The National Art Museum of Minsk is a cultural treasure of our country with a unique collection of exhibits. Today it is a museum, a gallery, and a gathering place for all the artists of our country as well as the guests of the capital.

The Museum has more than 30 thousand exhibits in its collection. These are art masterpieces of Belarus and Russia. Initially, the National Gallery was opened in Minsk. The works of art are brought fr om different places of Belarus, as well as some paintings from Russian museums, making up the basis of the exposition.  Later, the gallery was enriched with the instances of Belarusian castles, such as tapestries from France, paintings of the XVI century, etc. All the works of art were moved out of the country during the Great Patriotic War, now the history of many masterpieces remains unknown. After the war famous works of Russian artists were brought here. The Museum was opened in a building in 1957. It had been designed by Mikhail Baklanov. During a long time of its existence, the Museum was gradually enriched with new and new masterpieces of painting, graphics, iconography and many others. And the Museum became a large complex uniting five sections in the 90-es; it included Mir and Golshany castles.

At the end of the XX century, the Museum extended its territory greatly. As it was no longer possible to put all the exhibits in one room, it was decided that the Museum needs some more space. The Museum was expanded using the buildings located nearby. The decision about the reconstruction was made at the same time. As a result, the new building of the Museum was opened in 2007. The interior is worth paying attention to – from the inside the building of the Museum looks like a town with a roof, which is decorated with arched columns and a dome made of glass. The area of the building is quite large – 8902 square meters. In addition to the Museum itself, there are also storages for rare instances, a museum restoration workshop with all the necessary latest equipment. A large staff of restorers is occupied here. The museum is constantly enlarging its electronic catalogue in order to exchange library fund information with other museums around the world. For many years, there has been a place in the museum wh ere children can feel themselves artists, the creators of art.

Today more than 30 000 exhibits are kept in the main museum of Belarus. They include not only the works of national art but also the ones of the world level. Here you can get acquainted with ancient iconography, sculpture, textiles and wood carving, paintings and various objects of art of the XIX century and many others. The main Belarusian museum constantly enriches its collection with works of art from different countries. One can see works by Vasnetsov and other worldwide known artists there. This museum is worth being visited by every citizen of the country; it will not leave anyone cold.