There is such a concept - genius loci, the spirit of a place. What makes each city unique creates a special atmosphere. These are old temples and mysterious squares, city sculpture and narrow streets, and most importantly, legends and traditions associated with them. There are many amazing stories in Minsk, let's remember the brightest of them.
1. Minsk Icon of the Mother of God
It was August 26, 1500. Minskers, who lived in the area of the Trinity Suburb, saw a wonderful light over the river. When they ran away, they found an icon near the bank of the Svisloch, from which an unearthly light emanated.
It turned out to be a miraculous icon of the Mother of God by the Apostle Luke. From Byzantium, she once came to Korsun, then to Kiev. During the invasion of the Tatar Khan Mengli-Girey, one of the invaders tore off her precious salary and threw the relic into the Dnieper. A miracle happened: the icon sailed against the current to the Svisloch. To this day, the shrine can be seen in the Minsk Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, and there is a memorial sign at the place of its acquisition.
2. The ghost of the Minsk City Hall
Promotional video:
Minsk City Hall - evidence that the city was granted the Magdeburg Law - was erected at the beginning of the 16th century, and in the middle of the 18th century its ghost appeared in it. Shlyakhtich Michal Volodkovich, a close friend of the legendary Radziwill Pane Kohanku, was distinguished by his violent character and extraordinary physical strength. His jokes were often very cruel - he could order a passer-by to throw a hundred and one whip.
And when the poor nobleman Yatsyna, beaten in this way, summoned the tyrant to the court, which took place in the same Minsk City Hall, Volodkovich appeared drunk, shot at the ceiling, wounded one of the deputies with a saber and … left. Once, having seen the funeral procession, he took the musicians and took them to the guardhouse, where his friend was sitting. Minskers were especially indignant when Volodkovich disrupted the mass of the respected priest Oblachinsky in the cathedral church, which now stands opposite the Town Hall. In order to take revenge on the priest who criticized him, the nobleman brought musicians, gypsies with bears, even camels to the square, rolled barrels of free booze … To the terrible noise, everyone poured out of the church.
By the way, Volodkovich was once elected to the government of the city, it was possible when Pan Kohanka sent his soldiers to the meeting of the magistrate. In the end, the townspeople came to an agreement, seized Volodkovich and condemned him to death. Michal refused to run, although he was warned of a conspiracy. It is known that when he was dragged out of the courtroom, it was possible to do this only together with the doorframe, which the gentry grabbed onto. Volodkovich was shot right there, in the basement of the Town Hall, and his ghost began to look out of the windows of the building.
3. Spirit of the giants
Once upon a time in Belarus, according to legends, stones grew and volots-heroes lived, it was not for nothing that our great-grandfathers called the mounds volotovki, that is, the graves of those giants. One of these volots, Menesk, lived on the banks of the Svisloch.
He built a water mill with seven wheels here, and he ground not grains, but stones on it. Menesk had a beautiful daughter, Menka, many soldiers fell in love with her and went to serve her father. Menesk is not just a miller, he had his own squad, he traveled at night and guarded his land. People came under his protection, settled. This is how the city of Mensk arose, and a saying remained in the Belarusian folklore: "I will not go to Menska hell to the Viilensk road, but I am going to the Viilensky road, I am slipping into Myaneski."
4. Svisloch dragons
Dragons, "tsmoki", lived in Minsk of two types. One is classic, fire-breathing, demanding beautiful girls as a sacrifice.
There was his cave on the High Mountain, in the area of today's Jubilee Square. However, the groom of one of the doomed beauties killed the dragon, and he himself was mortally wounded. They say that at the bottom of the Svisloch, opposite the Yubileinaya hotel, for a long time you could see a crystal coffin with the remains of a knight and a rib of a defeated dragon.
Not so long ago, the city river was cleaned, the remains of the dragon were not found … But it is possible that somewhere, perhaps in the chronicle river Nemiga enclosed in pipes, other dragons live. More precisely, dragons. The 16th century traveler Baron Sigismund Herberstein passed through Minsk on his way from Rome to Moscow and left a note that the townspeople keep in their homes instead of cats and dogs, large black fat lizards with dense scales, which are caught in the local river. Such information is not isolated. Moreover, in the office of the director of the Minsk real school Ivan Ivanovich Samoilo, at the beginning of the last century, there was a stuffed lizard. The director said that the lizard was not alone - they were brought to him by Tatar children, caught in Nemiga.
5. Red Church
A beautiful and sad legend is associated with one of the most remarkable architectural monuments of the capital - the Red Church. Its official name is St. Simeon and St. Elena.
The temple was erected at the beginning of the last century by the philanthropist and public figure Edward Voinilovich in memory of his deceased children. The first to die was fourteen-year-old Simeon. And a few years later, the parents' hope - talented, beautiful and kind Elena - fell mortally ill. According to legend, before her death, the Mother of God appeared to her, holding a model of the temple in her hands. Elena drew it from memory and told her father: when she builds this temple, she will be able to come there to calm her grief. The construction went hard - there was not enough money, but Voinilovich did not want to make compromises. On November 21, 1910, a special red brick temple was consecrated. The square behind the building of the church today bears the name of Edward Voinilovich.
Miller Menesk