Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Life, Open-air folk architecture museum in Ozertsy, Minsk Region, Belarus

The Belarusian State Museum of Folk Architecture and Life is an open-air museum in Ozertso, southwest of Minsk, near the confluence of the Menka and Ptich rivers. Its exhibition zone is organised into sectors for historical-ethnographic regions, of which three are open: Central Belarus, Podneprovye and Poozerye. More than 25 monuments of wooden architecture from the late 18th to early 20th century stand here, including churches, a bell tower, a chapel, a public barn, a school, a smithy, mills and peasant farmsteads with restored interiors.

The painter Ferdinand Ruszczyc first proposed an open-air museum in 1908, but the First World War stopped the plan; a second attempt near Vilnius in 1931 ended with his death in 1936 and the Second World War. On 9 December 1976 the Council of Ministers of the Byelorussian SSR adopted the decree creating the museum. A working group spent the next decade on plans, and in 1988 the project of the Belarusian Restoration and Design Institute was approved. The site lies 4 km from Minsk, near the confluence of the Menka and Ptich rivers.

The buildings show how rural families organized their homes and what mattered most in their daily lives, from family sleeping areas to kitchen spaces where food was prepared and shared. Visitors can see how the layout of rooms and the placement of objects reveal much about community values and personal practices.

The grounds cover 151 hectares, with three sectors open: Central Belarus, Podneprovye and Poozerye. A horse cart runs in summer and a sleigh in winter, and a boat leaves from the museum pier in summer. The korchma, over 200 years old, serves national dishes.

Some of the mills on the grounds still work and can grind grain when conditions are right. You can see how water or wind power turned the mechanical gears that made these mills operate.