart from elaborate princely sepulchres, its interior features some late baroque frescoes from 1760s and the Holy Cross altar, executed by Venetian sculptors in 1583.
In 1772, following the third and last partition of Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the castle was seized by Russian forces and the Radziwiłł family was expelled. Soon afterwards the Lithuanian Archive was transferred to Saint Petersburg (where it still remains today), while the majority of works of art gathered in the palace were distributed among various Russian and Polish nobles in support of Catherine the Great. Abandoned both by the original owners and by the Russian army, the palace gradually fell into disrepair. However, it was restored by the Radziwiłłs and between 1881 and 1886 the castle’s interiors were renovated by Prince Antoni Radziwiłł and his French wife, Marie de Castellane. They also designed a landscape park in English style. With an area of more than one square kilometre, the park is one of the biggest such facilities in Europe.
During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the Radziwiłł family was expelled from the castle by the Red Army. In Soviet times, the castle was used a sanatorium, while the park gradually fell into neglect.
In 1994, the castle complex was designated the national historical and cultural reserve. In 2005 the castle complex was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site.
Parking is 2.50, then walk across the lake on the treed road/causeway about 600m and enter the castle and its great courtyard. The castle is completely moated with ravelins. The rooms have lovely Gothic ceilings and there are nice scale models of the castle. Continue on the 2nd level to the apartments and grand halls, richly done in wood. Great ceramic heaters.
Continue on the 3rd floor with more grand rooms, white and gilt, brocade wallpaper, parquetted floors, marble fireplaces, wood beamed ceilings, the hunting hall full of trophies. 14 BYN
GO TO BELARUS WEST
I returned to Central Belarus on June 28, 2019 to see a few of the things I missed around Minsk on the first go around. It was then on to Lithuania with Vilinus the first stop.
Day 4
Stalin Line. This is Soviet military vehicles: armoured vehicles, tanks, artillery, jets, helicopters, bridge laying trucks, excavator trucks, trench digging trucks, radar trucks, missiles, SAM missiles, concrete bunkers, pill boxes. All is painted nicely but dates from before 1975. This is not worth the money unless you want to shoot rifles or drive tanks. What you see from the ticket booth is all of it. Bring binoculars. 14 BYN + 3 BYN for parking
Zaslauje. (pop 14,400)
In the NM ‘small towns” series, this is a historic city 20 kilometres northwest of Minsk.
History. According to chronicles, Zaslawye was founded in 985 by Vladimir the Great who sent his wife Rogneda to live here with their son Izyaslav of Polotsk, the founder of the princely house of Polatsk. It is mentioned in historical writings as Izyaslavl. The town’s current name derives from this name.
In the early Middle Age the town was centre of the Duchy of Zaslawye. In the 11th century, the town was heavily fortified; much of its territory has been designated an archaeological reservation. There is also a modern outdoor statue of Rogneda and Izyaslav on the grounds. During the period of Reformation, the town was a nest for followers of Calvinism and Socinianism.
This district center was under German occupation from 1941 to 1944. In 1939, Jews comprised 9% of the town’s total population, numbering 248 people. In October 1941, the Germans gathered 100 Jews of the city in a ghetto which was a building formerly occupied by Soviet border guards. It was forbidden to go outside, they didn’t received food. The ghetto was surrounded by a fence and was supervised day and night. On September 26 and 27, 1941, all the Jewish males were killed, at least 20 people in total, 12 of them burned in the ghetto building. On September 29, around 100 Jews, mostly women, children, and elderly people, were taken on horse carts out of the ghetto under the pretext of future resettlement to Minsk. They were all shot in a pit in the forest near the village of Sloboda. For a month following the liquidation of the ghetto, 35 Jewish women were kept in one of the houses on Bazarnaya Street. They were used for different kinds of forced labor until they were all shot on October 29, 1941.
All historical attractions of Zaslaŭje are situated in the downtown not far from the Belarus Railway Station. The most interesting of them are the Zamechek (Castle) archaeological site of the Zaslaŭje town of the 10 – 12th centuries, the Val Site that includes town ramparts and the fortified Savior Transfiguration Church (primary Calvinist church which was built from 1577 onward and is still in fair preservation), the Phara St Mary Church of the 18th century, a small skansen of a traditional wooden tavern, smithy, storehouse and steam mill.
Zhdanovichi Shopping Centre. Zhdanovichi Trading House. Zhdanovichi is the largest shopping complex in Minsk and Belarus. The “shopping city” is located on the outskirts of Minsk near the Minsk ring road. It brings together numerous trade facilities: Mir Mody complex (5 large centers with clothes, footwear and accessories outlets), the Grad shopping and entertainment center, the Food center, the building materials exhibition, the animal market, the Lebyazhy market town, the auto-market and the radio-market. The Grad shopping and entertainment center has the children’s center Cosmo, bowling and billiard clubs, a museum of antique samovars, a mini-brewery, cafés and restaurants. The local landmark is the flea market called Wonderland where you can buy old rare stuff, jewelry and hand-made things.
Mound of Glory. This is a memorial complex honouring Soviet soldiers who fought during World War II, located 21 km from Minsk on the Moscow Highway. Designed by O.Stakhovich and sculpted by A. Bembel, it was established in 1969 on the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Belarus during Operation Bagration (1944) when Soviets liquidated a German pocket. Construction started in November 1967 and was finished in 1969.
It is a very impressive monument. A lot of dirt was moved to make the hill. Walk up to the square platform that the main conical hill sits on. There are about 10 1.5m high faces on a bronze band. Over the 5-pointed star, there are three needle like columns. There are two spiral stairways leading to the top. Free
Just as I was about to leave, 15 Air Force jet fighters flew over in formation of groups of 4 and 3, then a large plane with 5 tiny jets.
Museum of Belarusian Folk Art, Raubichi. Getting to this place was a real test. Road construction put me on a wide detour. Then Google Maps, my old friend, took me to the wrong place, not the correct access but well below the site. By then it was almost closed.
KHATYN
Khatyn was a village of 26 houses and 156 inhabitants 50 km away from Minsk. On 22 March 1943, a German convoy was attacked by Soviet partisans near Koziri village just 6 km away from Khatyn, resulting in the deaths of four police officers of Schutzmannschaft Battalion 118. Among the dead was Hauptmann Hans Woellke, the battalion’s commanding officer. Troops from the Dirlewanger Brigade, a unit mostly composed of criminals recruited for anti-partisan duties, entered the village and drove the inhabitants from their houses and into a shed, which was then covered with straw and set on fire. The trapped people managed to break down the front doors, but in trying to escape, were killed by machine gun fire. 147 people, including 75 children under 16 years of age, were killed – burned, shot or suffocated in fire. The village was then looted and burned to the ground.
The massacre was not an unusual incident in Belarus during World War II. At least 5,295 Belarusian settlements were burned and destroyed by the Nazis, and often all their inhabitants were killed (some amounting up to 1,500 victims) as a punishment for collaboration with partisans. In the Vitebsk region, 243 villages were burned down twice, 83 villages three times, and 22 villages were burned down four or more times. In the Minsk region, 92 villages were burned down twice, 40 villages three times, nine villages four times, and six villages five or more times. Altogether, over 2,000,000 people were killed in Belarus during the three years of Nazi occupation, almost a quarter of the region’s population.
Post-war Trials. The commander of one of the platoons of 118th Schutzmannschaft Battalion, former Soviet junior lieutenant Vasyl Meleshko, was tried in a Soviet court and executed in 1975. The chief of staff of 118th Schutzmannschaft Battalion, former Red Army senior lieutenant Hryhoriy Vasiura, was tried in Minsk in 1986 and found guilty of all his crimes. He was sentenced to death. The case and the trial of the main executioner of Khatyn was not given much publicity in the media; the leaders of the Soviet republics worried about the inviolability of unity between the Belarusian and Ukrainian peoples.
Khatyn Memorial Complex. In the NM “the Dark Side” series, Khatyn became a symbol of mass killings of the civilian population during the fighting between partisans, German troops, and collaborators. In 1969, it was named the national war memorial of the Byelorussian SSR. Among the best-recognized symbols of the memorial complex is a monument with three birch trees, with an eternal flame instead of a fourth tree, a tribute to the one in every four Belarusians who died in the war. There is also a statue of Yuzif Kaminsky carrying his dying son, and a wall with niches to represent the victims of all the concentration camps, with large niches representing those with more than 20,000 victims. Bells ring every 30 seconds to commemorate the rate at which Belarusian lives were lost throughout the duration of the Second World War.
Part of the memorial is a Cemetery of villages with 185 tombs. Each tomb symbolizes a particular village in Belarus that was torched along with its population.
According to 2011 data, the Memorial was in the top ten of the most attended tourist sites in Belarus – that year it was visited by 182,000 people.
The memorial is huge with many parts. Unfortunately everything is in Cyrillic. Start with “The Symbolic Fence”, concrete blocks with a large sign, the date March 22, 1943 and the numbers – 209, 9200 and 2,230,000. Walk down a long sidewalk planted with red flowers to “The Unsubdued Person Sculpture”, a huge black statue of a gaunt bearded man carrying a limp dead body. To the right is “The Symbolic Roof”, a huge slanted roof of black granite with ornate indents at the base of which are many wreaths and plush animals. To the left is “The Crown of Remembrance”, a large grey marble block with writing. Scattered over a large area are “Obelisks – Chimneys in the place of the Burned Houses”, 25 small concrete towers (chimneys), each with a plaque with 6-8 names (of the residents killed in that house) and a bell that tolls every 30 seconds. This gives the place kind of an eerie feeling. Then there is a small wall with 186 and lots of writing on them. Then the “Symbolic “The Cemetery of Villages”, a graveyard with 186 elaborate tombs – a black cube with a glass window on a red triangular base and the village name in large block letters. Then there is “The Wall of Remembrance”, a huge concrete wall with outward sloping walls and 55 indents that hold a black stone with writing. There are piles of wreaths and stuffed animals in 11 larger indents in this structure backed by more writing (apparently these are villages and cities in Belarus). To the right of that is marble slab with an eternal flame and to the side of that blocks with 443 and the symbolic “Trees of Life” sculpture of the names on posts that looks like a tree.
Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (National Sanctuary of the Mother of God of Budslau), Budslav. This is an impressive huge Roman Catholic church – cream coloured with two large bell towers and a central tower full of columns with Doric capitals. Inside is massive with the side naves the same height as the central nave. Plain white walls are surmounted by carved gables and capitals.
I entered during a service at 7am to a congregation of two. The organist had a beautiful voice. The icon at the front (1535) had a silver jacket with turquoise crown and gilt. Framed paintings on faux backgrounds were the only decoration. A small frame had 11 photos of nuns all with the death year of 1943. Free
Narachanski NP. Is a national park centered on and named after Lake Narach. It was created on 28 July 1999, and covers an area of more than 87,000 hectares. Mammal species occurring in the park include red deer, raccoon dog, European badger, marten, and otter; fish species include common bream, silver bream, and crucian carp. The national park also includes 218 species of birds, such as the bittern, osprey and the common crane [Full of mature trees, mostly pine and birch, there is little understory.
It was then only 50kms to the Lithuanian border crossing. I filled up with cheap Belarus gas and got rid of all my money buying junk food.
When I arrived there were probably 50 cars ahead of me in line on the Belarus side. It seemed to move only with all those tired of waiting leaving to go to another crossing. After 3 hours, I was 14th in line and there were about 13 cars behind me. Almost all were from Belarus and they blamed the wait on Lithuanian inefficiency (although entering Belarus form Ukraine was an ordeal unto itself because of all the Belurussian buracracy). I ate lunch and washed the floor of my van, something that had been wanting for some time. I find the patience of these people amazing. I washed the inside of my windows. I cut my finger nails. I cut my toe nails. I picked my nose (don’t we all?)
Then after 3’35’, 10 cars crossed into the Belarus crossing and I passed about 8 of them as I had something to declare (my car).
The first woman took my documents (customs declaration of car, car registration, passport). 15 minutes later she came back and wanted to know how much money I had – limit of $10,000). After 10 minutes she came back and did a fairly thorough search of the car. I moved forward one car length and another woman checked wanted my Belarus car insurance, car registration and passport. A young guy in one of those high peaked Soviet military caps came and wanted my Belarus green card (car insurance, I guess I had only given half the insurance documents). 15 minutes later another young women came and did a cursory search of the van Then we waited a barrier still on the Belarus side. I went into the duty free to spend my last 4 rubles. I needed my passport to buy a chocolate bar. When I came out another Belarus officer wanted to see my passport and asked where I had been in Belarus and what the purpose of my visit was. At every other border crossing I have gone through this side rarely takes more than a few minutes. So after 4½ hours I was out of Belarus.
There were 25 cars ahead of me for Lithuanian customs. It took 2 hours in line and it was a routing border with no undue bureaucracy. So 6½ hours later, I was in country #119, Lithuania.
NOMAD MANIA Belarus – Central and Northeast (Minsk, Vitebsk, Orsha)
World Heritage Sites; Architectural, Residential and Cultural Complex of the Radziwill Family at Nesvizh
Tentative WHS: Edifices for Worship of Fortress Type in Belarus, Poland and Lithuania (30/01/2004)
Islands: Osveyskiy (Lake island)
Borders
Belarus (river)
Belarus-Latvia
Belarus-Lithuania
Belarus-Russia
XL: Osveya Lake Area
Museums: Raubichi: Museum of Belarusian Folk Art
Castles, Palaces, Forts: Nesvizh: Nesvizh Palace
Religious Temples:
Budslav: Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (National Sanctuary of the Mother of God of Budslau)
World of Nature:
Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve
Braslav Lakes NP (Sight) restaurant marked
Nalibotskaya Pushcha
Narachanski NP
Festivals:
DOTYK Queer Film Festival
FSP Festival
International Festival of Arts “Slavic Bazaar in Vitebsk”
Minsk International Film Festival Listapad
Ski Resorts: Silichy Ski Resort
Monuments: Ushachy: Break Breakthrough Memorial (Pamyatnik 23-M Voinam-Gvardeytsam)
Open-Air Museums
Ptich: Dudutki
Stalin’s Line (Sight)
Aviation Museums: Baravaja: Museum of Aviation Technology
European Cities
BARYSAW
SALIHORSK
MALADZYECHNA
ORSHA
Museums: Ethnographic Museum Mlyn (at Ulitsa Zamkovaya 2)
MINSK World City and Popular Town
Airports: Minsk (MSQ)
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Minsk Metro, Minsk Railway Station (Stantsiya Minsk-Passazhinskiy), Minsk Tram
Museums:
Belarusian National Arts Museum (vulica Lienina 20)
Belarusian National History Museum
Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War (Sight)
Museum of the History of Belarusian Cinema
Zair Azhur Museum
Religious Temples:
Church of Saints Simon and Helena
Holy Spirit Cathedral
Modern Architecture Buildings: Minsk Gates
Zoos: Minsk Zoo
Botanical Gardens: Central Botanical Garden
Aquariums: Minsk Dolphinarium Nemo
Planetariums: Minsk Planetarium
Windmills: State Museum of Folk Architecture and Life windmills
Malls/Department Stores: Zhdanovichi
Markets: Komarovsky Market (Komarouski Rynak)
Monuments:
Minsk oblast: Mound of Glory
The Pit (Yarna Memorial)
Victory Monument
POLATSK/NAVAPOLATSK
Tentative WHS: Saviour Transfiguration Church and St. Sophia Cathedral in the town of Polatsk (30/01/2004)
Religious Temples: St. Sophia Cathedral
VITSYEBSK World City and Popular Town
Railway, Metro, Funiculars, Cable Cars: Vitebsk Tram
Museums: Viciebsk Regional Museum
House Museums/Plantations: Marc Chagall Museum
Religious Temples:
Holy Assumption Cathedral (Roman Catholic Cathedral Church of the Merciful Jesus)
Svyato-Troitsky Markov Monastery (Holy Trinity Markov Monastery)
Villages and Small Towns:
LAHOYSK
ZASLAWJE
SLUTSK
Museums:
Museum of Ethnography (Museum of Sashes)
Museum of History of Slutsk Belts
KHATYN
Sights: Khatyn
The Dark Side: Khatyn Memorial Complex. A village burned by Nazis on March 22, 1943.