Photos of Churches in Minsk
Churches in Minsk? Weren’t they bombed by the Nazis or later used by the Soviets as warehouses or gyms? That may well be true, but like every large city, Minsk has its churches. Minsk’s churches are not as old as those in many other cities, and certainly not as grand, but they are in use again, serving their purpose as gathering places for the faithful.
In this section, we publish photos of Minsk’s churches. We include among Minsk’s churches the cathedrals and churches belonging to different religious denominations that help shape the city’s skyline. Many of these churches are vibrant places of faith in modern Minsk. Minsk is home to a mix of Orthodox and Catholic Christians. The city’s once-large Jewish community was almost entirely murdered by the Nazis. Today, Christian churches therefore dominate the cityscape—but that was not always the case.
Die wiederaufgebauten Kirchen von Minsk sind Symbole für das neue Selbstbewußtsein des jungen Minsk
Photo: Ilya Kalachev
Most people in Minsk are Orthodox Christians or Catholics. The majority of Minsk’s churches belong to these two branches of Christianity. A number of churches that are Orthodox today once belonged to the Catholic Church. One example is Minsk’s most important Orthodox church, the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, on Cyril and Methodius Street. The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit was once part of a Catholic monastery.
Most of Minsk’s old churches were built between the 16th and 19th centuries and survived the fires and artillery barrages of the Second World War. The new churches built in Minsk today are predominantly Orthodox. These include the Church of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk on Pritytskogo Street, as well as the Cathedral of All Saints on Kalinovskogo Street. A Catholic parish church dedicated to John the Baptist is also currently under construction in the Serebryanka neighborhood.
