The Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is the only architectural monument of the Renaissance and Reformation that has been preserved in Minsk. It is included in the State list of historical and cultural values ​​of the Republic of Belarus.

Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul is the oldest church in Minsk. The cathedral was founded in 1612 with the voluntary donations of 52 believers from the gentry and citizens of the Minsk region. The temple was raised in the late 1620s as the church of the Minsk Peter and Paul Monastery.

After the second division of the Commonwealth, Minsk became a part of the Russian Empire. In 1793-1795, the temple was restored with funds spent by Catherine II. In 1795, the church was consecrated in the name of St. Catherine the Great Martyr. It became a city cathedral and became known as St. Catherine cathedral. In the years 1870-1871 the temple was significantly rebuilt and restored.

In the autumn of 1933, in line with the anti-religious policies of the Soviet regime, the temple was closed, and priests were arrested and executed. The room of the temple was adapted for a food warehouse.

During the German occupation in December 1941, church services were resumed. The cathedral again became known as St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. Divine services continued until December 1944, when the cathedral was again closed by the Soviet authorities. In the postwar period, the temple was equipped for housing, then – as the Archive of scientific and technical documentation of the BSSR and the Archive and Museum of Literature and Art of the BSSR.

On December 7, 1991, in independent Belarus, divine services were resumed, and the cathedral was again consecrated in the name of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. In 1997, the Peter and Paul Church was rebuilt.

Today the church is restored, its towers have got tent-like completions, and the facades have been freed from later outbuildings.

Peter and Paul Cathedral is included in the State list of historical and cultural values of Belarus.

Publication date: 07.02.2020.

---

For convenient navigation through the landmarks, use the FREE mobile program