House of Soviets, Regional government building on Lenin Square, Mogilev, Belarus

The House of Soviets is a pale grey building on Pervomaiskaya Street, 71, with a tall central section rising above two side wings. Its main block has eight storeys, the wings five, and the connecting segments seven. The facade is divided by pilasters into vertical bands with rows of identical rectangular windows, and a round medallion with a relief emblem sits high above the entrance.

The building was constructed between 1937 and 1939 during a period when Mogilev aimed to become the capital of Belarus. Its architecture followed the model of the Government Building in Minsk and reflects this ambitious moment in the city's history.

The building is an example of Soviet modernism, not Constructivism, designed by Iosif Langbard, who had earlier planned the Supreme Soviet building in Minsk. In front of it stands a monument to Lenin, sculpted in 1958 by V. Volchak and P. Sabsay. The House of Soviets is listed as a heritage site of republican importance.

The House of Soviets stands at 71 Pervomaiskaya Street, facing Lenin Square in the city centre, an easy walk from the main pedestrian axis. It is a working regional executive committee, so interior access is not open to visitors; the facade, the round medallion and the Lenin monument placed in front in 1958 are seen from the square.

The building was designed as a twin of the Government House in Minsk, because in 1935 Mogilev was being considered as a new capital of the Byelorussian SSR. In 1938 the republican government even adopted a resolution to move the capital there, but the plan was abandoned after the border shifted west in 1939. The building then housed the Mogilev regional soviet.