Metravel city quest

Minsk children's quest: the city's bronze friends

City Minsk: free walking route “children's quest: the city's bronze friends” along the sights. 8 points. Approximately 1 h 15 min. Quests and legends

Do you know who walks around Minsk at night? A little bronze kitten. By day he sits quietly by the Belarusian Circus, but as soon as it gets dark he jumps down from his spot and runs off to look for friends.

There is just one problem: the kitten is all alone and does not know who else in the city is made of bronze, like him. Yet Minsk is full of friends for him: carriages, merchants, girls, clowns and whole pyramids of animals! They stand in squares and on bridges, waiting for someone to notice them at last.

Will you help the kitten gather his bronze family? Go from figure to figure, look for each friend and take a closer look. A grown-up will show you the way and help you at road crossings, but finding the friends is your job. Ready? Then our first guest is waiting right by the Town Hall!

What is on the route

The route points in order — what these places are and why they are interesting. Tasks and answers stay inside the quest.

  1. 1. A carriage without a coachman — “Carriage” sculpture, 2A Freedom Square (by the Town Hall)

    Here is our first meeting! Right by the Town Hall stands a smart bronze carriage, with shiny wheels and harnesses, but no coachman on the driver's seat.

  2. Merchants at the city scales — “City Scales” sculpture, near the junction of Kirilla i Mefodiya Street and Gertsena Street

    Let's go further through the Upper Town. Near the Town Hall, a whole bronze scene from an old market has frozen still: big scales, heavy weights, coins, and bronze merchants weighing their goods in no hurry to leave.

  3. 3. A bridge with a cheeky name — Khlusov Bridge over the Svisloch

    Here is the little bridge! The kitten was telling the truth: the River Svisloch flows beneath it.

  4. 4. The House of Nature (optional) — Museum of Nature and Ecology of the Republic of Belarus, 9A M. Bogdanovich Street

    Just across the bridge, a little museum is tucked away in an old house from the 1870s: the House of Nature. This used to be a synagogue, but now animals, birds and butterflies from around the world have gathered under one roof.

  5. 5. A girl, an owl and a magic flower — “Girl with an Owl” sculpture, Trinity Suburb

    A little further on, among the gingerbread-like houses of Trinity Suburb, stands one of Minsk's best-loved sculptures: a girl with an owl. The sculptor Zilber made it back in the early 1980s, when the whole suburb was being restored.

  6. 6. The kitten's family is found! — Bronze animal pyramid by the Belarusian State Circus

    Here is the circus! A whole bronze pyramid of animals stands in front of the entrance.

  7. 7. The clown and his little friend — Clown sculpture by the Belarusian State Circus

    Beside the kitten and his family stands another bronze performer: a cheerful clown. He is part of that same circus group that appeared by the entrance after the renovations.

  8. 8. Goodbye in the old park — Gorky Central Children's Park, main entrance

    One last stretch, and here you are at the entrance to Minsk's oldest park. It was laid out back in 1805 by that very first governor, Zakhary Korneyev, whose bronze carriage you saw by the Town Hall at the start.

Where to go next

This route is part of Metravel city quests. Below are the other quests in this city and cities with quests nearby.

Quests in nearby cities

Travels: Minsk

Traveller articles about this city will help round out the walk.

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