Belarus - What to Expect

Pretend to be local when paying the entry fee, ..... foreigners get charged much than locals

Kaloza Church:Visit the 'Boris and Gleb' Church or simply Kaloza Church which was built on top of the 12th century`s church in the 15th century. Hope that does not sound confusing. ;) This one of seven Belarussian wonders is sitting on top of Zamkovaya mountain.The side you see on the pic basically is what`s left of the original church cause in 1853 its south and west sides collapsed into Neman river as a result of a landslip. The story of the church is such:Long time ago two noble men Boris and Gleb took in captivity citizens of Russian town Kaloza. The prisoners were brought to Hrodna where they were allowed to build a church for themselves. The church was named after Boris and Gleb of course, but people just called her Kaloza, after the name of their long lost home.

Minsk KGB Building:Built soon after the Great War (1941-1945) between 1945-47, at first this building looked really weird among the ruins of the city.If you look at the 2nd KGB picture you`ll see a small tower on its right corner. It was not supposed to be there but a top KGB guy (Zsanava) gave an order to build it, on a whim I guess. He said to an architect (whose surname was 'King' by the way): ''You may be a king in the architecture business but I`m a king of Minsk, so make sure the tower looks nice when you finish.' Back then being the head of KGB meant absolute power. And so it stands untill today - the Zsanava Tower.Address: Avenue Nezavisimosti, 17.

Well, was not impressed by this city, have to say. Not that it is not beautiful, all the facades are done nicely, it is very clean, a lot of green, but, o brother, it is stuck in the communist era. Globalization did not lay its paws on this city, oh no. Mostly local brands, they rarely import anything. Locals do not like foreigners, do not speak anything but Russian Prepare to wait for your meal, even at high ranking national restaurants for more than hour and a half, and do not trust the prices written on the menues. They increase the price when you pay, saying it is the taxes.

Chatyn is actually a former belarusian village which was populated until the second world war. During this periode 186 villages where destroyed, and Chatyn was one of them. Chatyn is a memorial and kind off a graveyard for this 186 villages that were destroyed.

The best time to visit Minsk and Belarus in general is to go there in late spring, summer or late autumn. The city in the center is beautiful, with many parks and very nice architecture. The main avenue of Scorina has been announced as the World heritage and is under the protection of UNESCO – considered as the most beautiful and pressures heritage from Stalin’s time.