Strochitsy Open-Air Museum

The Museum of Folk Architecture and Rural Life at Strochitsy was begun in 1976 and gathers wooden buildings dismantled and re-erected from across Belarus, arranged in sectors representing the central region, the Podneprovie and the Poozerye, each with farmsteads, barns, a school, a mill, a smithy and a church, so that the differences in building tradition between the regions can be compared side by side. The churches include a wooden Uniate church of the eighteenth century. The site covers a large area of meadow and woodland and is walked between the groups. Festivals with folk music, food and craft demonstrations are held here through the year, particularly at Kupalle and Maslenitsa.

Highlights

• Regional sectors - farmsteads grouped by building tradition.
• Wooden churches - the relocated eighteenth-century church buildings.
• Mills and workshops - the working rural technology among the groups.
• Seasonal festivals - the folk events held on the site.

When to go

May to September for the walking and the fullest opening; winter hours are reduced though the winter festivals are held here. Kupalle in late June and Maslenitsa in late winter are the biggest events.

Good to know

The site is spread out and involves a lot of walking between sectors. Building interiors are not all open. Labelling is in Belarusian and Russian. Festival days are crowded and change the character.

Nearby

Minsk lies east; Dudutki is south of the city.