Does a street often become an architectural monument? We are accustomed to classify churches, palaces or castles as architectural masterpieces. But in Minsk there is such a landmark — Independence Avenue. The background to its appearance is very sad. Since after the war Minsk lay in ruins, the main street of the city had to be completely rebuilt. Hence the integrity of the style.
Where the main avenue of Minsk now lies — there used to be Sovetskaya Street and Borisovsky Trakt. But after the war, only ten buildings remained on Sovetskaya, which became the reason for a radical restructuring. If you compare the current avenue and the old street, the first one has become not only longer, but wider and straighter.
Another feature of the avenue is the number of changes in the name of the main Minsk highway. The first name that came to us is Zakharyevskaya Street. That's what it was called until 1919. The name is associated with the first Minsk governor Zakhary Yakovlevich Korneev. This was the most stable name: the street was called that way for more than a hundred years. And then: Sovetskaya, Adam Mickiewicz, Sovetskaya again, Hauptstrasse, Sovetskaya, Stalin Avenue, Leninsky Avenue, Francysk Skaryna, Independence Avenue.
Modern Independence Avenue originates on Independence Square (formerly Lenin Square). The prospectus can be divided into three parts. The first starts at Independence Square and goes to Victory Square, the second — from Victory Square to Kalinin Square, and the third — from Kalinin Square to the entrance to Minsk.
The greatest value is the central part of the avenue, which was built in the 1940–1960s in the Stalinist Empire style. All buildings are parts of a harmonious architectural ensemble, which is protected by the state. By the way, this part of Independence Avenue is applying for inclusion in UNESCO list of world cultural heritage.
The author of the development project was academician Mikhail Parusnikov. His project was approved in 1947. At the very beginning of the project, the Minsk Main Post Office building appeared on the avenue. It was built in 1949–1953, it reminds us of classicist architecture. Opposite it, by 1967, the modern Minsk Hotel had grown.
The majority of residential buildings in the central part of the avenue were built according to standard designs; this could reduce the architectural value of the development. However, here, with amazing monumentality, an administrative building was erected. Now — State Security Committee. It was very organically connected with a house in the neoclassical style, built before the revolution — the modern Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus. Opposite these buildings there is a park where a bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky was erected. Dzerzhinsky was considered the «founding father» of the Soviet police and security agencies.
It is worth paying attention to the buildings of the National Bank and GUM. By the way, it was started to be built by captured Germans, who managed to make the foundation and began laying the walls. True, in 1948 they were all sent to Germany, so Soviet builders completed the store. GUM opened November 5, 1951. Eyewitnesses recall that on the first day there was such a stir that the line stretched along the avenue for a whole kilometer. And the mounted police had to restrain her. GUM was beautiful not only outside, but also inside. Its decoration was simply amazing: wooden showcases, silk curtains, a large number of mirrors and bronze decorations. GUM was a fairly modern store, and already in 1969 it introduced self-service — one of the first in the Union.
Independence Square, Victory Square, October Square, Yakub Kolas Square and others - they have become the pearl architectural necklace of Independence Avenue. Each of them carries many architectural treasures.
From Kalinin Square there is the last section of the avenue, which ends in the Uruchye microdistrict. There is a park named after Chelyuskintsev, as well as an amazing Botanical Garden. The Minsk Children's Railway was built here for children. The National Library is also located here.
Independence Avenue is an architectural masterpiece, which is included in the ten-volume encyclopedia «World Architecture 1900–2002.»
