Belarus - Minsk

Minsk (Belarusian: Мінск,Менск, pronounced [mʲinsk], [mʲɛnsk]; Russian: Минск, [mʲinsk], Yiddish/Hebrew: Minsk ,מינסק‎) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislach and Nyamiha rivers. It is the administrative centre of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administrative centre of Minsk Region (voblast) and Minsk raion (district). In 2013, it had a population of 2,002,600.

The earliest historical references to Minsk date to the 11th century (1067), when it was noted as a provincial city within the principality of Polotsk.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 a part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It received town privileges in 1499.

From 1569, it was a capital of the Minsk Voivodship 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 1919–1991, after the Russian Revolution, Minsk was the capital of the Belorussian Soviet Socialist Republicwithin the Soviet Union.

Svislach river, lond 327 km.

Train Station, built 2000, Minsk.

The National Library of Belarus (Belarusian: Нацыянальная бібліятэка Беларусі, Russian: Национальная библиотека Беларуси), founded on 15 September 1922, is a copyright library of the Republic of Belarus. It houses the largest collection of Belarusian printed materials and the third largest collection of books in Russian behind the Russian State Library (Moscow) and the Russian National Library (St Petersburg).It is now located in a new 72-metre (236 feet) high building in Minsk, Belarus. The building has 22 floors and was completed in January 2006. The building can seat about 2,000 readers and features a 500-seat conference hall. Its main architectural component has the shape of a rhombicuboctahedron. The library's new building was designed by architects Mihail Vinogradov and Viktor Kramarenko and opened on 16 June 2006.

Street Minsk Gate, Buildings from 1953, Minsk.

Street Minsk Gate, Buildings from 1953, Minsk.
Train Station, built 2000, Minsk.

Church of Sts. Peter and Paul, built 1611 - 1613, Minsk.

Cathedral of the Holy Name of Mary (Belarusian: Архікатэдральны касцёл Імя Найсвяцейшай Панны Марыі) is a Roman Catholic baroque cathedral in Minsk. It is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Minsk-Mohilev.It was built in 1710 as a church for the Jesuit house. In 1793, after the Russian conquest of Belarus, the Jesuit order was banned and the church got a local status. Soon, after creation of the Minsk diocese, the church became the local cathedral.

Street Minsk Gate, Buildings from 1953, Minsk.

Church of Saints Simon and Helen (Belarusian: Касцёл святых Сымона і Алены) also known as the Red Church (Belarusian: Чырвоны касцёл) is a Roman Catholicchurch on Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus.

This neo-Romanesque church was designed by polish architects Tomasz Pajzderski and Władysław Marconi, and built during 1905-1910. The bricks for its walls were sourced from Częstochowa, whilst the roof tiles came from Włocławek. Its construction was financed by Edward Woyniłłowicz, a prominent Belarusian civic activist. The church was named and consecrated in memory of Woyniłłowicz's deceased children, Szymon and Helena.

Map of Belarus.

View on Minsk.

Sovetskaya street from 1938, Minsk.

View on Minsk through Svislach River.

House of Officers

The house of officers was a former red army house made in 1939. It was one of the only buildings made by Soviet architect Losif Langbard that survived the war.