Anton Trafimovich • 10 Reasons to Visit Belarus
TRANSITIONAL ARCHITECTURE
Belarus is located between Eastern and Western cultures and has
always been combining the features of both. Seeing the medieval
churches in Belarus is unlike any you will have ever seen before.
The 15th century Orthodox church in Synkovičy will blow your
mind right out of the water. It’s a fortress and a church at the same
time, it’s Eastern Orthodox and it’s Gothic at the same time! No
architectural styles could describe this church-fortress, so we call
it Belarusian Gothic. Another astonishing church is Sarja on the
border with Latvia and if you visit Palessie, you can see three to
four hundred year old wooden churches. Minsk is the ultimate
example of 20th century transition. A few old districts in the
midtown combine Stalin baroque and ugly high scrapers of the
previous years. Walk for ten minutes and then you will suddenly
see the triumph of geometry and Malevic (by the way, he worked
in Belarus and had a great impact on the Viciebsk school of art)
because most Soviet and post-Soviet houses are just plain cubes
with no decorations.
16
March 2015