Exploring Minsk: Traditions And Culture In Belarus

Minsk, Belarus' capital and largest city, is steeped in history and culture. Traditions in Minsk are a mix of calendar holidays like Shrovetide, Kupalye, and Kolyady, and family ceremonies such as weddings, christenings, and funerals. The city's diverse cultural fabric includes folk music, literary classics, and architectural wonders like the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Polatsk. Independence Day, celebrated on July 3, is a key national holiday, commemorating Minsk's liberation from Nazi occupation in 1944. Minsk's rich tapestry of customs and rituals reflects its vibrant past and dynamic present.

Independence Day celebrations

Independence Day is the main national holiday in Belarus, celebrated annually on the 3rd of July. This date commemorates the liberation of Minsk from Nazi occupation in 1944. The biggest draw of the Independence Day celebrations is the parade, which features hundreds of military units, dozens of columns, and thousands of military personnel. The parade also showcases civil machinery and the best products of Belarusian industry giants.

Theatrical performances and rallies take place across the country, with celebrations held at Victory Square and the Mound of Glory. The parade culminates with the campaign "Let's Sing the Anthem Together!". At 22:50, the first chords of the anthem begin to play, and people across Belarus—children and adults, locals and visitors alike—join in singing the national anthem, expressing their love and loyalty to their Motherland.

Some Belarusians, particularly opposition groups, still recognise the holiday's former date of July 27, the day when state sovereignty was declared in 1990. The opposition also celebrates March 25, the date of the declaration of independence by the short-lived Belarusian National Republic in 1918.

Christmas and Easter traditions

Christmas and Easter are important religious holidays in Belarus, and the capital city of Minsk joins in the celebrations.

Christmas Traditions

Christmas in Belarus often takes second place to New Year's Eve celebrations, a tradition that dates back to Soviet times when "Western" and religious holidays were abandoned. However, Christmas celebrations have become increasingly popular.

The Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7, while Protestants and Catholics celebrate on December 25. In the run-up to January 1, Christmas and New Year traditions overlap. For example, the New Year's tree is essentially a Christmas tree decorated for a different holiday, and people may exchange gifts on New Year's Day instead of Christmas, depending on family tradition.

Christmas markets appear in Minsk's Kastrychnitskaya Square and near the Palace of Sports, serving both Christmas and New Year revellers with food, gifts, and the chance to meet Grandfather Frost. Artisans sell traditional crafts such as straw ornaments, wooden figurines, woven flax textiles, ceramics, and felt boots.

Christmas Eve, or Kućcia, customs are similar to those in neighbouring countries. The table may be spread with hay under the tablecloth, reminiscent of the manger where Jesus was born. The Christmas Eve dinner is traditionally served without meat and consists of at least 12 fish, mushroom, and vegetable dishes to represent the 12 apostles. Bread is broken between family members rather than cut with a knife, and the table is left as it is after the meal so that ancestral spirits may dine at night.

Caroling is also part of the Christmas tradition in Belarus, although today it is mostly children who go from house to house singing songs.

Easter Traditions

The Belarusian people also celebrate Easter, with traditional foods such as kulich (a sweet bread) and paskha (a sweet cheese spread). On the ninth day after Orthodox Easter, people visit cemeteries to pay their respects and lay flowers on the tombs of relatives and friends.

Traditional clothing

The traditional dress of Belarus originates from the Kievan Rus' period. Clothes were designed with warmth in mind, usually made from flax or wool and decorated with ornate patterns influenced by neighbouring cultures: the Poles, Lithuanians, Latvians, Russians, and other European nations. Each region of Belarus has developed its own specific design patterns. One such pattern, common in early dresses, now decorates the hoist of the modern Belarusian flag.

The women's garments include a chemise (kashulya) made of homespun linen; a heavy pleated checked or striped woven wool or linen skirt (spadnitsa or andarak); a linen homespun apron; and a waistcoat. The sleeves, shoulder insets, collar, and bosom are embroidered with patterns in red and black yarn, with the composition of the ornament depending on the region. The apron has colouring and ornamenting similar to those of the gown. The waistcoat, a festive attire, was made of industrially manufactured textiles such as silk and velvet. The costume is completed by a multi-coloured belt with pompons, tassels or fringes.

Young, unmarried women would wear coronets and narrow head-towels (skindochka), while married women wore bonnets and hoods. Many women preferred namitkas head-towels, which could be draped in many ways. Strings of beads are also part of the costume.

Men's costumes include a linen shirt worn over trousers, a waist-band, and a pair of narrow trousers. The shirt has a bosom cut and a turn-down collar. In certain regions, a waistcoat (kamiselka) is worn over the shirt. A leather hand-bag called calita is also part of the garment. The head-dress is a simple straw hat.

The embroidery on the costume is symbolic. White, the colour of homespun linen, is the colour of heaven; red is the colour of the sun and earth, and is protective of life; black is the colour of the underworld and spiritual life. The costume's different parts represent three spheres: the neck, shoulders, and sleeves represent the higher world; the waist represents the earth; and the hem represents the underworld. Different shapes of ornament are supposed to ward off evil. For example, the sleeves of working women were decorated with bright red rhombic ornaments, believed to have magical powers to protect them from spells and bad spirits.

Food and drink

Belarusian cuisine has evolved over the centuries, influenced by neighbouring countries and migrant settlers, as well as the country's farming heritage and local ingredients. The national dishes of Belarus have been shaped by the country's geographical location at the intersection of western and eastern cultures, and the world's largest religions.

Traditional Drinks

The oldest alcoholic drinks in Belarus were based on honey and beer. The process of making drinkable honey is similar to brewing beer, and many recipes included hops. Grapes were only grown on small vineyards, so wine was reserved for church rituals, and imported wines were a luxury. The gentry typically served liqueurs, nastoikas, and nalivkas (sweet and strong alcoholic drinks based on vodka and enhanced with herbs, berries, honey, spices, and sugar). The most popular of these were krupnik, zubrovka, krambambulya, and troyanka.

The most common hard drink in Belarus is vodka (garelka, burnt wine), which was first served in the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the 15th century. Vodka is usually reserved for special occasions. There are many varieties, including vodka made from bread, with extracts of birch buds (leaves), and with pepper and honey. Nastoikas and balsams are also popular—strong alcoholic drinks with extracts of herbs, buds, berries, spices, and honey. Krambambulya is a native Belarusian drink that was especially popular in the 19th century and has seen a revival in the 21st century. It is made by diluting vodka with water, mixing it with honey, and adding spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, and pepper. Mead, or honey-based drinks, were once very common but are less popular today.

Kvass is a traditional non-alcoholic drink made using the natural fermentation of bread or cereal (barley or rye). It is usually sold by street vendors in the summer and is also available bottled all year round. Belarus also has a well-known traditional hot drink called sbiten, made with honey or molasses mixed with herbs, spices, and sugar. It is typically consumed in winter.

Traditional Food

Belarusian cuisine is predominantly Slavic but has also been influenced by Lithuanian and Polish cultures. It is also similar to Russian, Ukrainian, Jewish, and German cuisines, but with unique characteristics. Belarusian dishes often include potatoes, which are considered the "second bread" of Belarusians. The humble potato forms the basis of many dishes, including draniki (thick potato pancakes), babka (baked grated potato pie), and kolduny (potato pancakes with meat in a pike and mushroom sauce).

Belarusian cuisine features a variety of meat and poultry dishes, including pyachysta, kumpyachok, machanka (a thick soup mixed with lard and accompanied by hot pancakes), vereshchaka, tushanka, and smazhanka. Meat was once served mainly on festive occasions and was usually salted and sun-dried. The most common meats were poultry (chicken, duck, goose, turkey), and game (elk, roe, boar, beaver).

Belarusian cuisine also includes a range of homemade sausages, such as raw pork sausage, and salty salo. By-product dishes include vantrabyanka and rubtsy (pork belly stuffed with meat and buckwheat porridge). Smoked meat is also common, and the country has a variety of fish dishes, mostly river fish such as tench, sturgeon, pike, eelpout, bream, eel, trout, perch, and carp.

Dairy products include curd cheese (made from cow or goat milk), sour cream, and butter. Milk is a regular ingredient in many recipes, including soups and porridges.

The diet of Belarusian villagers was always hearty and fresh, and the food was cooked over low heat for a long time. The nobility, on the other hand, had access to a wider variety of exotic products and spices and used more sophisticated cooking techniques.

Desserts

For many centuries, honey was the main dessert for Belarusians. Solodukha (malt dough), kulaga (a thick beverage made from berries, flour, sugar, and honey), and baked apples were also popular. Today, the most common desserts are ice cream, whipped cream, and fresh fruits and berries.

Sports and recreation

Belarusians enjoy a variety of sports, with football (soccer) being the most popular. Most Belarusian towns and villages have amateur and semi-professional teams, while larger cities sponsor professional squads that often compete internationally. Basketball also has a wide following, and there are several professional teams. Other popular sports include ice hockey, athletics (track and field), gymnastics, and wrestling.

Belarus has a well-organized sports education system, with specialized children's sports schools, undergraduate schools for physical education, a graduate sports academy, and two Olympic training centres, one of which hosted several football matches in the 1980 Moscow Games. These schools have produced many distinguished graduates, including weightlifter Alexander Kurlovich, tennis player Natalia Zvereva, and skater Igor Zhelezovsky.

Belarusians competed as part of the Soviet Union's Olympic team between 1952 and 1988. At the 1972 Games in Munich, gymnast Olga Korbut won three gold medals. At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Belarus was part of the Unified Team, comprising athletes from the former Soviet republics. Belarus made its solo Olympic debut at the 1996 Summer Games in Atlanta and has won numerous medals in athletics, wrestling, gymnastics, weightlifting, and rowing, among other events.

Ice hockey is the second most popular sport in Belarus after football, receiving heavy sponsorship from the government. The national hockey team finished fourth at the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and regularly competes in the World Championships. Several Belarusian players are present in the Kontinental Hockey League in Eurasia, and some have also played in the National Hockey League in North America. Belarus hosted the 2014 IIHF World Championship and was set to co-host the 2021 IIHF World Championship before it was cancelled due to security concerns and widespread protests.

Belarus has also produced several notable individual athletes across various sports. Tennis player Victoria Azarenka became the first Belarusian to win a Grand Slam singles title at the 2012 Australian Open. Cyclist Vasil Kiryienka won the 2015 Road World Time Trial Championship, and middle-distance runner Maryna Arzamasava won gold in the 800m at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. Andrei Arlovski, a former UFC heavyweight champion, was born in Babruysk, Belarus.

Darya Domracheva is a leading biathlete with three gold medals at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and Max Mirnyi holds ten Grand Slam titles in doubles tennis.

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