Souvenirs in Minsk
Souvenir stores near the Minsk Town Hall
What are the best gifts that you can bring from the Belarusian capital and what are the places where you can buy exclusive souvenirs, paintings and other objects of art?
Souvenirs from Minsk
When buying presents for your family and friends in Minsk you can choose either traditional Belarusian souvenirs or those dedicated solely to Minsk, its history and culture, fascinating architectural monuments and recognizable recently built landmarks.
Such souvenirs as paintings, boxes and statuettes, painted ceramic cups and bells, postcards, booklets and magnets depicting Minsk’s sights, will rekindle memories of the Belarusian capital. The following are the most famous sights of Minsk:
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The Holy Spirit Cathedral
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Sts. Simeon and Helena Church (the Red Church)
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The Minsk Town Hall and Svoboda Square
While in Minsk, you can also purchase hand-made souvenirs created by professional artists and craftsmen.
Where to buy souvenirs in Minsk?
A wide choice of souvenirs can be found in the crafts galleries Slavutast and Slavutyya Maistry at the Trinity Hill, in the National Ornamental Art Gallery and in souvenir stores near the Minsk Town Hall…
For example, the crafts gallery Slavutast (21 Maksima Bogdanovicha Street, the Trinity Hill), located in Minsk’s historical center, offers souvenirs from the best craftsmen and artists. The following souvenirs are on offer:
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Products made from Belarusian flax (tea sets and tablecloths, woven and sewn rushnyks (towels), fashionable clothes and folk costumes)
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Flax dolls depicting characters from Belarusian fairy tales and also wooden toys
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Hand-made decorations and accessories made from leather, beads and metal
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Silk paintings (shawls, tippets, scarves and blouses)
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Souvenirs made from straw (dolls, wreaths, pendants and amulets)
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Wooden and ceramic tableware (cups, plates and decorative dishes)
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Painted wooden eggs
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Panels (textile, straw, birch bark)
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Exclusive products made using Sozh filigree technique (clocks, boxes, writing materials, bowls, decorative dishes, crosses and icons)
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Painted icons
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Medals and plaquettes
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Business souvenirs and VIP souvenirs with Belarusian feel?
The Gallery of National Arts and Crafts (Minsk Concert Hall, 5 Oktyabrskaya Street) showcases various household items and handmade decorative items from environmentally friendly materials:
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wood (wooden cases and tobacco boxes encrusted with straw, wall clocks)
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clay (figurines, pots, ceramics, vases)
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straw and flowers
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flax fabric (rushnyks (towels) from 100% flax, folk costumes)
Small souvenir shops in Svoboda Square near the Minsk Town Hall offer souvenirs depicting the symbols and landmarks of Minsk: magnets, badges, cups, figurines…
All the large shopping centers of Minsk have souvenir sections (the department stores GUM and TSUM, Kirmash, Belarus, Stolitsa underground shopping center, etc.) There are gift shops at bus and railway stations, and in the Minsk National Airport. The Belsoyuzpechat kiosks also offer souvenirs.
In Minsk you can find famous Belarusian flax souvenirs at the specialized shops Lyanok (46 Nezavisimosti Avenue), and Belorusky Lyon (Stolitsa shopping center, 32 Nezavisimosti Square).
In Minsk there are also big chain stores of Neman Glassworks, one of the largest manufacturers of glass and crystal products in the world.
You can find books, photo albums, booklets, travel guides, postcards with the sights of Minsk and other Belarusian landmarks, and small souvenirs in the bookshops of the capital city. The largest are:
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Tsentralnaya Knigarnya (19 Nezavisimosti Avenue)
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Svetoch book center (11 Pobeditelei Avenue)
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Znaniye book center (36 Karl Marx Street)
Souvenirs with the logo of the 2014 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship can be found at all specialized stores in Minsk, including the kiosks in Minsk Arena and Chizhovka Arena, the main venues of the championship.
You can find Belarusian sweets and alcohol wrapped as souvenirs in all Minsk supermarkets and hypermarkets and in chain stores of Belarusian confectionery and alcohol brands.
Paintings in Minsk
If you are a connoisseur of modern art and want to buy works by Belarusian artists (fine arts, graphics, sculpture), you should visit galleries and saloons of Minsk. The largest are
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Mastatstva Gallery
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the National Art Gallery at the Palace of Arts
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Belart Art Gallery
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Minsk vernissage under the open sky (Oktyabrskaya Square)
Remember that you need a special permission if you want to take a work of art out of the country. Generally, if you buy a painting at a gallery, you can settle the issue with the help of the staff.
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