Description of the attraction
The complex of Uniate Basilian monasteries consisted of two monastic buildings - male and female, which have survived to this day, and the Church of the Holy Spirit. The Basilian Monastery was founded on the territory of the Upper Market of Minsk in 1616 on the site of the wooden Orthodox Church of the Holy Spirit of the 16th century, and in 1641 Metropolitan Anthony Selyava founded a nunnery. The convent was connected to the church by a covered gallery.
The Uniate Church of the Holy Spirit was founded in 1636 - the construction was carried out with a donation of 2000 zlotys by a certain wealthy citizen of Polotsk. The building was unique, it combined features of the Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles of architecture. The main artistic value of the Church of the Holy Spirit was the frescoes on the façade of niches depicting saints. The altars were decorated with stone and wooden figures of the apostles. Probably by 1654, the construction of monasteries was completed, tk. during the war with Russia in 1654-1667, the monasteries were already used for defensive purposes as a fortress. In 1795, after the annexation of Belarus to the Russian Empire, the monasteries were closed, and the church in 1799 became the Orthodox Peter and Paul Cathedral, turning from a monument of European significance into a very mediocre example of the pseudo-Russian style. In 1936, by order of the Soviet authorities, the temple was blown up.
For the first time in 1970, S. Baglasov thought about the restoration of the temple, under whose leadership a group of architects, having previously studied the available archival materials, made the reconstruction of the main facade of the temple. Further plans for the revival of the Upper City differed in the matter of restoring the church. Now there is a real hope that the temple of the Holy Spirit will be recreated in its original form. Since 1799, the residence of the Minsk archbishop was located in the men's monastery, and then the men's gymnasium was located here. Her famous students at one time were the composer Stanislav Moniuszko, the founder of Polish and Belarusian professional opera, Tomasz Zan, a close friend of Adam Mitskevich, Yevstakh Tyshkevich, the founder of Belarusian and Lithuanian archeology, and Belarusian writers Ivan Neslukhovsky and Anton Levitsky. After a fire in 1835, the complex of monasteries, with the exception of the women's one, finally loses its original appearance - the men's building is rebuilt in the style of classicism and has public places in it. The "male part" of the complex is not yet planned to return to its previous appearance. The women's building has been restored.
Moniuszko's house, built in 1797 and belonging to the famous Polish family Moniuszk, "adjoins" the men's building. The most famous representative of the family is the composer Stanislav Moniuszko. He was born in 1819 on an estate near Minsk in Ubele, spent some time in Warsaw, and from 1830 his family moved to Minsk, where Stanislav was to continue his studies at the gymnasium located in the neighboring building of the former Uniate monastery. Musical and poetry evenings were held in Moniuszko's house, many musicians, actors and painters were visiting. Now there is a memorial plaque on the building. The Byblos restaurant is located on the ground floor.
