City Hall is the main jewel of Svabody Square and a symbol of the historical memory of Minsk natives. The tower with a weather vane 32 meters high has a clock and a city emblem. Every hour, the chimes beat off a fragment of the melody from "Songs about Minsk" by composer Ihar Lučanok.

Minsk City Hall is an administrative building that was located on the High Market. It was built in 1600. The town hall hosted meetings of the Minsk Magistrate, standards of weight and volume were stored there.

After Belarus joined the Russian Empire, Magdeburg law for Minsk was abolished. At that time, the building of the town hall was used for court hearings and archiving. In the 1830s there was a music school. From 1844 to 1851, the theater was located in the town hall, but in 1857 the building was destroyed.

The building of the Minsk City Hall was restored in independent Belarus. In 2002-2004, in the same place and in the same form, the town hall was rebuilt. Since 2012, this symbol of freedom of Minsk has become available for visiting by Belarusians and guests of our country.

The city hall has two long-term exhibition projects. The exposition “Minsk in the historical space. Cartographic cabinet” presents original maps, copies and reproductions of rare copies showing the lands inhabited by the Slavs, the city of Minsk and its environs and reflecting the place of Minsk as the administrative-territorial center of the Minsk parish, voivodeship, and later the governorate.

In the exposition “Minsk among friends. Twin cities of the capital of Belarus” gifts to the city of Minsk from twin cities and partner cities are presented.

Publication date: 07.02.2020.

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