Country Information

• Minsk, the capital of Belarus, situated 340km (213 miles) northeast of Warsaw and 120km (75 miles) southeast of Vilnius, was first mentioned in 1067, but little of the old city now survives except a few 17th-century buildings. The city grew to be an important axis of communication and suffered badly during WWII. Modern Minsk is symmetrically designed with wide embankments flanking the Svisloch River.

• The suburb of Troitskoye Predmestye should not be missed; it gives an insight into the way Minsk once looked – 19th-century houses with colourful facades line the streets. There are also excellent examples of baroque architecture, such as the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (1642), the Cathedral of St Peter and Paul (1613) and the Maryinsky Cathedral, which has been rebuilt to its original shape.

• Belarus in the 13th century was the nucleus of the great principality of Lithuania and its capital was Novogrudok, featuring a 14th-century castle, Lida, where Adam Mitskevich, the great Belarusian poet, was born.

• Not far from Raubichi (10km/6 miles) is the idyllic Minsk Lake, dotted with numerous islets and surrounded by dense pines.

• The onion-shaped domes of Russian Orthodox churches dominate the landscape throughout the country, but especially around Logoysk (40km/25 miles from Minsk), Krasnoe (60km/38 miles from Minsk) and Molodechno (80km/50 miles from Minsk).

• The memorial at Khatyn commemorates its destruction by the German army during WWII.

• The village of Zhirovitsa, 190km (119 miles) from Minsk, is renowned for the beautiful 15th-century Monastery of the Assumption. Part of the monastery complex is a convent and a theological seminary (17th to 18th century).

• 120km (75 miles) from Minsk is the small town of Mir where one can see the Jewish Cemetery and the 15th-century Mir Castle (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Nearby, historic Nesvizh still retains its old buildings. The former residence of the Radzivill family is one of the most attractive palaces in the country. It is surrounded by a large park with numerous lakes and elaborate gardens. Only a short walk away is the imposing Catholic Church designed by the 16th-century Italian architect Bernardoni.

• The centre of Christianity during the time of Rus (the first Russian state) lay in the Slavic town of Polotsk. Polotsk is the oldest of the Belarusian cities, founded in 862. An excellent example of architecture of the period is the 11th-century Church of St Sophia. Worth a visit are the two castles nearby. There is also a 12th-century convent, St Ephrosinia of Polotsk, and a 16th- to 17th-century Epiphany Monastery.

• Pinsk is 300km (186 miles) south of Minsk and is the second-largest city in the Brest region. It has an abundance of historical, architectural and cultural monuments. The city and its environs are also renowned for both their natural beauty and as the centre of the Belarusian Polesye, a low-lying land of waters and mists.

• In Grodno, the fifth-largest city of Belarus, major sites are the Old Town centre, the Kalozh-Church and the Old Castle (both from the 11th century).

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.