Vul Kastrychnitskaya

Top choice in Minsk


Vul Kastrychnitskaya – still known by its Soviet name, ulitsa Oktyabrskaya – has blossomed into Minsk's unofficial arts district. Brazilian street artists have spray-painted brilliant murals on the giant facades of the street's apartment blocks, warehouses and factories, many of which now house event spaces, galleries and hipster cafes. President Lukashenko has allowed creative expression to flourish here with the expectation that it not spread to other parts of the capital, which remain sanitised and generally free of street art.

The district exudes a refreshing counterculture spirit and is one of the few places where you'll hear locals speaking Belarusian and/or talking about politics. Food-truck culture has taken root here and drinking on the street on any given evening is de rigueur.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Minsk attractions

1. Ў Gallery of Contemporary Art

0.09 MILES

This well-established gallery and cultural centre heralded a shift in the artistic landscape when it relocated to vul Kastrychnitskaya in 2018. It is…

2. Belarusian State Art Museum

0.74 MILES

This excellent museum in one of Minsk's iconic buildings (built in 1939) includes definitive works by Soviet social realists and Russian masters,…

3. National History Museum

0.85 MILES

Two freshly modernised museums in one here. The national history museum proper occupies the upper floors with exhibits of ethnographic and archaeological…

4. Tsentralny Skver

0.86 MILES

Across the street from Kastrychnitskaya pl, Tsentralny skver (officially known as Alyaksandraŭsky skver) is a leafy park on the site of a 19th-century…

5. Bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky

0.89 MILES

Between pr Nezalezhnastsi and vul Karla Marksa is a long narrow park with a bust of Felix Dzerzhinsky, the founder of the KGB's predecessor (the Cheka)…

6. KGB Headquarters

0.95 MILES

An entire block of central pr Nezalezhnastsi is occupied by this yellow neoclassical building with an ominous, temple-like Corinthian portal – the KGB…

7. Kastrychnitskaya Pl

0.98 MILES

The city's main square is referred to universally by its Russian name, Oktyabrskaya Ploshchad (October Sq). Here you'll find the impressive, severe Palats…

8. Pr Nezalezhnastsi

1.03 MILES

The capital's main thoroughfare impresses with its sheer size. Formerly pr Francyska Skaryny, it runs from what travel writer Colin Thubron dubbed the …

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