Country Information

• The cultural scene in Minsk is very diverse with the Belarusian Ballet and good museums such as the National Museum of Belarusian History and Culture, the National Arts Museum, the Museum of History of the Great Patriotic War and the Museum of Old Belarusian Culture. Other interesting museums deal with the major Belarusian writers, Kolas, Kupala, Bogdanovich and Brovka. Icons form a large part of the National Gallery. Museums generally open Tues-Sun 1000-1900.

• About 22km (14 miles) from the capital is the picturesque village of Raubichi, with an interesting ethnographic museum housed in a disused church.

• The Museum of Folk Architecture is situated in Ozerto (15km/10 miles southwest of Minsk), and features original pieces of century-old buildings from different regions in Belarus.

• The Dudutki Museum of Material Culture is to be found 40km (25 miles) from the capital city and is the only private museum in Belarus showing traditional crafts and ways of life.

• Sports enthusiasts can enjoy excellent cross-country skiing in the Raubichy Olympic Sports Complex, 22km (14 miles) from Minsk, while for lovers of mountain skiing, there are two modern resorts (Logoysk and Silichy) situated 30km (19 miles) from Minsk. Skating is also popular.

• The Braslav Lake District situated in the north and northeast of the country, near the borders of Lithuania and Latvia, is ideal for boating holidays. Several of the 30 lakes, situated in an atmospheric forest, are connected by canals. Accommodation in the area is usually in small dachas along the lakeshore.

• Belavezha Wood is one of the last sites where rare animals such as bisons, bears and wolves can still be seen living in their natural habitat. Long scenic hiking trails are scattered throughout the Nature Reserve of Berezinsky, stretching from the source of the Berezina to Palik Lake. Primeval forests, marshland, deep rivers and a rich fauna and flora dominate this unique region, hence its UNESCO listing as a protected biosphere. This reserve historically provided a great trade route known as the way ’from the Varangians to the Greeks’, connecting the Baltic and the Black Sea countries.

• Vitebsk, situated 270km (169 miles) from Minsk is the birthplace of the painter Marc Chagall. There is a cultural centre named after him, and his family house has been turned into a museum.

• One of the highlights of Brest is a tour of the Fortress, which was used to repel the German forces during WWII. Inside the fortress is a museum which chronicles its history back to the 13th century. This history is further illustrated by a fascinating selection of exhibits in the Museum of History and Archaeology. Brest has a famous puppet theatre that is worth seeing and visitors should not miss out on the elegant design of the Belaya Vezha (White Tower), also known as the famous Kamenets Tower, that was built in the 13th century.

• In the countryside surrounding Brest, time appears to have stood still for centuries; 500-year-old trees can be found in the state national park, Belovezhskaya Pushcha. Wild European (Belovezhskaya) bison roam the area. The park contains 60 types of animal and 900 types of plants.

• For tourists seeking political history, the village of Viskouli is where leaders of Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine signed the famous agreement stipulating the final disintegration of the USSR.

See Contact Addresses for further tourist information.