The Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (BGAMLI) visited the Museum of Islam and the Cathedral Mosque in Minsk

On March 24, 2026, staff from the Belarusian State Archives-Museum of Literature and Art (hereinafter referred to as BGAMLI) visited the Museum of Islam and the Cathedral Mosque in Minsk, which opened to the public in 2016.

A guided tour of the museum and mosque with an imam allowed visitors to immerse themselves in the Islamic culture of Belarus and see museum exhibits such as a rare Golden Horde coin – a dag of Khan Ulu Muhammad with a countermark of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania depicting the personal coat of arms of Prince Vitovt – «Kolumna»; a hoard of silver dirhams from the Abassid Caliphate of 692; and various editions of the Quran and other sacred Muslim texts.

The BGAMLI is the custodian of the personal collections of famous Belarusian Tatars: writer, professor, and honored cultural figure Stepan Khuseynovich Aleksandrovich; graphic artist Ibrahim Rafailovich Gembitsky; poet, folklorist, and translator Adam Gelyara Kalistovich Gurinovich; public and cultural figure Ibrahim Borisovich Kanapatsky; composer Dmitry Bronislavovich Smolsky; and others. Furthermore, the archive-museum collection contains numerous documents on joint projects and relations between Belarus and Tatarstan (for example, evidence of Yanka Kupala and her family’s stay in the Tatar village of Pechischi in 1941-1942, and documents on the 1963 tour of the Gorky National Academic Russian Drama Theater in Kazan).

A visit to the Museum of Islam and the Cathedral Mosque by BGAMLI staff provided an introduction to this religious and cultural tradition.

1. BGAMLI workers in front of the entrance to the Cathedral Mosque

2. In the foreground (under the dome) is the dag of Khan Ulu-Muhammad and sacred Muslim texts; in the background is the traditional clothing of Muslim men

3-4. Editions of the Quran

5. Exhibition stand in the Museum of Islam