Neighbourhood and Landmark Sights

Minsk Arena is a multifunctional sports and entertainment center. It includes a hockey area, a bicycle track, and a speed skating stadium and is one of our country’s major concert halls.

Arena City is a major shopping and entertainment center, comprising numerous boutiques, amusements for children, cafes and restaurants, currency exchanges, pharmacies, etc.

The Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God is situated in a picturesque corner of Minsk, its design embodying the traditions of the ancient Russian art of building. According to a legend, a miraculous visitation of the Mother of God happened there three hundred years ago, and the Orthodox believers built a wooden chapel. Crowds of pilgrims came to the place to pray to the wonder-working icon that was said to heal people. Each Sunday, a water blessing prayer service takes place here. In the park near the holy place, there is a spring coming out from under the ground. Believers claim the spring water to be holy and healing.

Football Arena is considered to be the largest sports facility in Belarus. In winter, it is a ground for training sessions and exhibition matches of Belarusian football clubs. Football, basketball, handball, volleyball, and tennis competitions as well as other sport events are often held there.

Zamok Shopping Center is one of Minsk’s biggest shopping and entertainment centers with a free parking area. It comprises numerous shops and cafes, and a children’s entertainment center. Here you can both enjoy your shopping, and visit a 5D cinema or a skating rink, which is open to the public all the year round. The ground floor of the shopping center is the premises of the Korona hypermarket.

The Great Patriotic War Museum is the only Belarusian state museum that opened back in the difficult war years. The foreside of the building resembles the Victory Fireworks. The museum itself comprises 10 exhibition halls, the major of those being the Victory Memorial Hall under a glass dome. The halls are arranged in a chronological order: first, the pre-war times, then – the wartime, and the post-war reconstruction period. The new building boasts modern facilities, such as installations, plasma screens, and multimedia projectors. The holdings of the museum include 141 thousand storage units. You can order a tour of the museum or explore the wartime exhibits on your own.

Independence Palace is located close to BelExpo Exhibition Center not far from Victory Park.
The Palace hosts events of national importance, such as the ceremony of presentation of credentials to foreign ambassadors, meeting of the heads of foreign states. The Palace is located in the vicinity of State Flag Square. They form a joint architectural complex designed to emphasize the sanctity of state independence.

State Flag Square is the youngest square of the capital. The square is a circle with a radius of 50 meters with 70-meter flagtower in its center. The monument is topped with the national flag of Belarus of approx. 14x7 meters, area of 98 meters weighing 25 kilograms. The location of the square was chosen for a reason. The wind is constantly blowing here, and thus, the Belarusian flag will always flutter in the wind. Around the perimeter of the square there are steles with a map of the Republic of Belarus, anthem text, coat of arms of regions and the capital.

Victory Park is the largest park in the capital with a promenade and a view over the isles of Komsomolskoe Lake – one of the most favorite places of Minsk residents. The park is notable for paths, small benches, bicycle track, gorgeous fountain illuminated in summer. One of the main venues of the park is Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum.

Today Minsk Upper town is the most interesting area of Minsk historic center, the center of creative and business life of the capital hosting monuments of different epochs and styles, such as classicism and baroque, eclecticism and Art Nouveau.

The cathedral was created by talented craftsmen whose names are unknown to us. Its twin-tower three-aisled basementless in Vilnius (Belarussian) Baroque style is located in the historic center of Minsk.

Catholic Cathedral of the Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev was built in Vilnius Baroque style. It is a monument of architecture, included into the state list of historical and cultural sites of the Republic of Belarus. The cathedral was built in 1700-1710 as a church of Jesuit monastery, for which reason it is also known as “the Church of the Jesuits”.

The image of the City Hall is synonymous with independence, wealth and power.
The presence in any European capital of a city hall, a castle, and a castle street, first and foremost, testifies to the antiquity of the city itself, and is a source of pride for its residents.   Now the first floor of the City Hall hosts exhibition telling about the history and attractions of Minsk. The visitors are allowed on Saturdays only.

After the reconstruction, classic architectural details of the circus were supplemented with palace decorative components, flint glass, bronze, gilded moldings, bright carpets, wall paintings. Belarusian State Circus arranges and holds tours of international circus programs at its arena with the participation of artists from Latvia, Hungary, Kenya, China, etc., as well as tours of the first Belarusian team “Belarus’s Talents” around the countries of near and far abroad.

Construction works began in 1905 in the city center near the Government House. The second name of the attraction is the Red Church. In some sources, the style of the church is defined as Neo-Roman, in others as Neo-Gothic with elements of Art Nouveau.
The Red Church was designed by Tomasz Pajdzersky, and the construction itself was led by the famous Edward Woyniłłowicz, who gave the temple its official name. Woyniłłowicz named the church after his children, the loss of which was too painful for him.
In 2000, Nagasaki Bell sculpture appeared near the temple. It is dedicated to the victims of the tragic nuclear catastrophe. In the vicinity there are such attractions as Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary, Island of Tears, and Trinity Suburb.

New Railway Station building as we see it now, was commissioned on the eve of the New Year, a new century and a new millennium – on December 30, 2000. Glass-fronted building was awarded a diploma of the International Academy of Architecture. Minsk-Passazhirsky Railway Station offers comfortable waiting rooms, numerous cafes, restaurants, entertainment facilities for residents and guests.

During the period of its existence (over 40 years), Sports Palace has become a special symbol of our country, and rightly bears the title of the main sports arena of the country. It hosts most important international and republican competitions in 22 sports, and numerous concerts and shows. The Palace is located in the heart of Minsk, in Nyamiha Street.

State Department Store – one of Minsk historic landmarks – is the first and the largest department store in the capital. The building is a piece of architecture and an urban development landmark of the twentieth century.

In December 2006, a new authentic shopping center with total area of more than 75 000 000 square meters located on 3 underground floors opened its doors to the public. The Shopping Center provides its customers with a full range of services: retail area, catering facilities, health and beauty, entertainment. There is a fee-based multi-level parking. All pedestrian streets lead to the central atrium of the shopping center. Various concerts, presentations, tasting sessions, and other special events involving popular Belarusian singers, orchestras, bands, and performance groups are regularly held under its dome.