New Date of the Origin of Minsk. What Do Unique Finds on the Menka River Evidence?

The chronicle of Minsk will be supplemented with new facts. Excavations in the archaeological complex on the Menka River will continue next year.

The artifacts found were shown to the Prime Minister today. And according to historians, they can become proof that it was in this place (and not on the Nemiga) where Minsk originated.

But there is a lot of work ahead to attribute the finds. They need to be compared with the artifacts found on the Minsk castle site. Scientists discussed this with the Prime Minister today.

Excavations in the archaeological complex on the Menka River began two years ago. Historians decided to get to the bottom of it by conducting a large-scale study. There was a lot of preparation, and this year there are already the first results.

Disputes about where and when Minsk appeared have lasted for decades. Some are for a place on the Svisloch, some insisted on the Menka River. But the truth must be confirmed by facts. And those who are conducting excavations today have found some evidence that already in the 10th century there was a town in these places with all the attributes of fortifications and the intersection of trade routes.

It is still impossible to say whether it was exactly Minsk, but there was definitely a town here. Moreover, the complex is unique for the Eastern European region - a high-status settlement, where there was a princely court with a military squad and trading platforms.

The Prime Minister noted: it is important to do everything quickly in order to open this museum by the time the construction of the new National Historical Museum is completed. And 2025 should be the final year of major excavations in these places.

Roman Golovchenko, Prime Minister of Belarus: "The main task or the main plan is to confirm the presence of a Christian temple in the territory of the settlement itself, possibly the most ancient or one of the most ancient on the territory of Belarus, but in the territory of the Minsk Principality. And thus this fact, if it is confirmed, will become the final point in the scientific substantiation of the fact that this was indeed a large town, the center of the principality of that time or some other entity."