5 Days Visa-Free in Belarus- Chapter 3: Old Cities

Chapter 3
Like the National Mall in Washington D.C, or the Red Square in Moscow, Lenin Square was the heart of not only Minsk, but also the nation of Belarus. In front of the Parliament building, a statue of Vladimir Lenin still stood tall in front of a podium in a position to give a speech to those who passed by. The old empire had long gone, but he got to live on. 

The statue of Lenin in front of the Belarusian Parliament Building

Lenin Square

Right next to Lenin Square, there was the train station and the bus terminal. You could go anywhere in the country from these two places. Being a city of no more than 2 million, Minsk was nonetheless a fairly compact city. I didn't remember when was the last time I saw a busy transportation hub being right next to a nation's political heart.  It was definitely not Tian'anmen Square in Beijing, neither was Ak Orda in Astana. Gosh, it wasn't even the Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where I remembered taking a long bus ride just to get there from the train station. 

Minsk Train Station

While buying the tickets to Nesvizh on the ticket machine, I noticed that there was an option for those who "participated in the Siege of Leningrad". With valid documentation, people who fell under this category could receive a 50% discounts on all long distance domestic ground transportation in Belarus. The Siege of Leningrad seemed to be a very long time ago. I wondered how many of the heroes who fought in that historic yet traumatic event were still alive. If so, would they be in that kind of physical condition to do long inter-city trips by themselves?

Apartment blocks in Minsk

Soon after the bus departed, we left all of Minsk's concrete blocks behind. Outside the window, people could only see miles of trees lining up along the highway, or meadows where cows and sheep enjoyed their time grazing like how humans enjoyed drinking coffee at a coffee shop in a Sunday afternoon. It was hard to imagine that not long ago, some of the bloodiest battles in human history took place right on the places just outside of the window.

Rural Belarus

An Orthodox Church in rural Belarus

Today, it is all quiet. How soon will this tranquility be broken once again? 

I hope that day will never come. 

Yet it all depends on us, and those who come after us.

I arrived Nesvizh late in the morning. The town is home to one of the only two UNESCO heritage sites the nation of Belarus has - Nesvizh Castle. I would visit Mir - another town with UNESCO heritage site Mir Castle later in the afternoon. Nesvizh flourished under the historical kingdom of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth under the control of the Radziwill family. The family maintained their residence for about three centuries until they were expelled by the Communists when Nesvizh - then a Polish town, was captured by the Soviet Union as part of the Soviet-Nazi plan to divide the territories of Poland in 1939. 

Nesvizh town hall

Corpus Christi Church, originally built in the 16th century

However, Nesvizh still couldn't escape the fate of war. Following Operation Barbarossa, Nesvizh was soon captured by the Nazis. Peace was not fully restored until the end of World War II. Among those who suffered, the Jewish community was dealt a huge blow as over 88% of the Jews in Nesvizh were murdered by the Nazis. Right outside the Nesvizh castle, there was a memorial of a Soviet defender and an eternal flame, reminding people that the only reason why this castle still stood was because people like us made it stood. If another tragic war were to happen, people of the future might not be as lucky as us to see this castle standing. 

Nesvizh castle

The promenade leading to the castle

An eternal flame near the castle

A man fishing near the castle

The interior of the castle reminded me of the home of Archduke Franz Ferdinand: There were a lot of animal trophies. The grand castle today serves as a museum. The castle itself and everything you see in there are owned by the state. It made me think that no material wealth could stand the test of time - 10 years, 100 years, or even 3 centuries. Everything could simply go away with a snap of finger. I bet none of the Radziwills imagined that their estate would be taken over by the Soviet Red Army, and everything they owned for generations was lost overnight.

While the Radziwill's family residence was indeed a luxurious piece of real estate, most of ordinary Belarusians live in Khrushchevkas like this one

In the afternoon, I caught a bus to Mir - the home of Mir Castle. Just like Nesvizh, Mir Castle was also owned by the Radziwill family. Unlike Nesvizh, Mir felt more like a fortress, and to some extent also a prison. The castle was actually converted into a ghetto to house the Jews before they were murdered in concentration camps. Unlike Nesvizh castle, which went through a complete renovation, Mir was more or less in its original state as people could see visible damages around the castle. However, this meant that whatever people saw, as well as whatever people touched, were all real history.

Mir castle

Steep stairs inside the castle

On the way back to Minsk. I met a Russian from Khabarovsk and a Minsk native on the bus. The two met each other while both were studying in China. We talked about China's One Belt, One Road Initiative, and how the program was bringing opportunities to Belarus. When I asked the Minsk native about his future career, he told me:

"In Shanghai, where I'm studying right now, there are a lot of jobs available. However, my brother, my mother, and my father all live in Minsk. I know the jobs in Minsk are not as well paying as the ones in Shanghai, yet there aren't that as many opportunities available here in Belarus. After my graduation, I think I'll move back to Minsk because my family lives here, and I want to be with them. This kind of sacrifice -the sacrifice that I make for my family, is worth more than anything else in this world."

Life in Mir

A monument in Mir dedicated to WWII fighters

Mir

For a moment I thought about the soldiers who died defending the motherland during WWII. They must sacrificed their precious lives for the very same reason. 

(Click here to read the next chapter)