11 October 2024, 13:43

PM: 2025 will be final year for major excavations on Menka River near Minsk

MINSK DISTRICT, 11 October (BelTA) - 2025 will be the final year for major excavations of the settlement on Menka, Belarusian Prime Minister Roman Golovchenko told the media after visiting the archaeological complex on the Menka River, BelTA has learned.

The excavations on the site of the ancient settlement in the village of Gorodishche, 10km from Minsk were carried out in 2023 and 2024. "I agree with the proposal by our scientists that next year should be the final year for major excavations. Probably, they will continue in the future to some extent. But we are planning to finalize the bulk of the work next year, with the participation of students of history departments, the public, volunteers - all those who show interest," Roman Golovchenko said.

The main idea is to confirm the presence of a Christian church on the territory of the settlement, perhaps one of the oldest in Belarus. "If archaeologists confirm this fact, it will be the last point in the scientific justification that it was a large city. It is also very important to proceed to the description, classification of finds, their comparison with the finds uncovered on the territory of today's Minsk, on the site of the old Minsk castle. This project is moving from archaeological domain into scientific and practical ones," the prime minister said.

According to him, the excavations are unlikely to resume on the territory of Minsk itself, since there is no opportunity to conduct large-scale research there. "But, as scientists say, there are enough materials that have been unearthed there since the 1940s. We just need to revisit this topic and study what has already been found on the site of the old Minsk castle," the head of government stressed.