Minsk, Belarus: Chasing Soviet Ghosts in Europe’s Last Dictatorship

February 15, 2025February 16, 2025 Koen 0 Comments

This travel guide covers my visit to Minsk, the capital of Belarus.

A visit to Minsk

After a night in Istanbul courtesy of the Turkish Airlines free transit hotel programme, and a comfortable connecting flight to Minsk, I had finally arrived in Belarus.

I’ve visited Minsk twice before, each time for a short two-day stay while travelling between Lithuania and Ukraine, as a Belarus transit visa was much easier to obtain than a full visa back then.

However, for the past few years, Belarus has started granting visa-free access to citizens of most European countries, which I was also making use of on this trip (which took place in 2019, for the record).

For what it’s worth, while I’ve always found Belarus a safe country to visit, I wouldn’t recommend travelling there now — something that especially applies to Western travellers due to the high risk of politically motivated arbitrary arrests.

Needless to say, the invasion of Ukraine by Russia — the closest ally of Belarus — has significantly complicated matters when it comes to travel, both from a safety and moral perspective, so keep this in mind when you visit Minsk.

coat of arms belarus minsk travel — *National coat of arms of Belarus, as seen at the Minsk Airport access road. ©Paliparan*

Arrival formalities

Once I walked through the jet bridge into the airport terminal, it was a short walk to passport control, where the queues were relatively short.

There was certainly some tension in the air as I arrived at Belarus passport control, as even during my trip, in relatively peaceful times, the dictatorial country had poor relations with the West and a deplorable human rights record.

Fortunately, I was allowed into Belarus without much issue, as even though the immigration officer had to call in a supervisor for a secondary check, they happily stamped my passport after asking a question or two about the purpose of my trip and my short, one-night stay in the country.

Basically, all you need to show is proof of an onward ticket, a hotel reservation, as well as evidence of sufficient funds and health insurance that covers Belarus (if you don’t have this, you can typically purchase a short-term plan on arrival from one of the booths of Belarusian health insurers).

After withdrawing some Belarusian roubles from an ATM in the arrivals hall, I ventured outside the terminal to catch one of the frequent airport buses to the city centre of Minsk, which is about an hour away.

From the bus window, I saw the first of many Soviet monuments that I would encounter during my stay in Minsk, situated right next to a motorway interchange between the airport and city centre.

This monument is the Mound of Glory, a World War II memorial hill topped with four rising bayonets, built in honour of the liberation of Belarus during Operation Bagration in 1944 and the final victory over Nazi Germany in 1945.

In Belarus, as in the other countries that made up the former Soviet Union, World War II is widely known as the Great Patriotic War.

With the exception of Poland and Ukraine, few other European countries have experienced such a level of destruction and proportionally high casualty rates during World War II as Belarus, and the scars of the war remain visible.

mound of glory — *The Mound of Glory can be clearly seen from the airport bus. ©Paliparan*

Into the metro

The airport bus goes directly to a bus terminal located right next to Minsk’s main train station, stopping halfway at the Uručča metro station on the north-eastern outskirts of the city.

I decided to get off the bus at Uručča and connect to the metro there, thinking it would likely be quicker than getting stuck in traffic in the city centre.

From Uručča, I took the metro on the blue line for a couple of stops until I reached Ploshchad Lenina (Lenin Square), where I emerged once again above ground.

Upon disembarking at the metro station, the surroundings at Lenin Square already felt distinctly Soviet.

The dark clouds approaching the city on this balmy day in mid-June certainly played a role in creating a gloomy, communist atmosphere.

minsk metro carriage — *In the Minsk metro. ©Paliparan*

Ploshchad Lenina metro station Minsk — *Ploshchad Lenina (Lenin Square) in Minsk. ©Paliparan*

*Administrative building of the Minsk City Executive Committee on Lenin Square. ©Paliparan*

Ploshchad Lenina (Lenin Square) Minsk Belarus — *Ploshchad Lenina (Lenin Square), with the building of the Belarusian State University in the background. ©Paliparan*

Hotel Minsk

For my one-night stay in the Belarusian capital, I had chosen Hotel Minsk, one of the larger and more affordable communist-era hotels in the city.

I paid the equivalent of 60 US dollars for my small single room.

The communist-era legacy of the hotel still shows in the design and décor of the lobby, rooms, and stuffy corridors, even though it has undergone some renovation since the collapse of the Soviet Union and offers all the modern amenities you might need.

As it was still mid-afternoon and I had plenty of daylight left to explore Minsk, I quickly dropped my luggage in the room and set out for a walk through the city centre.

hotel entrance — *Hotel Minsk entrance. ©Paliparan*

hotel room — *My single room at Hotel Minsk. ©Paliparan*

view room — *View from my room. ©Paliparan*

Soviet architecture

I started my tour of the city back at Lenin Square, where in addition to a large Lenin statue and numerous communist buildings like city government offices and the main building of Minsk State University, you can also find the lovely red-brick Saint Simon and Saint Helena Church, which dates back to 1910.

This Roman Catholic church is one of the few old buildings in Minsk that survived the devastation of World War II.

After the city’s destruction in World War II, Minsk was rebuilt in typical Soviet style.

Especially when walking along Prospekt Nezavisimosti (Independence Avenue), the central axis of Minsk, you can admire grand Soviet-era architecture, with many buildings designed in the Stalinist style, an architectural style also known as socialist classicism, which was popular in the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the early 1950s.

Prospekt Nezavisimosti minsk — *The Central Post Office is one of the many grand Soviet-era buildings on Prospekt Nezavisimosti. ©Paliparan*

belarus kgb headquarters minsk — *The Belarusian KGB headquarters in Minsk is another fine example of socialist classicism or Stalinist architecture. ©Paliparan*

Soviet ghosts

It was my third time in Minsk, and one aspect of the city that I’ve always found intriguing as a foreign traveller is how alive the Soviet history and legacy are.

While in many other countries that were part of the Soviet Union, communist traces have been removed from the streetscape and government institutions have westernised and democratised, Belarus seems to embrace its past, and this is clearly visible in Minsk.

One of the most impressive socialist classicist buildings on the main avenue in Minsk belongs to the Belarusian State Security Committee, a secret police and intelligence agency better known by its acronym KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti).

Opposite the building, you can even find a statue of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the infamous Bolshevik who led the Cheka, the predecessor of the KGB under Lenin.

The fact that the KGB still operates in Belarus and that notorious figures like Dzerzhinsky still have such a prominent place in the streetscape of Minsk speaks volumes about how unfree and undemocratic the country is.

As a foreign tourist, you may not immediately notice this, as life in Minsk initially appears much like that of any other European city, with people heading to work, meeting friends, and spending time in cafés and restaurants.

Indeed, on my first visit to Minsk, I was surprised to see a group of young people drinking alcohol and playing loud music from a stereo in public, right in front of the Dzerzhinsky statue.

These are the great contradictions of Belarus, where people are free to move around and enjoy modern life, yet must adhere to strict limits on their behaviour and expression unless they are willing to risk trouble with the authorities.

There are no free elections, protests are violently suppressed by riot police, criticism of the authorities and dissent are met with reprisals, and even displaying the historic white-red-white Belarusian flag will likely land you in jail.

You could say that on one hand Belarus has a capitalist consumer society, while at the same time it remains a highly repressive dictatorship with no freedom of speech or association.

The old Soviet ghosts are still haunting Minsk even in the 21st century.

Dzerzhinsky statue minsk — *Dzerzhinsky statue. ©Paliparan*

Previous travels to Belarus

I was reminded of my first trip to Minsk as a young student in 2008, when I passed through Belarus during my summer travels, which also included Lithuania, Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania.

On the Vilnius-Minsk train, I met a Lithuanian-Belarusian girl who was kind enough to show me the way from the railway station to my hotel upon arrival.

She told me that many hotel rooms are still bugged by the KGB, with the state security services actively listening in on people — a practice that was common in Soviet times but has never truly disappeared in Belarus.

Although Belarusian citizens are free to go where they want, all their movements are still being watched and recorded, according to her.

Given that she had dual citizenship and lived in Lithuania, she wasn’t afraid to speak out against the Belarusian regime but mentioned that others might be afraid to do so in public, as they could always become targets of reprisals.

Indeed, on that trip, it seemed almost impossible to talk to anyone else, as locals appeared highly suspicious of outsiders and barely spoke a word of English, with my lack of Belarusian and Russian language skills not helping either.

kgb headquarters — *KGB headquarters in Minsk. Picture taken during my first visit to the city in 2008. ©Paliparan*

Dinamo National Olympic Stadium Minsk — *Dinamo National Olympic Stadium in 2008. ©Paliparan*

view hotel belarus minsk — *View over communist-era blocks of flats from the top floor of Hotel Belarus, one of the Soviet-era hotels in Minsk. Picture taken on my 2008 trip. ©Paliparan*

Second Belarus visit

On my second visit to Belarus in the winter of 2012, the country seemed completely different.

Even on those cold winter days, the locals appeared more open, English was more widely spoken, and the city seemed much more modernised.

Some Belarusians I had befriended on previous travels around Europe — and was now meeting in Minsk on this trip — told me they were becoming a bit more optimistic about life in the country, despite still having many reservations about the political regime.

Fast forward to this current trip to Minsk in 2019, and I could once again see the country had transformed in a positive direction, despite the obvious shortcomings in democracy.

As part of some currency reforms, a new Belarusian rouble was introduced at a rate of 1 new rouble to 10,000 old ones, so for the first time, withdrawing money meant the bills could actually fit in my wallet and I didn’t have to walk around with large bundles of banknotes.

Metro signs were suddenly bilingual, with an English translation beneath the Cyrillic script, everyone I bumped into on the streets and in bars was eager to talk and spoke fluent English, and once again, the city of Minsk appeared much more modern and affluent than on my previous two trips.

Of course, all hopes for a better future turned out to be short-lived, as a year after my trip, the 2020 Belarusian elections saw widespread fraud by incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko to secure another term.

Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya claimed that victory was stolen from her by Lukashenko, and widespread protests followed in Minsk and other cities across Belarus, with locals equally struggling to believe that Lukashenko had defeated his opponent by 81.04% to 10.23%.

Despite hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets of Minsk and other Belarusian cities, the protests were violently crushed by the authorities, and opposition leaders were either arrested or forced to flee abroad, including Tsikhanouskaya, who formed a government in exile.

Many of those arrested faced torture in prisons and sham trials in Belarusian courts as the Lukashenko regime swiftly reverted to using Soviet-era repression tactics, which had been unheard of even in the decade before, when the country wasn’t exactly a beacon of political freedom either.

Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarus has slipped even further into a state of brutal repression and authoritarianism, becoming increasingly intertwined with Russia and drifting further away from the free world.

Unsurprisingly, many of my Belarusian friends have since fled the country in search of a better life in Europe and the Americas.

It’s sad to see that decades of slow progress have been completely undone, with Belarus now drifting in the opposite direction of where it was once heading, fully steaming back towards Stalinism under the authoritarian rule of Lukashenko who coincidentally also sports a large moustache like Stalin.

Victory Square minsk — *Minsk’s Victory Square on a cold winter day. Picture taken during my second visit to Belarus in 2012. ©Paliparan*

national library belarus view — *View over Minsk from the top floor of the National Library of Belarus. ©Paliparan*

minsk winter — *Snowfall in Minsk during my Belarusian winter trip in 2012. ©Paliparan*

Communist glory

When visiting Minsk or writing about travel to Belarus, it’s hard to avoid discussions about political repression in the country, and although there is much more to be said on the topic, let’s return to my actual trip and continue my tour around the sights of the city.

As I continued my walk down Prospekt Nezavisimosti, I arrived at Kastrychnitskaya Square, where even more communist glory can be found.

Kastrychnitskaya metro station, with its huge pillars resembling lamp posts, large stone reliefs of the communist hammer and sickle, and a stunning Soviet mural at one of the station’s entrances inside a building lining the main avenue, is one of the most remarkable in all of Minsk.

On Kastrychnitskaya Square, you can also find the Palace of the Republic, a large venue used for state functions, forums, conventions, and concerts.

It’s an unusual building, as it clearly has a Soviet design (with construction having started in 1985), but since it was only completed in 2001 after years of interrupted construction following the breakup of the Soviet Union, it also features some modern touches.

minsk streetscape — *Walking down Prospekt Nezavisimosti to Kastrychnitskaya Square. ©Paliparan*

Kastrychnitskaya metro station soviet mural minsk — *Soviet mural above one of the entrances to Kastrychnitskaya metro station. ©Paliparan*

soviet selfie koen — *Soviet selfie at Kastrychnitskaya. ©Paliparan*

Palace of the Republic minsk belarus — *Palace of the Republic. ©Paliparan*

Minsk old town

At Kastrychnitskaya Square, I turned left off Prospekt Nezavisimosti and walked towards the old town of Minsk.

As you walk in this direction, the grand Soviet buildings gradually give way to older architecture.

Just before reaching the old town, I passed by the Minsk City Hall, where you can find the sculpture “Voyt” — a statue of an old mayor of Minsk holding the city keys and a royal charter, created to honour Minsk receiving town privileges under the Magdeburg Rights in 1499.

A block behind the city hall lies the heart of the old town of Minsk.

The old town of Minsk isn’t large, as almost all of it was destroyed in the Second World War and very little has been rebuilt in its original style, but the area still makes for a pleasant visit.

In the old town of Minsk, you can admire a couple of beautiful churches and stroll around streets lined with cafes, bars, restaurants, and night clubs in a small pedestrian zone.

The whitewashed Holy Spirit Cathedral, with its twin towers, was built between 1633 and 1642 and serves as the mother church of the Belarusian Orthodox Church.

Adjacent to the cathedral, on the same square, lies the Roman Catholic Church of Saint Joseph, built in 1752, with its fine baroque façade.

However, much to the dismay of the local Catholic population, the church is being used to store state archives, serving as a reminder that strongmen like Lukashenko and Putin are no champions of religious liberty, despite the mistaken belief held by large parts of the American Christian and nationalist right that such freedoms are better preserved in countries like Belarus and Russia than in the US.

minsk city centre — *Soviet buildings in the city centre of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

minsk — *Walking towards the old town of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

minsk city hall — *Minsk City Hall. ©Paliparan*

voyt statue — *The sculpture “Voyt”. ©Paliparan*

minsk old town city scales sculpture — *The City Scales sculpture in the old town, with the Holy Spirit Cathedral visible in the background on the left and the Church of St Joseph on the right. ©Paliparan*

pedestrian street minsk old town — *Minsk’s old town has a few pedestrian streets lined with cafés and restaurants. ©Paliparan*

holy spirit cathedral minsk belarus — *Holy Spirit Cathedral. ©Paliparan*

St Joseph Church Minsk Old town — *Church of St Joseph. ©Paliparan*

Soviet KFC

Even though some parts of the old town of Minsk faintly resemble cities in eastern Poland or Lithuania, Soviet architecture and ugly communist-era apartment blocks are never far away.

Indeed, even when standing on the attractive hilltop square in front of the Holy Spirit Cathedral, you find yourself looking out over typical Soviet blocks of flats lining both sides of the Svislach River, which bisects Minsk.

Yet even these Soviet remnants can possess a certain beauty despite their ugliness.

A certain beauty can definitely be found in the brutalist Soviet relief on a building opposite the entrance of Nyamiha metro station, which now houses a KFC branch.

Move over Colonel Sanders: It’s time for Soviet-style KFC from Comrade Sanders!

hill view minsk — *Hilltop view. ©Paliparan*

kfc minsk belarus communist soviet relief — *Communist-style KFC: It’s not Colonel Saunders, but Comrade Saunders who serves you buckets of Soviet fried chicken. ©Paliparan*

Svislach River and the Island of Tears

Immediately north of the old town, a pleasant park stretches along both shores of the Svislach River, which is so wide that it almost feels more like a lake than a river.

On the eastern bank of the river, you can find the old Trinity Hill neighbourhood and some big Soviet apartment blocks, while on the other side some modern office blocks dominate the scenery.

There is a small island in the middle of the Svislach River, accessible via a bridge from the eastern shore, called the ‘Island of Tears’.

This island features a monument commemorating the Belarusian soldiers who fell in the Soviet-Afghan War.

svislach river office towers — *Modern office buildings on the west bank of the Svislach River. ©Paliparan*

svislach river trinity hill — *Trinity Hill neighbourhood on the eastern bank of the Svislach River. ©Paliparan*

island of tears — *Island of Tears. ©Paliparan*

apartment blocks — *Apartment blocks along the eastern shore of the river. ©Paliparan*

riverbank path — *The paths and parks on the banks of the river make for a pleasant stroll. ©Paliparan*

Trinity Hill

After a short walk along the shores of the Svislach River, I entered the small Trinity Hill neighbourhood, the oldest surviving area of Minsk.

Here, I stopped at an appealing looking restaurant with outdoor seating, where I sat down for a light dinner.

I ordered the most traditional dish in Belarus, a plate of draniki (potato pancakes), which in my case were filled with meat.

The potato pancakes and the local beers I ordered certainly tasted good!

trinity hill svislach river minsk — *The Trinity Hill neighbourhood, the oldest part of Minsk, is located on the eastern shore of the Svislach River. ©Paliparan*

trinity hill — *Street in the Trinity Hill neighbourhood. ©Paliparan*

belarusian weizen beer — *Enjoying a good-quality Belarusian weizen beer while waiting for my food to be served. ©Paliparan*

potato pancakes — *Potato pancakes. ©Paliparan*

Beer time

From Trinity Hill, I crossed back over to the other shore of the Svislach River into the old town, which by around 7 in the evening had become quite lively, there being plenty of locals enjoying a stroll through the area.

By chance, I walked by a great craft beer place called BeerCap, which had a fun outdoor bar with a couple of local and international craft beers on draught and a fun-loving vibe.

Naturally, I had to stop for a pint or two, and both of the local IPAs I sampled were excellent.

minsk old town — *People enjoying an evening stroll through the old town of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

old town minsk — *There are plenty of bars and restaurants in the old town of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

beercap bar minsk — *Outdoor bar at BeerCap. ©Paliparan*

belarusian beer ipa bar — *Tasting some of the local Belarusian beers. ©Paliparan*

Sunset walk

As the sun began to set, I walked back along Prospekt Nezavisimosti towards my hotel.

The low sun cast beautiful colours across the classical-style Soviet buildings lining this grand boulevard.

Before reaching my hotel, I stopped by the local GUM, which stands for Gosudarstvennyj Universinyj Magazin, meaning State Department Store.

In Soviet times, the GUM was the main department store found in the biggest cities across the former Soviet Union, essentially functioning as a sort of communist shopping mall.

Of course, the biggest and most elaborate GUM was in Moscow, though cities like Kyiv and Minsk also had quite impressive stores.

Nowadays, most GUM stores are not dissimilar to regular shopping centres or department stores.

The Minsk GUM is a pretty cool place to explore, even if you don’t need to buy anything, as the high ceilings and chandeliers give it a much more classy feel than it actually is.

The GUM also houses a large, modern supermarket, which was handy for stocking up on water, beers, and chechil (smoked, braided, salty cheese strings, a popular beer snack in the Russian world) to eat and drink in the hotel.

After enjoying the beers in my hotel room, I called it a night, as there was more exploring planned for the next morning!

minsk belarus — *There were some beautiful pastel-coloured skies over Minsk as the sun was setting. ©Paliparan*

minsk soviet architecture — *Beautiful Soviet-era building in the centre of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

minsk gum — *Inside the Minsk GUM. ©Paliparan*

hotel beers — *Enjoying some beers and a snack in the hotel. ©Paliparan*

Victory Square

The next morning in Minsk began with a quick metro ride to Ploshchad Pobedy (Victory Square) to continue my visit of the city.

Ploshchad Pobedy is dominated by a massive 40-metre-tall obelisk, which serves as a memorial to those who fell during World War II.

Minsk was one of the 12 cities across the Soviet Union to be declared a Hero City, an honorary title awarded for the exceptional heroism of its people during World War II.

The letters on the rooftops around Victory Square read: “Heroic deed of the people is immortal”.

ploshchad pobedy victory square minsk belarus — *Ploshchad Pobedy (Victory Square) was named after the final victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. ©Paliparan*

Breakfast

After my visit to Victory Square, I took a walk around Gorky Park, one of the nicest green spaces in the centre of Minsk, before heading back across the bridge over the river towards the city centre.

Just across from the State Circus, I stumbled upon an appealing café called Union Coffee, where I decided to sit down.

As I hadn’t managed to have breakfast yet, I decided to order the pancakes with blueberry sauce, which were delicious.

I also ordered a cappuccino and my favourite Borjomi mineral water from Georgia, which coincidentally was also Stalin’s drink of choice.

svislach river gorky park minsk — *Gorky Park, a pleasant green space along the banks of the Svislach River. ©Paliparan*

belarus state circus minsk — *The building of the Belarusian State Circus. ©Paliparan*

blueberry pancakes borjomi cappuccino minsk — *A delicious breakfast of blueberry pancakes. ©Paliparan*

Retracing old steps

Back in the city centre, I retraced some of my steps from my first trip to Minsk in 2008, beginning with a visit to a tank monument near Alexander Square, which features a T-34 used by the Red Army to liberate the city in the summer of 1944.

I then continued towards the Presidential Administration of Belarus, where I almost got arrested on my first trip to Minsk when a soldier spotted me taking a picture of the building.

The soldier was clearly not happy with this and, after shouting at me, demanding to see all the pictures on my camera, and having the last few snaps deleted, he eventually relented and let me go.

This time around, it was much easier to take pictures of everything, including the Presidential Administration building, although it may have helped that I could take the snaps more covertly with my smartphone instead of the proper camera I took on my first trip, which clearly stood out more back in 2008.

That said, I still wasn’t sure of the current policy towards picture-taking in Belarus, so I erred on the side of caution and only took some quick (and sadly poor-quality) pictures at spots typically deemed important in dictatorial countries, including key infrastructure like the metro.

I admired some other Soviet-era government and public buildings, such as the Central House of Officers and the Palace of Culture of the Trade Unions, before concluding my visit to the city centre of Minsk.

tank monument minsk belarus — *Tank Monument. ©Paliparan*

army palace Central House of Officers belarus minsk — *The Central House of Officers, also known as the Army Palace, is the main cultural institution of the Belarusian Armed Forces. ©Paliparan*

Presidential Administration of Belarus Minsk — *Presidential Administration of Belarus. ©Paliparan*

Palace of Culture of Trade Unions — *Palace of Culture of the Trade Unions. ©Paliparan*

flag belarus soviet-era government building minsk — *Belarusian flag above a Soviet-era government building. ©Paliparan*

MZOR

Having completed my tour of the city centre, I headed down into the metro to take a train towards the MZOR (МЗОР) district of Minsk.

MZOR, which stands for Minskiy Zavod Oktyabr’skoy Revolyutsii (Minsk Factory of the October Revolution), is a district full of old state-owned factories and warehouses.

Although this industrial district thrived in communist times, many factories became abandoned when the Soviet Union collapsed, as they failed to remain profitable in the free market without state support.

In recent years, many of the old Soviet factories and warehouses in the MZOR quarter have been repurposed and turned into art galleries, cultural venues, or bars.

Indeed, walking through MZOR, you can sense the neighbourhood’s artsy vibe, with plenty of cool outdoor art installations and murals.

MZOR makes for a fun place to walk and a great stop for a drink if you’re looking to see something more quirky than the usual sights in the city centre of Minsk.

The MZOR district has undergone such renovation that even the statue of good old Lenin looks out of place among the modern artworks!

mzor minsk — *The factories and warehouses in the industrial MZOR district have been converted into cultural venues, art galleries, and bars. ©Paliparan*

mzor artwork mural — *Artwork in the MZOR neighbourhood. ©Paliparan*

mzor mural artwork — *Huge mural of a cat and a girl on the façade of a building in the MZOR district. ©Paliparan*

bar mzor old warehouse — *Some of the old warehouses have been converted into bars. ©Paliparan*

lenin mzor minsk — *Bust of Lenin in front of a modern mural in the MZOR district. ©Paliparan*

Back to the airport

After a drink at a bar in the MZOR district, it was time to head back into the metro and make my way to the central bus station, located next to the railway station, where I would take the bus back to Minsk Airport.

In front of the train station was one last sight of Minsk I had yet to visit.

Called the Gates of Minsk, these twin buildings were designed in Stalinist style to impress new arrivals to the city.

From the window of the airport bus, I watched the modern building of the National Library of Belarus and some colourful Soviet mosaics on suburban flats before the urban landscape of Minsk gave way to green fields, eventually leading to the sight of the airport terminal.

minsk metro — *Taking the Minsk metro towards the bus and railway station. ©Paliparan*

gates of minsk — *Gates of Minsk. ©Paliparan*

national library of belarus — *On my way to Minsk Airport, my bus passed by the unusual-looking National Library of Belarus. ©Paliparan*

soviet mosaic flat apartment block — *Gorgeous Soviet mosaics on the side of an apartment block. ©Paliparan*

minsk airport belarus — *Minsk Airport. ©Paliparan*

Conclusion

Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a highly unusual but fun and interesting travel destination where you’re transported back to Soviet times.

The city centre of Minsk is filled with grand communist-era architecture, including magnificent Soviet murals, Lenin statues, World War II memorials, and impressive administrative buildings built in typical Stalinist style.

Minsk also boasts a vibrant social scene, with plenty of appealing cafés, bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.

There is a lot more to see and do in Minsk besides walking along the Soviet-era buildings in the centre, such as a visit to the MZOR district with its repurposed factories and warehouses, now home to cultural venues, art galleries, and bars.

Soviet ghosts are, however, not just a thing of the past in Minsk, as Belarus remains very much a dictatorship with no freedom of speech or association, nor fair elections.

Although I loved my trip to Minsk, travel to Belarus currently comes with a lot of security issues, especially for westerners, who face the risk of arbitrary arrest and being used as a bargaining chip by the Belarusian regime.

However, when the Lukashenko regime finally collapses and a more liberal – or at the very least, international law-abiding – administration takes its place, Minsk will certainly make for a super intriguing travel destination again.

Trip report index

This article is part of the ‘Back to Central Asia: Travels Through Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan‘ trip report, which consists of the following chapters:

1. Review: TAROM Domestic Flight Bucharest to Cluj-Napoca
2. Cluj-Napoca: A Travel Guide to Transylvania’s Vibrant Capital
3. Turda Salt Mine and Gorge: An Easy Cluj-Napoca Day Trip
4. Cheile Turzii: Hiking Through the Impressive Turda Gorge
5. Review: Cluj-Napoca Airport Business Lounge
6. Guide: Free Turkish Airlines Transit Hotel at Istanbul Airport
7. Minsk, Belarus: Chasing Soviet Ghosts in Europe’s Last Dictatorship (current chapter)
8. Review: Turkish Airlines Business Class Minsk-Istanbul-Almaty
9. A Visit to Almaty, Kazakhstan’s Vibrant Economic Capital

** rest of the chapters to follow soon **