The story behind the Red Church in the center of Minsk is rather sad. It was built at the beginning of the XX century with funds from Edward Voinilovich, a descendant of an ancient Polish family living in Belarus.
He had two children, Simon and Elena, who died from illnesses at an early age. The father was devastated by the tragedy and decided to build a church in their honor. As a model for the construction, Voinilovich chose the Church of Saint Elzbieta in the Polish town of Jutrosin, an image of which he happened to see on an engraving.
The Neo-Romanesque church was completed by 1910. The dominant part of the architectural composition is a four-sided tower rising 50 meters. Red brick for the construction of the building was brought from Poland, and roof tiles from the Czech Republic. Several of Europe's best craftsmen worked here: the design was developed by the talented architect from Warsaw, Tomasz Poydzerski, and the stained glass was made by Frantisek Bruzdovich.
In Soviet times, the Red Church became one of the rare churches that survived to the present day. In 1990, it was handed over to the Catholic Church. Now the Church of Saint Simeon and Saint Helena adorns Independence Square and looks very unusual among the modern buildings of Minsk.
