Travel advice. The French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs formally advises against all travel to Belarus. Before any plan, read the Belarus page on diplomatie.gouv.fr and your own government’s travel advice.

2Churches and chapels

Church of Saints Simon and Helena

Date: 1905
Architect: Tomasz Pajzderski
Style: Romanesque Revival architecture, Gothic Revival
Protection: Cultural heritage of Belarus
Official website: chyrvony.by
Hours and prices: check the official website, they change with the season
On these routes: Independence Avenue

The Church of Saints Simon and Helena, also known as the Red Church, is a Roman Catholic church on Independence Square in Minsk, Belarus.

This neo-Romanesque church was designed by Polish architects Tomasz Pajzderski and Władysław Marconi. The cornerstone was laid in 1905 and the church was completed in 1910. The bricks for its walls were sourced from Częstochowa, while the roof tiles came from Włocławek. Its construction was financed by Edward Woyniłłowicz, a prominent Belarusian-Polish landowner, businessman and civic activist. The church was named and consecrated in memory of Woyniłłowicz’s two deceased children, Szymon and Helena.

After a small fire in part of the church in September 2022, Belarusian authorities banned the parish from continuing to use the church. Officials have rejected all attempts to have it reopened for worship.

Sources

Text: introduction of the Wikipedia article Church of Saints Simon and Helena, under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence (authors: article history). Facts: Wikidata (CC0). Coordinates: Wikidata, map background © OpenStreetMap contributors.