18th-century building about to collapse in Minsk (photo)
A wall has cracked in the building Freedom Square, 13/2 – the wall has been reinforced with wooden supports.
According to the encyclopaedia “Belarusian Architecture”, the building was a wing of Stankevich’s manor in the second half of the 18th century which means that it is over 200 years old. It used to host the Minsk Men’s religious boarding school. The BSSR People’s Committee for Education was situated in the building in the Soviet time. Then it was replaced with Inbelcult (the prototype of the Academy of Sciences). Yauhim Karski, Yazep Lyosik, Vatslau Lastouski, Yanka Kupala, Yakub Kolas and Stsyapan Nekrashevich used to work in this building…
There is no official explanation why the wall has cracked. However, it is evident that it could be caused by repair works in the adjacent building in Freedom Square, 15. The repair works are being conducted by the enterprise “Minsk Legacy”. As you can see in the photo, the underground Savitski’s gallery is situated right next to the cracked wall.
Inbelcult was situated here in 1922-25
Stankevich’s 18th-century manor is being reconstructed to the right of the cracked building. It will host Savitski’s gallery.
The underground rooms of the future gallery are situated right next to the cracked U-shaped building.
The wall has cracked from top to bottom.
