Minsk - Upper Town

Minsk is the capital and largest city of Belarus, situated on the Svislač and Niamiha 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 2009, it had a population of 1,836,808.

The card shows a nice view of Upper Town of Minsk, with Svislach River in the foreground and the main churches.

Minsk’s Upper Town is “Where Angels Fear to Tread” is popularly believed.  Minsk’s few remaining historic buildings cluster around the handful of surviving churches that cling grimly to the small hill in the center of the old town that seems to have protected them just as well from the architectural purges of Stalin as it once did from the seasonal floods of the Svisloch River. The architecturally anomalous Holy Spirit Cathedral and its attached monastery complex dominate all with a unique Vilna-Baroque façade and a prime position on the very summit of the upper town. Equally worth looking out for are the Virgin Mary Catholic Church with its attached former Jesuit College and the heavily fortified Saints Peter and Paul Church that was once built into the city wall.Finally remember to drop by the reconstructed Town Hall for a quick look into the city’s somewhat glorious past and it’s hopefully glorious future.  My friend Larissa from Minsk sent me this nice card.