Catholic Church of St. Mary in Minsk

This postcard was sent to me by Ihar, a mathematics teacher, from Minsk, Belarus, via postcrossing [BY-129582]. It shows the Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary.

Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary (Belarusian: Архікатэдральны касцёл Імя Найсвяцейшай Панны Марыі) is a Roman Catholic baroque cathedral in Minsk. The cathedral was built in 1710 as a church of the Jesuit monastery. In 1793, after Russia's taking over Belarus, the Jesuit order was banned and the church got a local status. Soon, after creation of the Minsk diocese, the church became the local cathedral.

The Cathedral was heavily damaged in a fire in 1797, but was later fully renewed. In 1869 the Minsk diocese was liquidated and the church got a parafial status. In November 1917 the diocee was restored, the bishop Zygmunt Lazinski. In 1920 Lazinski was arrested by Soviet authorities, the cathedral was closed down in 1934.

During the Second World War the Germans allowed the cathedral to function again, but after the war it was again closed down by the Soviets. In 1951 the cathedral's bell towers were intentionally destroyed by Soviet artillery and the building itself was given to the Spartak sports society. In the beginning of the 1990s religious services started. In 1993 the building was given back to the Roman Catholics, by 1997 it was renewed. [wikipedia]

Unfortunately, the official site of the Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary is only in Belarusian, so I could not get more information about the history and the architecture of the church.