«Night of Museums» at the Belarusian State Archives and Museum of Literature and Art (BSAMLI)

On May 15, 2026, in anticipation of the international «Night of Museums» event, the Belarusian State Archives and Museum of Literature and Art (hereinafter referred to as BSAMLI) hosted a tour entitled «Secrets of St. Joseph’s Church». Most of the tour participants were students from the College of Information and Communication Technologies of the Belarusian State Academy of Telecommunications. The tour guide was Dmitry Samakhvalov, a leading researcher in the Department of Information, Publication, and Use of Documents at the archives and museum. He described the history of St.Joseph’s Church’s construction, the Baroque architectural features, the work of the archival institutions within the building, and introduced the tour participants to the exhibitions organized by the BSAMLI.

The building of St. Joseph’s Church is located at 4 Cyril and Methodius Street in Minsk. The church was built in 1652, but acquired its current Vilnius Baroque architectural features after its reconstruction in 1752. Initially, it belonged to Bernardine monks. In 1863, the Russian imperial authorities confiscated the building and briefly used it as a prison for participants in the Kastus Kalinouski uprising. In 1872, the church was transferred to the Minsk Judicial Archives. Since then, St. Joseph’s Church has been used almost continuously by archivists and is, in fact, the oldest functioning archival building in our country. Today, it houses the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art, as well as the Belarusian State Archive of Scientific and Technical Documentation.

1. Students of the College of Information and Communication Technologies of the Belarusian State Academy of Telecommunications at the Belarusian State Archive-Museum of Literature and Art (BSAMLI).

2. During a tour of the BSAMLI.

3. Introduction to the organization of document storage at the archive-museum.