In the countries of the former USSR, you can find the most unexpected museums. Some of them were created by enthusiasts to preserve the heritage, which is contrary to the internal policy of the state. Belarus managed to save a lot of stone artifacts from destruction by collecting them in one place and organizing an open-air museum of boulders.
Historical value
Belarusian tradition has a special attitude towards stones. The territory of the country is located in the place where a glacier passed several million years ago and brought with it many boulders. Over the millennia, metamorphoses occurred with stones, they influenced the formation of the area, and with the advent of people, they began to grow into myths and legends. Now it is difficult to understand whether stones helped people or people themselves endowed them with the power of wish fulfillment or healing. But even today in Belarus there are beliefs associated with stones, their special properties, and many people resort to stone magic.
The Soviet government did not have a respectful attitude towards stones, with which Belarusians were associated with centuries-old traditions. In the 30s they were simply blown up, so many famous Borisovs have sunk into oblivionstones where Christian symbols were inscribed, many venerable artifacts were also destroyed, the stone-followers on which depressions similar to a footprint were formed in an unknown way. In Belarus, almost all large boulders have their own name: Kravets, Demyan da Marya, Great Stone, Holy Stone and many others.
History of Creation
The stones were of historical and scientific interest, so they decided to collect the most valuable specimens from all over the country and place them in the open air in Minsk. Under the patronage of the Academy of Sciences of the BSSR, an expedition was created in 1975, which worked for five years. In total, 2134 boulders were collected, they were brought to Minsk and the creation of the museum began.
The place where they decided to found it, in 1985, was the swampy outskirts of the city. The swamp was drained, land work was carried out to form the terrain. About 7 hectares of territory, located between Akademgorodok and the metropolitan microdistrict Uruchche-2, are allotted for the open halls of the museum. In 1989, the Museum of Boulders in Minsk received the status of a natural monument of republican significance.
Museum Description
As in a regular museum, the open-air exposition consists of six halls:
- "Map of Belarus", the central hall of the museum.
- "Nourishing provinces", the hall is dedicated to the place of formation of the glacier that brought boulders to Belarus.
- "Boulder Alley".
- "Boulder Shapes".
- "Petrographic Collection".
- "A stone in a person's life."
Whole collectionMuseum exhibits demonstrate a variety of geological formations and are of educational interest to a wide range of inquisitive sightseers, students of geology and ethnographers. The exhibition halls also serve as a park where children enjoy playing and adults spend time.
Map of Belarus
The Boulder Museum is conceived as a landscape park, where the main characters are unusual representatives of nature. The most famous composition in the collection is "Map of Belarus". On the territory of more than 4 hectares, with the help of stones, they created a map of the country. Groups of massive boulders indicate large settlements, regional centers are marked with blue spruces. On the map, in addition to the places where people live, the topography of the area is taken into account. Indentations with a concrete border represent the most famous reservoirs: the healing lake Naroch and the Zaslavskoe reservoir.
The mounded hills on the man-made map represent two well-known highlands of Belarus - Lysuya and Dzerzhinsky mountains. On the tops there are compositions made of stones. The map was created on a scale of 1:2500 km. All boulders located in the space of miniature Belarus come from the places they represent. This hall occupies more than half of the entire territory given over to the boulder museum. The park of stones in Minsk, according to the authors, was supposed to be filled with fossil animals made of concrete, but the idea was not implemented due to lack of funding.
Artifacts
On the territory of the exhibition complex collected stone relics,which the people endowed with remarkable magical properties. The Boulder Museum invites you to get acquainted with the famous stone "Grandfather". He was an object of attraction for several generations of people who came to him for the fulfillment of their desires. Even at the beginning of the last century, it was the center of a pagan temple, located not far from Minsk. Overseers under him consisted of two generations of priests, father and son. Rituals around the "Grandfather" were performed on the banks of the Svisloch River under the canopy of an ancient mighty, four-girth oak.
In the hall "Stone in human life" you can see stone crosses in detail. One of them, carved from pink granite, was brought from excavations carried out at a medieval burial ground. In the center of the cross there is an image of a knight, and in the lower part there is an inscription RSB. According to historians and archaeologists, the letters represent the name of Stefan Batory, the Polish king. In ancient times, crosses were considered life-giving, people flocked to them, begging for he alth and happiness.
This exhibition includes stone millstones used to produce flour. Fans of ancient Slavic runes will be interested in boulders with inscriptions, here you can also see the "Borisov stones", on which, according to legend, crosses and inscriptions were carved by order of Tsar Boris Vseslavich.
Reviews
Visitors of the Museum-Park of Boulders in Minsk speak of the time spent in it as a pleasant and useful event. Almost everyone notes the originality of the idea that collected artifacts in one place. A large area of the park area is equipped with benches,the territory is well-groomed, and the exhibits themselves are of educational interest. On the exposition area you can meet schoolchildren who came on natural history excursions. Often in the halls are university students who have decided to study geology in detail on the example of specimens collected in a single museum of boulders. Site address: Minsk, Uruchche microdistrict, Kuprevicha street, 7.
From the negative reviews, it becomes clear that the exposition lacks guides and signs explaining the origin, uniqueness and history of the stones. There is no infrastructure in the form of common areas, tents with food. Of the tips that most often sounded for those who are interested in visiting the museum, the main one is preliminary preparation. It is worth reading the information about what is presented in the exposition, stocking up on provisions, and only after that it will be possible to fully appreciate the boulder museum in Minsk. Opening hours are unlimited, there are no walls and caretakers, admission is free for everyone 24 hours a day.
How to get there
There are several routes to get to the complex.
By public transport:
- By metro to Uruchche or Borisovsky Trakt stations, then you need to walk a little to the museum or take public transport.
- Ground public transport: trolleybus (2, 41 61, 62) or bus (No. 37, 31, 33, 63, 63d). Stop "Museum of Boulders" in Minsk.
Address: microdistrict Uruchche, st. named after AcademicianKuprevich, 7.
You can get there by car using GPS coordinates: 53.931870, 27.691079.
