Palace of the Republic, National entertainment center on October Square, Minsk, Belarus

The Palace of the Republic is a government cultural and business venue on October Square in Minsk, run by the Property Management Department of the President. Its Great Hall seats 2,700 across a parterre, amphitheatre, balcony, six side boxes and two government boxes, and is fitted with cinema equipment. The building is clad in granite from Bashkortostan, whose iron content leaves yellow rust streaks, while its lower part uses rapakivi granite with large crystal inclusions.

Pyotr Masherov, first secretary of the Communist Party of Belarus, initiated the project; a design competition followed in 1982 and Belgosproject produced the winning design. Construction began in 1985 but halted with the fall of the Soviet Union. Alexander Lukashenko ordered work to restart in 1995, the palace opened on 3 October 1997, and finishing work in the halls continued until the end of 2001.

The building has become a focal point for national events and international gatherings since it opened its doors. Concerts, conferences, and official ceremonies held here shape the public life of the city.

The building stands on October Square, and the Great Hall complex has its own entrance with a spacious lobby, cloakroom and lifts, so events there can run alongside others. The reception hall on the balcony level seats up to 1,000 and gives a panoramic view over the city. The small hall is shaped as an amphitheatre, and the press room beside the conference hall has thirty places for journalists.

The Small Hall seats 470 in an amphitheatre layout, not 467, and it is a conference and press venue rather than an acoustic concert space. Beside it, the press hall has thirty dedicated places for journalists, with monitors relaying events from the halls. The conference room holds up to 70 people and has simultaneous interpretation booths.