SOME GLIMPSES OF MINSK

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 790.

The contemporary Minsk situated at the crossroads from the West to the East and from the North to the South having an excellent service of trains and buses, occupying an ideal central position for visitors who can with the minimum of cost and inconvenience come to various places of the Republic, is considered to be one of the most attracting and important cities.

Minsk is full of parks and green spaces and is surrounded by a countryside of great natural beauty. Its parks as well as the Botanic Garden are free for those who care to walk there and form a beautiful park belt between the Stsiapianka water system and the winding stream of the centre of the city dividing it into two parts known respectively as the Upper Town and the Lower Town. A large portion of the park land is set aside for the public recreation.

One of the chief glories of Minsk is Trinity Suburbs, a delight of every visitor of taste. It is a tangle of narrow streets lined with a fascinating array of little craft and curio shops. Delightful small houses seem to whisper their secrets to each other across the cobbled way.

Developing gradually from the place of its historical cradle the city found its new centre at the Upper Market. The centre has been recently shifted to the present Independence Square, framed by a variety of outstanding period buildings and being a perfect example of the civic planning and dignified architecture.

The history of the capital has touched its street pattern. Some of the oldest streets are rather narrow, but the main thoroughfares are for the most part fairly wide and are well-kept. They are lined with lime and chestnut trees, maples and poplars, while many of the buildings are of historical and architectural value. On many of these houses once occupied by notable persons mural tablets have been placed and thoughts and visions of the past are awakened by these bronze records of the many people famous in literature, art and science, or in the service of the state, who made Minsk their home.

Not far from the bridge across the Svislach river is Victory Square. With its spacious plaza and gardens, its lofty obelisk, sweeping perspectives and elegant residential and commercial surroundings Victory Square is the most beautiful square in the Belarusian capital, for in the shadow of its obelisk, which to many a citizen commemorates more than one victory in his country's history, burns the Eternal Flame in honour of those who died in the defence of their land against foreign invaders. With the surrounding apartment buildings, the greenery of the Svislach riverside and the ribbonlike Francysk Skaryna Avenue stretching away to the west, the Square and its Obelisk make up a finely proportioned ensemble and one of the most impressive sights in the city.

Opposite the Circus lies Yanka Kupala Park. Planned as a formal Garden, the trees and shrubbery have matured, and its position on a sweeping bow in the river makes it one of the most attractive parks in Minsk. The main entrance leads to a monumental statue of the poet Yanka Kupala cast in bronze on a low, rough hewn granite plinth. Dressed in a traditional long linen shirt and girdle, a coat draped nonchalantly over his shoulders, the poet strikes a dramatic pose. From the granite base grows the mystical fern-flower of happiness which is said to bloom but once a year on a midsummer night.

Further along Skaryna Avenue we come to Yakub Kolas Square with a monument to the great poet in the centre. Near at hand is the monumental building of the Philharmonia, which concert hall seats almost one thousand people and contains an extremely rare concert organ.

Behind the first clinical hospital stands one of the principal architectural and cultural ensembles of the capital – the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, perhaps the most attractive of the Academy Institutes for the visitors to Minsk is the Institute of Arts, Ethnography and Folklore with its Museum of Ancient Belarusian Culture. The collection covers four main areas – archeology, ethnography and folk art, popular musical instruments and Belarusian iconography.

Nearby, located in a pleasant garden at the rear of the Academy is the Kolas Literary Museum. Numerous exhibits displayed in its halls illustrate various aspects of the poet's life. Of particular interest is the material relating to his place in the world, both as a major literary figure the centenary of whose birth was commemorated by UNESCO in 1982, and through translations of his works into different languages.

There are several churches and cathedrals in Minsk. All of them have received expert restoration and become places of worship. They still retain much of their old architecture and character.

Every visitor should make a point of seeing the Holy Spirit Cathedral built in the middle of the 17th century, one of the main among the Orthodox churches of the Republic, which possesses a number of relics. One of the most sacred is the Minsk St Mary Icon, the object of worship for more than 500 years.

One of the most graceful buildings which is open to the public is St Alexander Nevski Church built at the military cemetery in 1898 to commemorate the glory of the Belarusians who were killed in Bulgaria in the Russian-Turkish war. Military relics of those years have been carefully preserved.

So Minsk is a city rich in varied memories. Though it is essentially a modern city, it has a long history dating back to at least the 11th century, it is indeed the city in which the past and the present exist side by side, the former dignified and proud of its history and the latter up to date and confident for its future.

Ex. 1. Supply prepositions:

1. to be situated ... the crossroads

2. ... the minimum ... cost and inconvenience

3. to be free ... those who care to walk there

4. to be awakened ... these bronze records ... the past

5. near ... hand

6. a delight ... every visitor ... taste

7. to stretch ... the West

8. to be cast ... bronze

9. ... the rear... the Academy

10. to be lined ...

11. ... the Circus lies Y.Kupala Park

12. to be open ... the public

13. to be confident ... its future

14. ... honour ... those who died

15. a monument... the great poet

16. one ... the main ... the Orthodox Churches

17. to be rich ... varied memories

18. to be framed ... a variety ... buildings

19. dividing it ... two parts

20. to make ... a finely proportioned ensemble

21. ... the most part

22. to be ... particular interest

23. to exist side ... side

24. further ... Skaryna Avenue

25. a coat draped nonchalantly ... his shoulder

28. the object ... worship ... more than 500 years

29. to run ... the centre ... the city

30. the river ... its concrete embankments

31. a long history dating ... the 11^th century

Ex. 2. Supply articles where necessary:

1. Minsk has always been ... place of ... interaction of ... different nations and of their cultures, ... kind of ... crossroads where ... Catholic West met ... Orthodox East. ... interpenetration of ... Slavonic and ... Baltic tribes in ... older times, then – ... co-existence of ... Belarusians, ... Poles, ... Lithuanians, ... Jews, ... Russians, Tartars, in ... Rzeczpospolita and in ... Russian Empire, and ... dozens of ... years of ... life ... Soviet Union – all these factors tell on ... face of ... city as well as on ... faces of its inhabitants.

2. Like in ... majority of ... European cities, ... average age if its people is growing gradually. Though ... demographic situation in ... capital is far from being ideal, ... able-bodied population makes ... 60% of ... total figure.

3. In spite of its moderately continental climate, ... breathing of ... Baltic sea is constantly felt here. ... average air temperature is as a rule, above ... zero from ... April to ... October. ... winds predominantly blow from ... North-West, bringing ... moisture from ... Atlantic, and only sometimes in ... winter ... cold Arctic anticyclones and ... dry winds from ... Eurasia penetrate here. ... minimal temperature recorded is - 39 degrees, with ... maximum of -35 degrees. ... average annual rainfall is 600 mm.

4. ... forests and ... parks approach Minsk in ... East, ... North-East, and in ... North-West, there are ... parks inside ... city, as well as ... Botanical gardens.