Holy Spirit Cathedral

In the center of Minsk is the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the unconditional decoration of the city.

Its history begins around the middle of the XVII century, when the Catholic Bernardine Monastery was built here. During the Russo-Polish War, the Bernardine Church was severely damaged and re-consecrated in August 1687 by Bishop Nikolai Slupski of Vilna. In the middle of the XIX century the church of Minsk Bernardines was closed, and after some time the church began a new life under a different name.

In 1860, the former church, which became an Orthodox church, was consecrated in memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius. In 1870, the temple was resanctified in the name of the Descent of the Holy Spirit. In the same year, a male Orthodox monastery was opened under him.

The church operated until 1918, and then the crosses were removed from it and given to the premises first to the fire brigade, then to the archive, and then to keep prisoners. However, in wartime 1942, the temple resumed services. He never closed again. In 1961, the Holy Spirit Church became a cathedral. It was given the status of the main temple of Orthodox Belarus.

The most valuable relics of the cathedral are the relics of Blessed Sophia Slutskaya, particles of the relics of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara and the miraculous icon of the Minsk Mother of God. Magnificent mosaic icons of the Holy Trinity, Saints John the Forerunner, teachers of Slovenian Cyril and Methodius.

Before adopting a modern appearance, the temple was repeatedly rebuilt. Now it looks like a two-tower three-nave basilica in the style of Vilna Baroque.