Spot on the map: Trinity Hill. Island of Tears

Troitskoye Predmestye is a business card of the capital of Belarus. Cozy streets. Cobblestone. Gingerbread houses with tiled roofs. The atmosphere of the 19th century. Each building is a historical and cultural value. A kind of open-air museum. The first human settlements on the site of Troitsky suburb existed in the 12th century. The river Svisloch witnessed almost a thousand years of the city's history. Temples and monasteries stood here. And more than 300 years ago there was a large Trinity market.

In XV-XVII centuries Trinity Hill, the Lower Market and Rakov suburb were surrounded by fortresses. The Hill was built up with wooden houses where artisans, traders, peasants and military men lived.

Today, these buildings house stores, restaurants, and cafes that have been adapted from the old days. Many of the houses in the hill are museums, antique and souvenir shops, and art galleries. This ancient quarter of the city is a real island of history. Belarusian poet Maxim Bogdanovich was born here.

Also an interesting fact: in one of the houses on the Trinity embankment a burgher Dominik Lutsevich, the father of the poet Yanka Kupala, rented an apartment. Meanwhile, the nine-year-old future pesnyar was studying in one of the schools in Minsk.

Troitskoye suburb is one of the most favorite places of rest of Minsk citizens and guests of the capital. One can often meet a cinematographic group here. After all, the natural scenery of the quarter is just right for shooting historical films. On weekends, wedding corteges parked on Starovilenskaya Street become one of the attributes of the local landscape.

Near the Troitsky Hill on the Svisloch River there is a small island, where a pedestrian arch bridge leads. The Island of Tears was created by human hands. In 1996 a memorial dedicated to Belarusian soldiers-internationalists who died in Afghanistan was opened here.

The Island of Courage and Sorrow has become one of the iconic places in Minsk. At the entrance there is a large boulder with a bronze icon of the Mother of God embedded in it. In its center is a symbolic chapel, based on the image of the temple of Euphrosyne of Polotsk.

The memorial complex would be incomplete without the sculpture of the weeping guardian angel. This is a monument not only to those who died during the war, but also to those who died of mental and physical wounds after returning to the homeland

A walk through the center of Minsk will definitely give you bright emotions and make you think about what is important for each of us.

Welcome to Belarus!