Stary Mensk is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cafe hidden among monoliths opposite the KGB building. It has a pleasant terrace on the sidewalk with occasional live acoustic music.
Down the street its cousin, London, has a similar vibe.
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
Museum of the Great Patriotic War
1.43 MILES
Housed in a garish new building, Minsk's best museum houses an excellent display detailing Belarus' suffering and heroism during the Nazi occupation. With…
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0.94 MILES
Vul Kastrychnitskaya – still known by its Soviet name, ulitsa Oktyabrskaya – has blossomed into Minsk's unofficial arts district. Brazilian street artists…
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0.21 MILES
The capital's main thoroughfare impresses with its sheer size. Formerly pr Francyska Skaryny, it runs from what travel writer Colin Thubron dubbed the …
4.43 MILES
For a taste of post-Soviet Belarus, head north of the centre to the new national library, a ghastly piece of Lukashenko-approved hubris. You'll need your…
0.37 MILES
Independence Sq, formerly pl Lenina, is dominated by the 1930s constructivist Belarusian Government Building (behind the iconic Lenin statue). The red…
0.83 MILES
Standing on a small island connected to the Old Town by a walking bridge, this evocative Afghan war memorial is known colloquially as the Island of Tears…
0.27 MILES
The red-brick Catholic Church of SS Simon & Elena, built in 1910, is worth popping into for a peek at its unique, wave-like, arched ceiling. Its tall,…
0.51 MILES
Off the northern edge of pl Svabody is the baroque, twin-towered Orthodox Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, built in 1642. It was once part of a Polish…
Nearby Minsk attractions
0.07 MILES
An entire block of central pr Nezalezhnastsi is occupied by this yellow neoclassical building with an ominous, temple-like Corinthian portal – the KGB…
0.1 MILES
Two freshly modernised museums in one here. The national history museum proper occupies the upper floors with exhibits of ethnographic and archaeological…
0.1 MILES
Between pr Nezalezhnastsi and vul Karla Marksa is a long narrow park with a bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the KGB's predecessor (the Cheka)…
0.21 MILES
The capital's main thoroughfare impresses with its sheer size. Formerly pr Francyska Skaryny, it runs from what travel writer Colin Thubron dubbed the …
0.27 MILES
The red-brick Catholic Church of SS Simon & Elena, built in 1910, is worth popping into for a peek at its unique, wave-like, arched ceiling. Its tall,…
6. Belarusian State Art Museum
0.3 MILES
This excellent museum in one of Minsk's iconic buildings (built in 1939) includes definitive works by Soviet social realists and Russian masters,…
0.37 MILES
Independence Sq, formerly pl Lenina, is dominated by the 1930s constructivist Belarusian Government Building (behind the iconic Lenin statue). The red…
0.4 MILES
In the heart of the Old Town just off central vul Lenina is charming pl Svabody, lorded over by the white medieval Ratusha (town hall). Off the northern…