Источник фото: hreads.com/@ylenka_murochka
Demolition has begun on the “White Fortress” on Bahdanovicha Street in Minsk — a two-storey cottage in the courtyard of the Arkadia residential complex that for many years symbolized unyielding determination in the fight to protect private property and outlasted the developer seeking to demolish it by several years. Minsk residents are posting footage of the demolition on Threads: an excavator has already torn down part of the walls and roof.
The video was posted by katrin__zhu.
“The end of an era,” “My deepest respect,” and “What a story” are among the comments posted by users.
The story began in 2008, when private houses at the intersection of Bahdanovicha and Niakrasava streets were slated for demolition to make way for a residential development of high-rise buildings. Most residents agreed to compensation and the demolition of their homes, but the owner of the white cottage on Ekskavatarnaya Street rejected the terms offered by the developer, Tambaz. He considered the proposed compensation 60% below the property’s value and insisted on receiving an equivalent house in exchange. As a result, the mansion, home to eight people from four generations of one family, found itself under siege for 18 years — first by construction pits and later by high-rise buildings.
In 2018, the extended family received compensation in the form of a semi-detached house in Starazhouka, a replica of their former home, but without interior finishing or utilities. The house had no flooring, doors or plumbing. The owner had to pay to connect water, electricity and gas. The money for renovation stipulated in an additional agreement with the developer never reached the owners, as the company went bankrupt in 2020. The residential complex was completed by the Construction Directorate of the Soviet District, and the final high-rise building was commissioned in 2022.
The former cottage was no longer registered in the family’s name once the documents for the new house had been finalized. It stood empty from March this year, after a court ordered the family to vacate the property and the ruling was enforced.
The future of the plot remains unknown. The original development plan designated it for an underground car park.