Minsk, the capital of Belarus, is a modern metropolis dominated by monumental Stalinist architecture. Many of its museums, theaters and other cultural attractions stand along Independence Avenue (Praspyekt Nyezalyezhnastsi), a wide, 15km-long thoroughfare terminating by the vast Independence Square. Looming over this iconic plaza are massive KGB headquarters and the neo-Romanesque Church of Saints Simon and Helena, also known as the Red Church