Svabody Square is not just an architectural and historical monument. It is a complex of historical sites, attractions and interesting places.

Svabody Square is located on the elevated riverside of the Svislač. It began to form as an administrative, commercial and cultural center in the 16th century. Until the 1860s, it was called “Vierchni rynak”, later it was renamed to “Sabornaja plošča”. From 1917 to 1933 it was called the "Pliac Voli".

Today, the central place on Svabody Square is occupied by the City Hall. It was restored in 2004 according to a drawing of the 19th century. The restored building of the City Hall is crowned by a 32-meter tower with the clock and the emblem of Minsk.

On the north side of the square, a restored guest house adjoins the City Hall. Thanks to this house and shopping malls, the Upper Market area has become the main shopping center of Minsk.

The square was considered as the cultural center due to the fact that almost all the theater buildings of old Minsk were concentrated here. Unfortunately, they have not been preserved.

The architectural ensemble of the square is completed by compactly located Christian churches. From the former Jesuit collegium today remains the restored building of the Church of the Virgin Mary and the significantly modified building of the Jesuit school.

Most of the Svabody Square area was once occupied by monasteries: Bernardine, Basilian, Dominican. The Dominican monastery has not survived to our days, but the rest came to us in a very remodeled form. Even the modern dominant of Svabody Square – the orthodox Holy Spirit Cathedral – is a former church of the Bernardine monastery.

Publication date: 17.02.2020.

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