The Museum of Stones is one of Minsk's more unusual attractions: an outdoor park in which thousands of boulders and stones have been arranged in a roughly geographic layout representing the territory of Belarus, interspersed with blue spruce trees. The collection tells the geological history of the country, from ancient glacial erratics to stones from every region.
The museum is in the Botanical Garden complex in the Chizhovka district. It is low-key and easy to miss but rewards a visit if you have any interest in geology or are simply looking for a quiet place to walk. The stones include some remarkable specimens — large glacial erratics dragged here from Scandinavia by ice age glaciers, as well as locally distinctive formations.
The combination of the outdoor stone collection and the adjacent Botanical Garden (one of the best in the former Soviet Union) makes for a half-day excursion from the city centre. Metro to Botanichesky Sad station, then a short walk.