The Palace of the Republic () is a palatial government building in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

. It is used for official state functions including forums, meetings, conventions, multi-genre concerts, symphony orchestras, and New Year's events.

Background

According to its official website, the idea for this building was conceptualised by

Pyotr Masherov Pyotr Mironovich Masherov, ''Piotr Mironavič Mašeraŭ''russian: Пётр Миронович Машеров (né Mashero; – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during Wo ...

, first secretary of the central committee of the

Communist Party of Belarus The Communist Party of Belarus (CPB; russian: Коммунисти́ческая па́ртия Белару́си, Kommunisticheskaya Partiya Belarusi; be, Камуністы́чная па́ртыя Белару́сі, Kamunistyčnaja Partyja B ...

. In 1982, a competition was conducted to produce a design for the building. Belgosproject produced the winning design. Construction began in 1985 but came to a halt as a result of the political upheaval caused by the

fall of the Soviet Union The dissolution of the Soviet Union, also negatively connoted as rus, Разва́л Сове́тского Сою́за, r=Razvál Sovétskogo Soyúza, ''Ruining of the Soviet Union''. was the process of internal disintegration within the Sov ...

. Construction restarted in 1995 by the order of

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (as transliterated from Russian language, Russian; also transliterated from Belarusian language, Belarusian as Alyaksand(a)r Ryhoravich Lukashenka;, ; rus, Александр Григорьевич Лука� ...

, the first elected president of the newly formed

Republic of Belarus A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...

. Building work was completed in October 1997 and the palace became fully operational on the last day of 2001 and features a 2,700-seat auditorium, a 500-seat indoor amphitheater, a press center, and several conference halls.

Gallery

File:Republic Palace Minsk.jpeg, File:Palace of Republic, Minsk 02.jpg, File:Minsk - Palast der Republik an der Engelsstraße - panoramio.jpg, File:Minsk Palast der Republik.JPG, File:Palace of Republic, Minsk 01.jpg, File:Palace of the Republic, Minsk, Belarus; 01.10.19.jpg

References

External links

Official website
Buildings and structures in Minsk Government of Belarus {{Belarus-struct-stub