written by Anita Isalska
updated 18.06.2021
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written by Anita Isalska
updated 18.06.2021
‘Mini-break’ and ‘Minsk’ don’t trip off the tongue. And if you’ve never considered a visit to the Belarusian capital, you aren’t alone. Anita Isalska explores why the city makes for an interesting trip.
Firstly, there’s the popular perception of Minsk as a grey, post-Soviet megalopolis. Another disincentive is the Belarusian visa, a requirement for visitors from the US, Australia and many European countries including the UK. Finally, some travellers avoid Minsk on point of principle. Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus for an eyebrow-raising two decades, has attracted opprobrium – and sanctions – for numerous human rights violations by him and his officials.
Should you explore a place whose politics you abhor? That’s for each individual traveller to figure out. But with remarkable history, impressive architecture and some intriguing flavours and handicrafts, tired stereotypes don’t do Minsk justice. If you’re curious about the capital of the so-called ‘last dictatorship in Europe’, here’s a primer to get you started...
But the architecture here doesn’t suffer from Soviet uniformity. Many of Minsk’s monuments create a weirdly wonderful skyline. Among the most neck-craning is the obelisk in central Victory Square; beneath it lies a memorial hall that glows with amber light.
A 15-minute walk west from here to the Svislach River and the Island of Tears – a memorial to those who fell in the ten-year war with Afghanistan – comes into view. Reachable by a narrow footbridge, this lonely monument broods with veiled statues and weeping angels.
After ambling around Minsk’s old town, admiring the twin bell towers of its Orthodox Church and stopping in quaint taverns, you could almost mistake Minsk for any other charming Eastern European city. Until you notice that the old town isn’t old at all. Historic buildings don’t exist in a city that had to be almost entirely rebuilt from smouldering rubble.
After enduring the World War I as a battlefront city, Minsk made a grab at heading a new Belarusian People’s Republic in March 1918. Only months later the Red Army marched in and Minsk became the capital of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic instead.
In World War II, not even one-tenth of Minsk’s buildings escaped bombing. The city became host to one of WWII’s largest ghettos imprisoning around 100,000 Jews, most of whom would be murdered in camps. Starvation and disease were also rampant outside the ghetto; Minsk’s pre-war population of 300,000 was 50,000 by 1944.
Expect a thrilling, rather than classically beautiful, panorama. The skyline is a forest of cranes, skyscrapers and bulldozers. Construction workers, tiny as ants, scuttle in building sites below. Skyscrapers proudly bearing Soviet style murals thrust towards the clouds. You can see the city growing before your eyes. Head to the vintage-themed Graf Cafe on the same floor as the viewing deck for excellent coffee.
There’s also detailed English-language explanation in Minsk’s most expansive museum, the Museum of the Great Patriotic War. Another sci-fi edifice, the museum’s enormous wartime dioramas and hallways crammed with tanks and missile launchers all take place beneath a metallic dome.
Even the most gluttonous traveller will plead to skip dessert at a Belarusian restaurant. Slurp on lip-smackingly sour solyanka soup at Vasilki (Independence Ave 89), a casual eatery with all Belarus’ classic dishes. Minsk’s top choice is Kamyanitsa (Pervomayskaya St 18), where plates arrive piled high with mushroom-stuffed pork and gravy-dipped pancakes (known as draniki). As the evening rolls on, Minsk’s young and beautiful pile into German-style beer taverns. U Ratushi (ul Gertsena) in the old town has live music and generous grills while Rakovsky Brovar is hop-head heaven (Vitebskaya 10).
And somewhere amid the city lights, astonishing architecture and haze of home brew, you’ll never think about Belarus in the same way again...
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Top image: Minsk, Belarus. Cathedral Of Holy Spirit In Minsk © Grisha Bruev/Shutterstock
written by Anita Isalska
updated 18.06.2021
Anita is an editor and writer based in California. British by birth, Polish at heart, Aussie by marriage and French by sheer obsession, Anita writes about inspiring people, places and technology. When she isn't researching Central and Eastern Europe, interviewing wine makers or editing copy, Anita is thundering down ski slopes. Follow her @lunarsynthesis on Twitter and Instagram.
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