Gorky Park is the main public park of Minsk, named — like every Soviet city's main park — for the writer Maxim Gorky. It covers a long strip along the west bank of the Svislach River and is the go-to destination for Minsk families, particularly at weekends. The park has amusement rides, a large Ferris wheel that gives good views over the city, food vendors, and the general festive atmosphere of a Soviet-era park that has been maintained and gently updated.
There is something endearingly unchanged about Gorky Park: the same rides that delighted Minsk children in the 1970s are still here, alongside newer additions. The Ferris wheel is the tallest point in the central city and worth riding for the panorama. In the evenings, the park fills with teenagers, young families, and older couples walking the wide alleys in a display of city life that Soviet planners would have approved of.
Located on Masherova Avenue, a ten-minute walk west of the city centre, or metro to Nemiga station.