Independence Square, Minsk
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Independence Square (, , ) is a square in
Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...
,
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
. It is one of the landmarks on Independence Avenue. The
National Assembly of Belarus The National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the bicameral parliament of Belarus. The two chambers of the National Assembly are: *the Council of the Republic – the upper house *the House of Representatives – the lower house. ...
and Minsk City Hall are on this square. During the period of the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a Republics of the Soviet Union, republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 19 ...
it was called Lenin Square. It is currently one of the largest squares in Europe. The
Minsk Metro The Minsk Metro (; ) is a rapid transit system that serves Minsk, the capital of Belarus. Opened 29 June 1984, it presently consists of 3 lines and 33 stations, totaling . In 2013, the system carried 328.3 million passengers, which averages to a ...
's Ploshcha Lyenina station opens to the square, and the area is also serviced by the 1, 69, and 119с busses, among several others.


History

The square was designed by Iosif Langbard and was created for conducting rallies and to serve as Minsk's main ceremonial venue during the Soviet times. During World War II most buildings that were on the square were destroyed by the
Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
. From 1946 to 1984 October Square replaced Lenin Square as the city's main venue. A project for the reconstruction of Independence Square was launched after the
fall of the USSR The Soviet Union was formally dissolved as a sovereign state and subject of international law on 26 December 1991 by Declaration No. 142-N of the Soviet of the Republics of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union. Declaration No. 142-Н of ...
. The first stage was completed in 2002. The transportation scheme of the area was then changed. Two more pedestrian underpasses as well as the underground
shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...
"Stolica" were constructed.


Events


Parades

In the Soviet era,
military parades A military parade is a formation of military personnels whose movement is restricted by close-order manoeuvering known as drilling or marching. Large military parades are today held on major holidays and military events around the world. Mass ...
in honor of International Workers' Day (1 May) (until 1969),
Victory Day (9 May) Victory Day , , , ka, გამარჯვების დღე, Gamarjvebis dğe () , is a holiday that commemorates the victory of the Soviet Union over Nazi Germany in 1945. It was first inaugurated in the 15 republics of ...
, and October Revolution Day (7 November) took place on the square since it was used as the city's general parade venue until 1984. The First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Belarus The Communist Party of Belarus (CPB or KPB; ; ) is a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Belarus. The party was created in 1996 and supports the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. The leader of the party is Sergei S ...
and members of the politburo would get on top of a grandstand in front of a statue of Lenin. These types of parades would go on until 1989. The first parade of the independent Republic of Belarus was on Independence Square in 1995, in honor of
golden jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...
of the signing of the
German Instrument of Surrender The German Instrument of Surrender was a legal document effecting the unconditional surrender of the remaining German armed forces to the Allies, ending World War II in Europe. It was signed at 22:43 CET on 8 May 1945 and took effect at 23 ...
.


Demonstrations

In the Soviet era, many pro-Communist rallies took place. A rally in honor of the 100th birthday of
Vladimir Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...
ran at the square on 22 April 1970. Rallies in honor of Minsk's 900th anniversary also took place in 1967.


2020 protests

During the 2020 Belarusian protests, the square was an area where many rallies occurred. President Lukashenko addressed supporters of him on the square hours before tens of thousands of opposition protesters began gathering in the same area. Lukashenko told his supporters "to defend your country and its independence". Lukashenko's son Nikolai was compared to a bodyguard due to him wearing a jacket, white shirt and sunglasses. During the protests, many shouted and chanted "Leave!", referring to demands for Lukashenko's resignation. On 9 August, the
Minsk City Police Department The Minsk City Police Department ( Belarusian: Галоўнае ўпраўленне ўнутраных спраў Мінскага Гарвыканкама; Russian: Главное управление внутренних дел Минского ...
closed central Independence Square in front of the buildings of the government and the
Central Election Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
.


Other

In 1980, the
state funeral A state funeral is a public funeral ceremony, observing the strict rules of protocol, held to honour people of national significance. State funerals usually include much pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements o ...
of the First Secretary of the
Communist Party of Byelorussia Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, ...
Pyotr Masherov Pyotr Mironovich Masherov (né Mashero; – 4 October 1980) was a Soviet partisan, statesman, and one of the leaders of the Belarusian resistance during World War II who governed the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic as First Secretary ...
took place on the square. On 8 September 1992, the Minsk Higher Military Engineering School and the Minsk Higher Military Command School (now the unified
Military Academy of Belarus Military Academy of the Republic of Belarus (, ) is higher military educational institution in the national education system of the Republic of Belarus and the leading institution in the education system of training, retraining and advanced traini ...
) were the first to take the military oath of allegiance to the armed forces, with their induction ceremony being held on Independence Square in the presence of defense minister Pavel Kozlovskii.


Landmarks


Buildings


Others

*
Maxim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University Maksim Tank Belarusian State Pedagogical University also known as BSPU () is a university in Minsk, Belarus. It specialises in teacher training of mathematics, chemistry, physics, psychology, geography, history, languages and others for primary a ...
* Minsk Metro headquarters * Minsk Mayor’s Office * Former commercial apartment buildings of the early 20th century * Lenin Statue outside the Government headquarter *Shopping mall "Stoliсa" (located underground)


References

{{coord, 53.8956, N, 27.5478, E, source:wikidata, display=title Squares in Minsk National squares