Description of the attraction
The Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Life is an open-air museum, the so-called "skansen". Such museums are created to show the historical life in natural conditions. One gets the impression that this is a real residential village, but for some reason the residents suddenly left it. All items were left as if the owners were about to return.
The museum is located in the suburbs of Minsk, near the village of Strochitsy. Part of the museum is located in the floodplain of the Ptich River and is a nature conservation landscape zone. The area of the museum is 220 hectares.
The exposition includes six historical and ethnographic sectors: Poozerie, Dnieper, Central region, Eastern and Western Polesie, Ponemane. The relief of each sector is as close as possible to the natural conditions of the location of settlements.
Tourists can visit native Belarusian houses, a wooden church, a mill, outbuildings and even a school. All houses are authentic. They were carefully disassembled, transported to the territory of the museum and reassembled under the guidance of experienced specialists. The huts contain unique preserved household items, products of folk craftsmen, artisans, furniture, household implements, dishes, home furnishings, clothes, shoes, and jewelry.
A unique archaeological site is the site of the Menke settlement. According to historians, the settlement was founded before our era and, in the opinion of many scientists, it was here that the future Minsk was born. Also, on the territory of the museum there are several burial mounds dating back to the 9th-11th centuries.
The ethnographic museum hosts folk holidays, festivals, master classes of national crafts. Here you can not only see, but also try yourself in the role of a peasant or a craftsman, taste dishes of Belarusian cuisine.
