It is not uncommon for whole streets to become landmark city sights. Such, for example, Sovetskaya Street in Brest, which was dubbed the Brest Arbat due to the beauty and wonderful tradition of lighting the lanterns every evening. Vitebsk also can show off a beautiful pedestrian street Suvorov. It is not for nothing that it is named after the great Russian commander - his life path was connected with several places in the Vitebsk region. Well, yes, our story is not about that. In Minsk, there are several street-sights, but October deserves a separate story.

The plant Energy in Minsk, Stilyagi and Vulica Brasil: pages of history

Unfamiliar with the history of this sights of Minsk, our headline will seem incomprehensible. Do not worry: now we will show you everything and tell you.

The history of Minsk, in particular, Oktyabrskaya Street, is inextricably linked with the Energy plant (then, in 1908, when it was founded, it was called the Giant). It was the industrial outskirts of the capital, that is, there was no talk of cultural life. By the way, then this street was not called Oktyabrskaya. She changed her name from Lyakhovskaya to Nizhne-Lyakhovskaya, then to Voroshilov, and only in 1961 she became October.

In 1921, a wooden factory burned to the ground, and that was when the famous red brick building was built, which is the hallmark of Oktyabrskaya Street in Minsk. Besides him, there was a leather processing Bolshevik plant, a yeast factory and a Crystal plant. In principle, this and all that was a Minsk landmark by 2010 - a deserted industrial street.

And then the first miracle happened. Do you remember the Russian film Stilyagi? So, in some frames, the role of Moscow plays there ... Oktyabrskaya Street! And the famous Broadway, along which the characters of the film were walking, is nothing other than Nezavisimosti Avenue. By the way, these are not the only Minsk locations that appeared in film versions - read our article about Minsk and cinema.

And then, year after year, the youth of Minsk began to revive the street:

• opened the studio ZNYATA,

• NewTon appeared behind it - the first in Minsk Fashion Art Buffet, where you can try on designer clothes and have a cup of coffee. By the way, it was his owners who were the first to paint graffiti on the walls of October,

• liveliness was added by the Hooligan bar, thanks to which a tradition appeared to arrange merry parties directly on the tram tracks,

• One after another, the lamp and unusual cafes ENZO, Lauka and DEPO opened.

But the real coup occurred with the relocation to the October art space TSEKH. Here began to actively organize workshops, art exhibitions, meetings with representatives of art. And yet, if it had not been for Vulica Brasil, Oktyabrskaya could have remained «not a place for everyone,» a sort of get-together for those in the subject.

The first festival of street art was held in Minsk in 2014. For several years, talented artists from Brazil have painted almost every free centimeter of the buildings of October (and not only) with creative graffiti. What only plots are not here! And Frida Kahlo, and aurochs, and giant hummingbirds, and a visual display of such pressing issues as environmental pollution, the preservation of rare species of animals, and so on — everything is reflected on the walls of Oktyabrskaya Street. There are always parties in the open air, for which you have to block the movement. Chances are that one day the street will be pedestrian forever. Going to Minsk, be sure to take a look at the graffiti, sit in one of the local tube cafes, or learn something new at the master classes conducted by TSEKH. And what else can be seen in the capital of Belarus - read our article Top 50 Minsk sights.