Independence Avenue

Acquaintance with Minsk begins with this 15-kilometer highway, which cuts the city into two halves. Most of the classic Minsk sights are located, if not on the avenue itself, then close to it. Actually, the avenue itself is also a landmark and a unique example of the Stalinist Empire style. Artist and writer Artur Klinov coined the term "City of the Sun" to describe this part of Minsk as the main artery of the Big Communist Dream.

Independence Avenue begins with the square of the same name, which houses the Government House, built in the 1930s by architect Iosif Langbard, whose style still defines the face of modern Minsk (Langbard also designed the iconic buildings of the House of Officers, the Academy of Sciences, the Opera and Ballet Theater, cinema "Victory"). The building of the House of Government is the largest in Belarus, although you can’t tell right away, because it is hidden in the very corner of the square.