Park Janki Kupaly

A public park established in 1800 under the name Governor's Garden. During the Soviet times it was renamed "парк культуры і адпачынку імя Максіма Горкага" (Park of culture and recreation after A.M.Gorky) after the famous Russian/Soviet writer Maksim Gorky. Parks with this name have been established in many cities of the Soviet Union. A part of the park's territory is occupied by an amusement park with a 56-metre-high Ferris wheel. It also has an educational observatory with a planetarium. The Ice Palace (indoors skating rink) is also located in Gorky Park. President Lukashenko, known for his hobby of ice hockey, frequents this place, at which times the access to this part of the park is closed for general public.

The oldest and, arguably, the best Belarusian drama theatre. All performances - classical and modern Belarusian and foreign plays - and are in Belarusian; some are dubbed into English and Russian. Occasional music concerts take place here too. The theatre has two stages. Tickets can be purchased online from major ticket-selling companies and in-person - from several box offices, see the Box Office page on the theatre website. A pleasant cafe at the rear of its building is particularly good on warm sunny days. The cafe inside the theatre is open before performances and during intervals; interval refreshments can be ordered in advance.

The most sought-after Minsk theatre. It has an excellent reputation for quality of the experience and variety of performances, incl. for children. For regular performances, tickets are readily available online and from various ticket vendors across the city. For the most exclusive shows, e.g. Christmas gala concerts, tickets - if sold out - are occasionally made available from the theatre box office at short notice, a day before or so.

The main Orthodox church of Belarus, a fine example of the late baroque style, known in Belarus as Vilno baroque. It was built in 1633-1642 as a Roman Catholic church of the Bernardine monastery. It became an Orthodox church in 1860s. Nowadays, it houses a magnificent icon of Our Lady of Minsk, the main religious symbol of the city. The church is richly decorated and is always busy with faithful and curious visitors.