Day 4 (July 9, 2019): A Castle. A Great War. And a great big Lenin statue!
On our last day in Minsk, we had three objectives in mind: (1) to visit a UNESCO World Heritage site in Mir, which is about 100km southwest of Minsk; (2) to visit the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History (a must-see in Belarus); and (3) to visit the last 'square' of significance in the city - Independence Square. All in that order.
Catching a bus to Mir isn't easy, and there aren't many available. So we were out the door just after 8AM and made our way to the main bus station, where we found a sea of "marshrutkas" (shuttle buses, basically), all marked with Russian characters. Somehow we were able to buy tickets on a departure at 8:40 and found the departure bay. It left right on time, and we started our journey through morning city traffic to the outskirts of Minsk, and then down a very direct divided highway, past unending corn, wheat and barley fields to Mir.
Driving into the small village of Mir, the Mir Castle Complex is a dominating sight. It was a 10-minute walk to the castle, followed by a great time exploring the rooms, reading about its history, ownership, and renovations. We were back at the tiny bus station by noon, and at 12:30 PM, we got the last two seats on the small shuttle bus back to Minsk.
We pulled into the bus station at 2PM, found an amazing lunch at a restaurant close by, and then set out for the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History. The museum is very modern and is self-described as "the most important institution of national memory about the great deed of Belarusian people and the people of the Soviet Union in the struggle against Nazism." We spent close to two hours wandering the excellent exhibits and felt great sadness to know that 2.3 million people were killed in this small country in WWII, including 1.5 million civilians. The Nazis had 260 camps or detention centers in Belarus, and the 4th highest number of murders in all of Europe happened in one of these.
After that sobering experience, we headed to Independence Square, which is the seat of government for Belarus. Adjacent to the Square is the Church of Saints Simon and Helena, and in the middle of the Square, larger than life, is a status of Lenin. It shows both the close alignment of Belarus with Russia, despite the collapse of the USSR, and the continued leanings of the government towards socialist ideologies.
Catching a bus to Mir isn't easy, and there aren't many available. So we were out the door just after 8AM and made our way to the main bus station, where we found a sea of "marshrutkas" (shuttle buses, basically), all marked with Russian characters. Somehow we were able to buy tickets on a departure at 8:40 and found the departure bay. It left right on time, and we started our journey through morning city traffic to the outskirts of Minsk, and then down a very direct divided highway, past unending corn, wheat and barley fields to Mir.
Driving into the small village of Mir, the Mir Castle Complex is a dominating sight. It was a 10-minute walk to the castle, followed by a great time exploring the rooms, reading about its history, ownership, and renovations. We were back at the tiny bus station by noon, and at 12:30 PM, we got the last two seats on the small shuttle bus back to Minsk.
We pulled into the bus station at 2PM, found an amazing lunch at a restaurant close by, and then set out for the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History. The museum is very modern and is self-described as "the most important institution of national memory about the great deed of Belarusian people and the people of the Soviet Union in the struggle against Nazism." We spent close to two hours wandering the excellent exhibits and felt great sadness to know that 2.3 million people were killed in this small country in WWII, including 1.5 million civilians. The Nazis had 260 camps or detention centers in Belarus, and the 4th highest number of murders in all of Europe happened in one of these.
After that sobering experience, we headed to Independence Square, which is the seat of government for Belarus. Adjacent to the Square is the Church of Saints Simon and Helena, and in the middle of the Square, larger than life, is a status of Lenin. It shows both the close alignment of Belarus with Russia, despite the collapse of the USSR, and the continued leanings of the government towards socialist ideologies.
And all that took us to 6PM. We rested our wearing feet in a coffee shop for a late-afternoon cappucino, then headed back to the hotel for dinner and to get organized for our early morning trip to Brest, in the southwest corner of Belarus, next to the Polish border. It has been a wonderful few days of getting to know Minsk!
The central bus station in Minsk - a sea of marshrutkas all labeled in Russian.
About to start our exploration of Mir Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The inner courtyard of Mir Castle.
The inner courtyard of Mir Castle.
Not the most practical clothing in the history of humankind!
Hunting was always at the heart of the life of the Castle, and the spoils of the hunt are everywhere.
Mir Castle from across the man-made lake.
The chapel at Mir Castle, with a crpyt below.
A view of the small town of Mir, from a turret of Mir Castle.
Orthodox church in Mir.
We've discovered the Belarusian "business lunch" - enough courses to put a person to sleep back at the office! And all for a song. Can you believe, we each had a salad, the best borscht soup we've ever tasted, a chicken dinner and beverages all for $15 (total)!
The very modern and extremely well organized Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History
The Red Army really comes alive in the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History
The Red Army really comes alive in the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History
The Red Army really comes alive in the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History
This is a horrible artifact of war: it is a metal sheet used to carry ashes and bone fragments of corpses from the Nazi crematoriums in Belarus, which were then used as fertilizer to grow crops to sustain the Nazi war machine.
The Great Hall at the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War History
The Church of Saints Simon and Helena, next to Independence Square.
Independence Square.
The Parliament at Independence Square.
Larger than life, Lenin still presides over Independence Square, a testimony to continued ties with Russia and socialist ideologies.
A colourful 15-storey message on a government building in Independence Square.
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