It is probably difficult to find a place in Minsk that would be better known to tourists than the Trinity Suburb. This is the calling card of the city, the image of which can be found on postcards, stamps, souvenirs, and on some banknotes.

View of the suburb from Nemiga (photo: Sergey Sandakov, 2009)

Trinity Suburb is historical center of Minsk, located on the banks of the Svisloch River. This is one of the few places in the capital where paving stones have been preserved, and the low houses make your imagination travel back a couple of centuries...

Trinity Suburb in winter (photo: Anton Makovsky, 2011)

Historians believe that the area of ​​the Trinity Suburb was inhabited already in the 12th-13th centuries, and numerous mentions of this territory in written sources of the 16th-17th centuries allow us to judge the presence of a city-wide center here in the 14th-15th centuries. The area was built up with wooden houses in which artisans, traders, peasants and soldiers lived.

In 1809, a terrible fire destroyed all the wooden buildings of the Trinity Suburb. The city residents owe the architectural layout of the area, which has survived to this day, to the suburb restoration plan developed after the fire.

Historical center of Minsk (photo: Sergey Sandakov, 2013)

In the 80s XX century Restoration work was carried out to attract tourists to the Trinity Suburb. Unfortunately, the restorers were unable to avoid extremes: current view of the suburb has little in common with the historical, and part of the buildings of the 17th century. along the Communal embankment and was completely demolished. Moreover, literally a hundred meters from the suburb, a 25-storey residential complex “U Troitsky” was erected, during the construction of which the provisions of the Law on the Protection of Historical and Cultural Heritage were not taken into account...

“At Troitsky” /on the left in the photo/ (Sergey Sandakov, 2013)

Today, in the Trinity Suburb area there are many museums, shops, cafes and restaurants.

Houses of the Trinity Suburb (photo: Anna Zelenko, 2005)

The largest object in size on the territory of the suburb is located in the center of the square, which is the square of the Paris Commune. This is a favorite vacation spot for city residents, where even in the summer heat you can find pleasant coolness, sitting on a bench in the shade of tall trees.

Museums of the Trinity Suburb

  1. State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature (Bogdanovicha St., 13)
  2. Literary Museum of Maxim Bogdanovich (Bogdanovich St., 7A)
  3. Branch of the State Museum of the History of Theater and Musical Culture of Belarus “Vladislav Golubka’s Living Room” (Starovilenskaya St., 14)
  4. House of Nature (Bogdanovicha St., 9A)
  5. Trinity Pharmacy (Storozhevskaya St., 3)
  6. Art gallery "Beaumonde" (Communal embankment, 2)
  • There is a legend that a mighty oak tree grew on Trinity Mountain, near which many kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth stopped to rest on their way to Minsk.
  • From the end of the 16th century to the middle. XX century on the site of the square and the Opera House, the capital's largest market, Trinity, was located.
  • In the Trinity Suburb, the fates of two classics of Belarusian literature met: Maxim Bogdanovich, who was born here, and Yanka Kupala, whose family also lived in the suburb for some time.

How to get there

You can get to Troitsky Suburb by metro, exit at Nemiga station

Shouldn't we go to Nemiga?


In almost all Belarusian, and even more so Ukrainian, cities founded back in the Dark Middle Ages, in the historical centers there is a traditional set of some castle, Market Square with the town hall, numerous temples and monasteries of the Barefoot Bernardine Brothers or Jesuits, pleasing the tourist’s eye, and several blocks of civil buildings.
But Minsk was not lucky. Arose during the Tale of Bygone Years, received Magdeburg Law during the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the city, which became the capital of modern Belarus, completely lost its original historical center. And the reason for this is not only the urban planning decisions of the 19th century, dictated by political decisions, or the destruction of the last war, but rather the urban planning concept of the last decades of the 20th century, which, guided by the slogan “We will build our future!”, completely changed the picture of the urban landscape. As a result, we probably got the only capital of one of the fraternal republics within the USSR without any national flavor and architecture associated with national history, entirely aimed at the beautiful far away with Stalinist avenues, numerous sports facilities and public lawns of the era of developed stagnation.

However, along this path of triumph of Belarusian urbanism, there were also some funny moments. Somehow, just after the total cleansing of Nemiga and Zamchishche, where not even fragments of the old ramparts remained from the castle, Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev came to Minsk on the eve of the 1980 Olympics. For some unclear reason, Leonid Ilyich repeatedly tried to go and see the old city (Where is the Old Place here, like in Warsaw?), which by that time practically did not exist. I don’t know how they got out of it, but they decided to correct the mistake and not show the slums to the elderly general secretary next time. First of all, in the 80s, according to the project, almost everything that could be demolished was demolished, but in the Trinity Suburb they left one block of ordinary buildings of the 19th century, which in some places were based on earlier foundations. So they made an exemplary Old Place from it;-), which is now shown to tourists and loved by Minsk residents.

A little later, and especially in the last decade, the trick was repeated with the Upper Town, where, with the growth of national self-awareness, by building new buildings and pulling out individual objects from later buildings, they tried to artificially collect at least some image of the historical center of the city as modern Belarusians imagine it architects. How well this turned out, let's see with you.

Our journey into the fabric of “historical Minsk” began with the search for parking. I found her near a high-rise building made of glass and concrete that houses the Belarusian telecommunications company Velcom. A good start. Then we rushed on foot along Zybitskaya Street towards the 8th March Square and the nameless bridge over the Svisloch.

I botched the first attraction on Zybitskaya Street, so I use someone else’s photo from Wikimapia.org. Do you understand what is located on the sides and behind this small house at number 3 on Zybitskaya Street?

After walking 300 meters we turn around. In the distance is the Velcom office, and on the right is the historical building of the Upper Town with numerous bars, on the left behind the fence is the construction of a hotel and entertainment center. According to unverified information, most of the “wooden” houses on the right hand are new-built.

The building at the intersection of Zybitskaya and Herzen. Inside there is a bar, on the wall there is a memorial plaque telling us that we are located on the territory of the Upper Town - the historical center of Minsk in the 16th-19th centuries, a complex monument of archeology, urban planning, architecture, history, revolutionary and military glory of the people. is under state protection.
Pay attention to how the façade of the building is designed, or rather the doors and porch. The entrance doors are there, the steps are marked, but the porch itself on the right is missing. And then this element of facade design is repeated twice more. What did the architect want to say by this? Restore the historical design of the facade? But why then are the only working entrance doors made of glass, and not decorated in the same style? Why is the rhythm of the steps different and why this forged visor?

View up Herzen Street. On the right is the Monastyrsky complex in order of removal: archaeological museum, bar, restaurant, hotel.

In the distance on the right you can see the building of the Bernardine monastery, and in the future Herzen Street abuts the complex of the Basilian monastery. It seems to me that the buildings of the entire block on the right belonged to the Bernardine brothers, but I am very confused by the heterogeneous and untidy, and in some places simply modern, masonry on the nearby buildings. Pay attention to how the pavement is made. Where would you be without your favorite tiles, even on a historical street? But something similar to a cobblestone street runs like a narrow runner along the walls.

A diagram of the quarter on the wall of the archaeological museum. I am pleased with the combination of the Museum of Archeology, the Museum of Karate and the Museum of the Minsk Horse Horse

Let's walk further along Zybitskaya Street to the next intersection with Cyril and Methodius Street. On the left is a beauty salon, on the right it’s unclear what, but a little further on you can see the building of the Bernardine convent for women, and opposite it for the men’s monastery. In the future - a guest courtyard. We will return there a little later.

Now let's go to the Svisloch River and climb the nameless bridge (1967). It is interesting that two streets Nemiga and Maxim Bogdanovich meet on the bridge, but the bridge itself now has no name. View from the bridge of the historical property being built in the area of ​​the former market square (Niny Market).

Once upon a time, on the site of the modern bridge, the most famous bridge of medieval Minsk, Khlusov, was located, connecting the Lower Market with the Trinity Suburb located on the right bank of the Svisloch. In the future, the building of the National Exhibition Center "BelExpo". In 2017, the demolition of this quarter along the main bank of the Svisloch began by an investor from the UAE. He promised to preserve four historical buildings miraculously preserved from the Trinity Basilian Monastery.

On the other side of the bridge is Trinity Suburb, or rather what’s left of it

Let's go down under the bridge and look at the left bank of the Svisloch and the High City, where we just came from. In the foreground are buildings from the 18th century (?), behind them looks out the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the former Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Bernardine Monastery.

The Trinity suburb opens up in all its glory from under the bridge. Ordinary philistine buildings of the late 19th century are stylized as medieval architecture as it is represented by modern architects. Yes, this is not Lviv or even Warsaw... For a city with a rich history, it certainly looks wild and pathetic. But, for any Russian province, where there is no architecture other than Khrushchev buildings, this is a good example of how you can make a candy out of slums, especially if there is the will of the Secretary General. It is clear that architects and designers of the last decade have also worked here, adding about 2/3 of outright remakes and pop, but the foundation for the preservation and reconstruction of the quarter was laid back in the 1980s.

A look back at the nameless bridge over the Svisloch and the Vehniy Gorod

Heading to the "medieval city"

Please note that the pavement here is mostly paved with paving stones

Inside the block. All this middle-class development is now not residential, but is a refuge for various catering establishments, hostels, art salons, museums, shops, galleries and other things.

House of Nature. The building was built in 1874 as the "Kitaevskaya" synagogue for the burghers of Minsk.

Thanks to the balustrade, the former synagogue is a favorite place for selfies among Belarusian girls

After wandering around the quarter, which was just waking up from winter hibernation, we got tired of its monotony and artificiality and went to the Island of Tears. There will be a separate report about him. And along the way we came across a sculpture of a girl with an owl. A strange combination. It seems not Pallas Athena, but with an owl.

Maybe this is some kind of Belarusian national story unknown to me?

We return across the bridge to the Upper Town and its dominant feature - the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, once the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Bernardine Monastery. Founded in 1642, the church, having become an Orthodox church, retained the strict solemnity of a Catholic church. To the left, the lurid new buildings of the Orthodox Theological Academy crawled into the frame for contrast. Stylish, to say the least.

To understand how the landscape of this part of Minsk has changed, here are a few photos.
1940s. Please note that the hill of the Upper Town, prominent in the relief, took place, but now it is greatly smoothed out.

View from the northwest of the ensemble of the Bernardine monastery with the church after restoration in the 1980s

General view of the ensemble of Bernardine monasteries from a bird's eye view shortly before it acquired its current appearance

View from the 8th March Square towards the Castle - downstream of the Svisloch River. In the foreground is a squat, arena-like building - the Republican Center for Physical Education and Sports. On one of its walls there is a memorial plaque stating that it was in this place that the city of Minsk arose in the 11th century and the Minsk Castle, an archeological monument of the 11th-16th centuries, was located. Protected by the state. as I already said, this archaeological monument was mostly demolished during the construction of what we see in the photo, as well as during the construction of the Nemiga metro station, located just under these paths, which is in the frame.

Let's cross to the other side of Nemiga Street, reach the intersection with Lenin Street and walk a little along it along Freedom Square and look at the city hall from the west. Minsk City Hall (1) was built at the end of the 18th century on Upper Market Square and was destroyed in 1851 by personal order of Emperor Nicholas I. In 2003, it was restored to its historical location and is used as an exhibition hall.

View of the town hall from the north, on the other side. On the right, the frame includes the buildings of the Gostiny Dvor complex of the 18th-19th centuries (7) with shops, restaurants, and offices located inside.

The monument to Minsk receiving Magdeburg Law in 1499 was installed in front of the entrance to the town hall in 2014.

Scheme of the location of the attractions of the Upper Town. I will give the numbering according to this scheme in parentheses during the description.

Let's look on the other side of Lenin Street at the Jesuit Church of the Virgin Mary (1700-1710), sandwiched by Soviet new buildings, built in the Vilna Baroque style (15). In 1951, the cathedral was closed, and the main façade was heavily rebuilt, with the Sportsman's House located inside. In 1993, the building was returned to the Catholic Church and its original appearance was restored. Nowadays it is the main Catholic church in Belarus. In the interior, the frescoes that were plastered in Soviet times are of particular value; they are now being uncovered and restored.

And now let’s go deeper into the quarters of the Upper City again, walking along the edge of the former Upper Market Square. Here, the male and female Uniate Basilian monasteries once formed a kind of defense center. The core of the monastery was the Church of the Holy Spirit, built on the site of an Orthodox wooden church around the 1650s.
In the photo on the left is the Church of the Holy Spirit, on the right is Gostiny Dvor, in the perspective you can see the building of the Belarusian State Academy of Music.

Plan of the Basilian monastery complex. Reconstruction by L. Ivanova based on materials by V.M. Denisova. In the upper part there is a women's monastery, in the lower part there is a men's monastery with the Church of the Holy Spirit.

The monasteries represented a kind of fortress. The men's building with the church formed its southwestern side. Women's building - northeast. They were connected to each other by a covered gallery with small loophole windows, which at the same time served as an entrance gate in its lower tier. There is nothing on the plan on the fourth side, but it is very likely that initially the monastery courtyard was still closed by a stone wall: it is mentioned in documents of the 17th century (“...a stone fence and upper and lower battlements”). The pearl of the complex was the church - a single-nave temple without towers with a pentagonal apse covered with cross vaults resting on massive internal buttresses. High lancet windows, the faceted shape of the apse, vaults, and buttresses refer to Gothic. The Renaissance is the main façade, entirely built on a combination of pilasters of the Corinthian order, and the Baroque influence is already felt in the figured shield.

Measurement drawing of the main facade, 1843.

The main artistic feature of the Holy Spirit Church was the painting of flat niches on the facade with frescoes depicting saints. The structure of the placement of niches and the order of filling them with frescoes corresponded to the Orthodox iconostasis. Art critics are happily rubbing their hands - this almost never happens in the cult architecture of Europe: just for the iconostasis and right there on the façade.

The main facade of the Minsk Church of the Holy Spirit. Reconstruction by Sergei Baglasov. It is very interesting to compare its difference from the same measurement drawing of 1843 (see above).

In the 19th century The church was taken away from the community, “donated” to the Orthodox and rebuilt in the pseudo-Russian style. Demolished in 1950. In 2011, the Church of the Holy Spirit was rebuilt from scratch. The basis for the reconstruction was officially the measurement drawing of 1843. Currently the building is used as a children's philharmonic hall.
View of the new building of the Church of the Holy Spirit from the northwest. In the foreground is the sculptural composition "City Scales".

View of the main facade of the Church of the Holy Spirit from the west. Compare with the drawings of the facade of 1843 and you will understand the difference, for example, the design of the lower tier.

Another angle. In the background is the Church of St. Joseph of the Bernardine Monastery.

View from the Church of the Holy Spirit to the Upper Market Square with the Church of St. Joseph of the Bernardine Monastery and the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary of the Bernardine Monastery.

Opposite the heavily rebuilt buildings of the Basilian monastery is the sculpture "Crew", the prototype of which was the governor's carriage. The funny thing is that, as Dmitry Shelekhov writes to me in a personal message, this “carriage” is a copy of the Tobolsk and Kursk ones. There, what also served as a prototype for the governors' carriage?
In the background is the building of the Belarusian State Academy of Music

Carriage in Tobolsk. Photo by Dmitry Shelekhov. The Minsk sculpture was undoubtedly cast in the same mold. Only the surface is slightly rougher.

And this is a Kursk carriage. They also say there is a similar one in Dolgoprudny. Photos from the Tyrnet.

Unfortunately, I didn’t get to the building of the Basilian monastery and I have to use someone else’s photo.
This building was very well, not in our opinion, restored. Wooden windows, natural tiles, baroque figured shields were restored as in its best times, no onions for you - why not always do this? I wasn't inside, though.

But let's return to Upper Market Square. Modern view of the Bernardine monastery and the Church of St. Joseph. The church was built in 1652 and was rebuilt several times. In 1752 it received decor in the late Baroque style. In 1860, the monastery was abolished and the buildings were confiscated. The last time the church building was restored was in 1983; currently, archives are housed in it and the adjacent buildings of the monastery.

It's time to return to the car. Now we will take a slightly different route along Musical Lane. Building number 1 is often seen in tourist photos. Going to the left is Herzen Street, which we saw at the very beginning of the report.

We go down Muzykalnmu Lane and look back at the new office building and the block with the former Czech Embassy

That's all for now.
Summary: As we see, Minsk is one of those cities of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, which has almost completely lost its historical appearance. However, due to a strange quirk of the USSR leadership, local restorers tried to recreate it to the extent of its depravity. And everything would be fine, moreover, this reconstruction could serve as an example for a number of Russian cities, which, for a number of reasons, have completely lost their heritage, but in the example of Minsk, a strange substitution of concepts occurred in the Belarusian restoration. This highly controversial and somewhat curious experience “out of despair” in an effort to imitate civilized Europe was taken as the cornerstone of the current restoration. Now every Belarusian collective farm builder fancies himself an architect, and then a restorer, reproducing this unique Minsk experience as a carbon copy in series, trying to build our future with dubious antique remakes, while demolishing with the other hand right and left the remnants of a genuine national heritage.
What's wrong with that? The original heritage does not look presentable and it is not clear whether it is the freshly plastered multi-colored houses under the ondulin with chimneys.
For this case, Lotman’s quote is more appropriate than ever - restoration is a legalized form of destruction of heritage.

Materials used:

Trinity Suburb (Minsk, Belarus) - description, history, location, reviews, photos and videos.

  • Tours for May to Belarus
  • Last minute tours to Belarus

Trinity Suburb is one of the most picturesque corners of Minsk. Tiled roofs, cozy courtyards filled with floral and coffee aromas - all this fits into a small block located on the banks of the Svisloch. It's hard to believe that most of its houses were built here only in the 1980s on the site of more ancient architectural monuments. Yes, the history of the ancient suburb resembles the fate of the entire Minsk, which throughout its existence was destroyed more than once, only to then rise again from the ashes.

Once upon a time, Troitskoye was the largest suburb in the city. Despite the fact that it was separated from old Mensk by a river, numerous bridges made it possible to begin settling these places at the dawn of the existence of the future capital of Belarus.

Story

The first settlement on Trinity Mountain arose in the 13th century. It is assumed that its name came either from the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity, which was founded by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Jagiello, or from the defensive redoubts that bore the same name.

In ancient times, the Trinity Suburb was considered an important center of trade: there was a crossroads of roads from Vilna, Polotsk, Mogilev and Smolensk, and since the 16th century, the largest market in the city opened in this place.

In 2009, the square, laid out on the site of the former market, was returned to its former name: Trinity Mountain. On its territory there is the Belarusian Opera and Ballet Theater.

In the 15th-17th centuries, Trinity Mountain, the Lower Market and the Rakovskoe Suburb were surrounded by fortifications. The village consisted mainly of wooden houses.

Due to a devastating fire in 1809, the historical layout of Trinity was lost. The neighborhoods were restored in safer stone. In the 1930-1960s, during the Soviet “improvement”, entire streets of Troitsky ceased to exist.

There is a legend among Minsk residents that during a trip to the capital of the BSSR, Nikita Khrushchev asked to show him the historical center of the city. Minsk mayors found themselves in an awkward situation - there was nothing to show. They say that this event prompted local authorities to begin restoring the heart of the capital.

In the early 1980s, restoration was carried out here, which made it possible to recreate the architectural appearance of Minsk in the 19th century.

What to see

Today, Trinity Suburb consists of several blocks, and by walking through them you can get acquainted with the buildings of a typical urban development of the 19th century.

Among the places that are worth visiting while in the Trinity Estate, the following should be noted:

  • Museum of Maxim Bogdanovich
  • Museum of Literary History
  • House of nature
  • Crafts galleries “Slavutya Maistry” and “Slavutasts”
  • Book and antique store “Venok” with 19th century interior
  • Pharmacy "Troitskaya" with a unique collection of items from the 19th century

There are many museums, souvenir kiosks and antique shops, cafes, and galleries of folk craftsmen in the area.

Currently, there are plans to recreate the ancient appearance of Trinity, restore buildings in the Upper Town, as well as the core of Minsk - Zamchishcha.

The Trinity Suburb in Minsk has historical significance for the city and is located on the left bank of the Svisloch. Previously, this was the administrative and commercial center of the capital.

Creation and development

The history of the Trinity Suburb goes quite deep into antiquity. It was formed in the 12-13th century on the territory of a hill next to the river. Svisloch. Historians believe that the name of this place is associated with the local Trinity Church. It was founded by Prince Jagiello himself.

According to another version, the etymological roots stretch to the redoubt named after the Holy Trinity, or to the local church of the same name. Previously, there was active trade here, and entrepreneurs from Vilna and Mogilev came here. Sellers from Smolensk and Polotsk also visited the Trinity Suburb.

In the 16th century, the market began to function, which is the largest trading area. During the period 15-17 centuries. Fortress structures were built here, with the help of which it was possible to protect the surrounding area. Craftsmen, peasants, and military personnel lived in wooden houses. In 1809, the layout changed because the old model for the area was destroyed by fire. To protect themselves from similar misfortunes in the future, city residents built stone buildings by decree

In the period from the 30s to the 60s of the last century, different parts of the architectural complex were destroyed. In the 1980s, a major restoration was carried out here, the purpose of which was to recreate the architecture of Minsk, characteristic of the city in the 19th century.

What's worth seeing

Interesting objects that can be seen when you get to the Trinity Suburb are the Minskoye Castle, the Tatar Gardens, as well as the Starostinskaya settlement, Storozhevka, and Zolotaya Hill. Here was the first of the city’s Catholic churches, and the Holy Ascension Monastery has also survived to this day.

There is a Basilian monastery for women dedicated to the Holy Trinity, a church, a Catholic monastery in which the Mariavites lived. Local residents and guests of the city often come to see all these attractions.

Modernity

The Trinity Suburb area today is a historical center in accordance with the bill of the President of the country in 2004. This place is an integral part of the old city. The western side of the complex is guarded.

After restoration work carried out here, this place turned into an open-air museum. Walking here, you can see stone buildings dating back to the 19th century. In 2009, the square, previously reserved for the market, was named Trinity Mountain. In the 1930s, an opera and ballet theater was built here. Today, when you get to Trinity Suburb, you can visit many interesting museums, shops with souvenirs and antiques, restaurant complexes and coffee shops, galleries with works of art.

Restoration work has not yet been completed, the result of which will be an appearance that is closest to the one that this place had centuries ago. It is planned to re-create many buildings located in the Upper Town, as well as in the Minsk Castle.

Educational walk

Trinity Suburb is rich in attractions. A large number of tourists from Belarus and other countries come here to experience the amazing culture of past years.

You can visit the local museum, whose exhibitions are dedicated to music and theater. It’s called “Vladislav Golubka’s Living Room.” There is also a complex dedicated to the country's literature. The building that once housed a synagogue now houses the House of Nature. There is a gallery dedicated to crafts.

No less interesting will be a visit to the pharmacy, where you can familiarize yourself with medical utensils and books used in the 19th century. Here you will find numerous architectural monuments in which people still live. Many interesting sculptures can be seen when arriving in Trinity Suburb. The photos show how picturesque the surrounding area is and how beautiful the buildings are.

The beauty of the Svisloch River, where there is a small island that can be reached by crossing an arched bridge for pedestrians, deserves special compliments. In 1996, a memorial was opened in honor of the internationalists who fought in Afghanistan.

The local Island of Tears is known as one of the most significant. In the center there is a chapel designed according to the plan of the Church of Polotsk Euphrosyne, which functioned in the 12th century. Entering the island, you can see a stone in which is placed a bronze icon of the Virgin Mary. Nowadays, in the building that was previously used as a monastery of mariavites, the Suvorov School of the capital operates. Also nearby you can look into the working Olivaria beer production plant.

Temple of Love

If you are planning to get married, the chic registry office in Troitsky Suburb, located in a building dating back to the 19th century, is at your service. Recently, renovations were carried out here, so the room looks simply amazing, luxurious.

There are three floors, the interior halls amaze with their light colors and beautiful decoration. There are many beautiful mirrors that expand the space visually.

Historical atmosphere

You will probably want to refresh your strength after a long walk, during which you will explore the Trinity Suburb. The cafes and restaurants here are chic and plentiful. You can drink a fragrant drink in a coffee shop. It is noteworthy that the administration of these establishments made efforts to recreate the historical interior.

You will find yourself in an ancient tavern, try excellent dishes of national cuisine, and high-quality alcohol. But what you definitely shouldn’t pass by is the local restaurant located right on the water. It is the only one of its kind in the entire city. You can not only eat delicious food, but also look at the beautiful scenery.

The way here and the surrounding area

Getting to the suburb is not so difficult, since it is located in the center of the historical life of the city. The second metro line runs regularly to this point. It is worth getting off at the Nemiga station.

Visitors are amazed by the beauty of these places. Since receiving power in 1499, great efforts have been made to ennoble these places and give the heirs the opportunity to be proud of them later.

The stone town hall is impressive and has been restored several times. Its modern version was opened in 2003. You can walk through exhibitions and halls intended for receptions and buy souvenirs. The beauty of the Philharmonic for children, the beautiful guest courtyard, the Church of the Virgin Mary, historical museums, and cathedrals pleases us with its beauty. There is a center for spirituality and education at the Orthodox Church. There is an opportunity to look at the estate that belonged to the Vankovichs.

Time Machine

You can stay in the luxurious Monastyrsky Hotel, which received four stars. It was opened in the former home of Bernardine monks who worked in the 18th century. Museum exhibitions can give a lot of new knowledge and vivid impressions.

general information

A characteristic feature of this quarter are its small buildings, which look so natural and harmonious that they are perceived as a single architectural ensemble. Historical, architectural and cultural reserves similar to Trinity Mountain (this is the second name of the area) exist in many European cities. But not every one of them can compare with Minsk in terms of the age of the first settlements: in this quarter they appeared a very long time ago and coincided with the initial period of the High Middle Ages, from which we are separated by almost nine centuries.

A kind of “mixing” of eras and cultures can also be seen in the fact that in this area there were the first Catholic church in the city and the Orthodox Church of St. Boris and Gleb, the Holy Ascension Monastery and the monastery of the Catholic order of the Mariavites, which have not survived to the present day. These include the Basilian convent of the Holy Trinity, which has only partially survived. Today, a quiet and measured life reigns in this part of Minsk. Not only Minsk residents, but also guests of the capital of Belarus enjoy walking and relaxing here, while at the same time getting to know the sights, visiting museums and exhibitions.

Excursion into history

The past of the Trinity Suburb is rich in events and is associated with many historical figures. Suffice it to remember that it was here, in the heart of Minsk, that the fates of two outstanding classics of Belarusian literature intersected: the poet, publicist, literary critic and translator Maxim Adamovich Bogdanovich and the poet, playwright and publicist Yanka Kupala (Ivan Dominikovich Lutsevich). The first was born here, and the second’s family lived here for some time.

A settlement called Trinity Mountain was formed near the Svisloch River, on a hill, in the period from the 12th to the 13th centuries. In those distant times, this area was the center of economic life, where trade routes from Smolensk and Vilna, Mogilev and Polotsk intersected. At the end of the 16th century, the Trinity Market began operating here, which immediately became the largest trading platform in the city. It was surrounded by fortifications, and Trinity Mountain itself was inhabited by traders, artisans, peasants and military men who lived in wooden houses.

Why did the suburb receive this name? There are several versions on this matter. According to one of them, the toponym arose from the name of the earthen defensive fortification of the Holy Trinity, according to another - from the Holy Trinity Convent. However, the most plausible version seems to be that the name of the area was given by the medieval Trinity Church, founded by the Grand Duke of Lithuania and Prince Jagiello of Vitebsk, who took the title of King of Poland in 1386. Indeed: in 1390, the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity was built in the suburb. It was built of wood, and at the beginning of the 19th century it burned down during a strong fire. Despite such a sad ending, this religious building will forever go down in history as the first church on the territory of Minsk, which existed for over four centuries.

Along with it, the fire in that year 1809 significantly damaged the buildings of other monasteries, churches and churches, which represented a single architectural ensemble that delighted with its splendor. Subsequently, the old layout was restored. Emperor Alexander I himself took care of this and gave the go-ahead for the implementation of the corresponding project. It was already restored in stone, but this did not save the historical appearance of the Trinity Suburb from the upheavals of the 20th century. It was affected not only by the war, but also by many thoughtlessly made decisions. For example, during the restoration of the Communal Embankment they tried so hard that its historical part simply disappeared to a large extent. And this was not the only loss...

Individual buildings and even entire streets were destroyed in the 30-60s. A little-known fact: on the site of the square that is located in front of the opera house, in the 16th-18th centuries. there was a Catholic cemetery. And on the site of the Ascension Monastery, its construction dates back to the 18th century, in 1945-1946 the headquarters building of the Belarusian Military District was erected. In the 80s of the last century, some streets on the outskirts of the Trinity Suburb suffered an unenviable fate. One ran along the Svisloch, starting near the modern Suvorov School and ending in the area of ​​the Belarus Hotel.

Attractions

Despite the fact that the modern appearance of the Trinity Suburb is not at all the same as it was a century ago, true connoisseurs of antiquity love to come here. The knowledge that Maxim Bogdanovich and Yanka Kupala walked along its narrow streets is literally mesmerizing and mentally transports you to those distant times. Of particular interest to tourists is the quarter located between the streets of Starovilenskaya, architect Zaborsky, Bogdanovich and the already mentioned Communal Embankment. It is this building, erected in 1817 in accordance with the regular development plan for Minsk, that is the basis of the historical center of the city, which is under state protection.

The boundaries of the protected zone, which included the western half of the Trinity Suburb along with the second city hospital, were approved back in 2004 by the Decree of the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko “On the development of the historical center of Minsk.” The same document defines the concept of reconstruction, development and use of both the territory as a whole and the real estate located on it. Three years later, the Council of Ministers adopted a resolution that determined the status of the historical and cultural sights of the Trinity Suburb, since a significant part of the cultural monuments of the entire capital are concentrated right here.

What has already been done and what are your plans for the foreseeable future? The western part of the suburb has been restored and has become a real open-air museum. Not only the general style, but also specific examples of stone buildings from the 19th century have been restored, and now these ancient buildings house museums, many retail outlets and cafes. It is planned to reconstruct the former Trinity Basilian Monastery, placing a business and tourist center in it. It is expected that it will be connected by a pedestrian platform to the western part of the suburb.

The most famous in the restored complex of buildings is, for example, the Vigdorchik house (Communal embankment, 6), in which Dominik Lutsevich, father of Yanka Kupala, rented a house in 1890. In the former house of Ushakov - the corner of Aleksandrovskaya Street and the embankment of the same name - there is now a Glass and Porcelain store. And few people know that in one of the apartments where the pharmacist Pavlovsky lived, populists secretly gathered and decided at one of the meetings to start publishing the magazine “Socialist Building”. At the address Bogdanovicha, 15 - then it was Aleksandrovskaya Street - at the end of the 19th century, a shoe workshop opened, which then grew into a full-fledged shoe factory. On the eve of the First World War, in 1913, the production employed four dozen workers and in just one year they produced shoes worth a considerable sum at that time - 55 thousand rubles.

On the street Bogdanovich, 29 there are several buildings of the Suvorov Military School. They are also of historical and cultural value. At the beginning of the 19th century, the premises of the main building of the educational institution were occupied by a monastery of the Order of Mariavites and a hospital. Until 1854, the building served as a church. After its transfer to the Orthodox Church, two editorial offices were located here: the newspaper “Minsk Provincial News” and the magazine “Orthodox Brother”. In Beilin's house, located on Zaborsky Street, 3 (it was built in the middle of the 19th century), there was a metalworking workshop, where the active populist Mikhail Rabinovich, then still a student at the St. Petersburg Institute of Technology, studied his craft.

The largest facility on the territory of the Trinity Suburb is the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theater of Belarus - the largest in the republic. Its building, located in the center of the Paris Commune square, was erected in 1935-1937. In the old days, this place was the location of the Trinity Market. The building of the Defense Ministry of the Republic of Belarus at 1 Kommunisticheskaya Street, built in 1945-1946, is also perceived as one of the business cards. and is a monument of classicism.

Museums in Trinity Suburb

In November 1987, the State Museum of the History of Belarusian Literature opened in this area, which became one of the largest museums in the republic: it houses over 50 thousand different exhibits. Many manuscripts and photographs, rare books, personal documents and belongings of Belarusian writers - all this can be seen during the excursion.

It is a pity that the house in which the famous classic Maxim Bogdanovich was born has not been preserved to this day - a museum dedicated to his work would probably be located here. Since there is no house, the latter was placed in a building nearby. The opening of the museum took place on the 100th anniversary of the poet, in May 1991. Its exhibitions are housed in five thematic halls, each of which reveals a specific period in Bogdanovich’s life.

The older generation is probably familiar with the name of the Belarusian Soviet actor, director and writer Vladislav Iosifovich Golubka (1882-1937), the first People's Artist of the BSSR. An entire branch of the State Museum of the History of Theater and Musical Culture of the Republic of Belarus, which is located in the Trinity Suburb at st. Starovilenskaya, 14. As you know, the artist was repressed and sentenced to death. The archives of his theater have hardly survived. The authentic artifacts that you will see in the “Vladislav Golubka Living Room” (that’s the name of the branch) were collected by his employees literally bit by bit.

In addition to museums, you can visit a wide variety of exhibitions here. For example, regularly held at the National Exhibition Center "BelExpo" on the street. Yanka Kupala, 27 – many of them have international status. The collections of the private gallery “Famous Masters” are no less interesting. Here, at Kommunalnaya embankment, 6, products of modern decorative and applied art are exhibited. At 3 Storozhevskaya Street - this is the building of the Trinity Pharmacy - you can see old books on pharmacy and samples of pharmaceutical glassware. And those who are not indifferent to environmental issues are invited to the Museum of Nature, located on the street. Bogdanovich, 9-a, in the building of a former synagogue.

How to get there

Trinity Suburb is located at: Minsk, st. Bogdanovich.

You can get here by various types of public transport: metro (exit at Nemiga station), bus (route No. 57), trolleybus (routes No. 29, 37, 40 and 53); or by car, using the capabilities of the GPS satellite navigation system, coordinates: 53.908012,27.556571.