Hanna Lapikava Minsk Minsk is the capital and largest city in Belarus, situated on the Svisloch and Nemiga

rivers. Minsk is also a headquarters of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). As the national capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is also the administrative center of Minsk Region. It has a population of 1,864,100 inhabitants. The area of today's Minsk was settled by the Early East Slavs by the 9th century. By 980, the area was incorporated into the early mediaeval Principality of Polotsk, one of the earliest East Slavic states. Minsk was first mentioned in the name Menesk in the Primary Chronicle for the year 1067 in association with the Battle on the river Nemiga. The date of 2 September 1067 is considered to be the exact founding date of the city, though the town had certainly existed for some time by then. The origin of the name is unknown but there are several theories. Minsk`s flag and coat of arms share the same image of the Holy Virgin's Ascension. This emblem was granted to the city in 1591. According to the legend an icon of Ascension arrived to the city up the stream of the river Svisloch from Kiev which was ruined by the Tatars. At the river bank where the icon was found the very first Minsk`s church was built. Though you wouldn`t be able to find it now. Most of our historical monuments were destroyed during those numerous wars for which our country was the battlefield. The latest and the most ruinous was the World War II. After Germany invaded the Soviet Union on 22 June 1941, as part of Operation Barbarossa, Minsk immediately came under attack. The city was bombed on the first day of the invasion and came under Wehrmacht control four days later. When it was recaptured by Soviet troops on 3 July 1944, during Operation Bagration, factories, municipal buildings, power stations, bridges, most roads and 80% of the houses were leveled to the ground. After World War II, Minsk was rebuilt, but not reconstructed. The historical center was replaced in the 1940s

and 1950s by Stalinist architecture, which buildings, broad avenues and wide squares.

favored

grand

So we really treasure what we still have. Like the Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Spirit built in the simplified Baroque style in 164287 and went through renovations in 174146 and 1869. The Cathedral of Saint Mary was built by the Jesuits as their monastery church in 170010, restored in 1951 and 1997. And our City Hall of 19 century which was rebuilt in 2003. Also the Neo-Romanesque Roman Catholic Red Church originally called Cathedral of St. Simeon and Helene which was built in 190610. And Troitsky suburb is an 'old town' rebuilt in a 19th century style on the Svisloch River that flows through the center of Minsk. Of course Minsk is growing and developing. It`s a modern city with concert halls, museums, theatres, nightclubs, shopping malls, sport centers etc. Also Minsk is the major educational center of Belarus. It has about 500 kindergartens, 258 schools, 28 colleges, and 36 higher education institutions, including 12 major national universities.