The revival of Belarusian language and culture (H.R. 854)

One of the featured exhibits in Minsk's Mini Museum is Belarusians' beloved Mir Castle, which almost looks like a 3D model in real life (top). In Russian, the name of the UNESCO World Heritage Site means peace, but the fortress is actually named after the city where it was built. And in fact, the 15th-century stronghold is more associated with war. The bastions were a safe place to fend off feudal attacks (bottom left). In the courtyard, costumed re-enactors demonstrate how they trained to defend the castle (bottom right). In more modern times, Nazis held Jewish prisoners there.

During an hour-long tour, we learned that the building was also part of a battle for power (top left). The original prince owner wanted a high position in the Holy Roman Empire, and to obtain it, he needed a stone castle (top right). The residential areas were added and embellished over the years by successive princes. Expensive imported materials cover the dining room (middle left) and music hall (middle right) from top to bottom. Not sure the gold adds to the acoustics, but the impromptu concert we were treated to sounded superb (bottom).

 

The surrounding city exhibits a starkly contrasting lack of luxury, although the brightly colored houses are more up my alley (top left). Like the royal family of Mir, we eventually moved to a different castle, surrounded by another average town, complete with a city hall and car garage (top right). Our first stop was Corpus Christi Church, which looked less than dazzling from the outside (bottom left). Inside, though, the painted ceilings were much better preserved, with not nearly so much peeling (bottom right).

Then we walked to the grounds of Niasvizh Castle, which felt more like a palace, even though it has protective earthworks and a moat (top). Right by the entrance is a monument honoring those lost in the modern World Wars (bottom left). But once you enter through the main gate to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, you are sent back to the 16th century (bottom right).

Again, we were led through the various rooms of the residential area by a guide, who told us about all the bigwigs in all the paintings (top). I pretty much tuned that out as I gawked at the extravagance, which began right at the main staircase entrance (middle left). The game room was literally filled with game, from all over the world (middle right). The men's (bottom left) and the women's sleeping quarters (bottom right) were equally ostentatious, although they had distinctly different decor.

The castle's ballroom and other large spaces frequently are used for events and performances (top). Unfortunately, the main theater was off-limits, but we got to look at a model and see some early machines used to create on-stage special effects, such as thunder-and-lighting sounds and simulated waves for ship scenes (bottom left). We watched a short sample of the kind of plays once presented there, but truthfully, I couldn't really understand the plot (bottom right). Because it was in Russian, and I had exhausted my foreign-language listening skills for the day.