Church of Saints Simon and Helena (Red Church)

The Church of Saints Simon and Helena, often also called the Red Church, is the most famous Catholic church in Minsk. Administratively it belongs to the south-eastern deanery of the Minsk-Mogilev archdiocese. An architectural monument included in the State List of Historical and Cultural Values of the Republic of Belarus. The Church of Saints Simon and Helena is a five-nave, three-tower basilica of voluminous and spatial asymmetrical composition with a grand transept. The transept edges are designed in the same way as the main facade – with a large rose window under a triangular pediment. Originally the temple had three apses at the end of each nave, but they were combined into one central semi-cylindrical apse after rebuilding during the Soviet period. A 50-meter rectangular four-tiered tower in the south-eastern part is the core of the architectural composition. It’s unusual that the two small hipped church towers were placed not on the main facade, but on the altar sides. The height of the church hall is 14.83 m, the bell tower is 50 m, the two small towers are 36 m. The width of the main facade is 45 m. The sculptures were made by Zigmund Otto, he is also the author of the ambo, fences, and bronze details. Vaults and walls paintings, stained-glass windows are designed by the artist Francisk Bruzdovich.