In Minsk's Serebryanka there is a huge car tunnel that even local residents don't know about. What is it?
During the Cold War, a large automobile tunnel was built in Serebryanka, intended to serve a considerable enterprise. The gloomy, dark structure is still used to a limited extent. Blizko.by walked through the little-known man-made structure and occasionally stumbled upon interesting greetings from the past.
Blizko.by once reported which automobile tunnels were planned and are still being planned for construction in Minsk. That article also mentioned which structures in the capital can now be conditionally considered tunnels. But the structure in Serebryanka did not make it into that selection.
As inquiries showed, even locals living near the tunnel itself – not all of them know about it, although it has existed for half a century. And yet, the tunnel is not at all secret: just go in if you're brave enough.
Serebryanka-1, the very end of Rokossovsky Avenue. House No. 145 was built in 1973-1974. This is a 13-entrance building, known to many Minsk residents – not only those in Serebryanka – for the 'Children's World' store. This is important for this story.
The architectural guide reports: originally, on the first floor of sections 4 and 5 (i.e., in entrances 4 and 5) there was a 'Industrial Goods' store, in entrances 5 and 6 – store No. 44 'Confectionery Products', in entrances 7 and 8 – store No. 26 'Meat, Milk', in entrances 9 and 10 – store No. 6 'Household Goods', and in entrances 11-13 – store No. 4 'Children's World' of Minsk City Industrial Trade No. 1.
In the nineties and noughties, stores changed one after another at a high speed, although 'Children's World' continued to exist. But then it also closed. And at the beginning of the building, where the very first entrances are, 'Vitebsk Carpets' and the 'Sunflower' grocery store moved in, which later became 'Khatni' (Home) store, and from autumn 2021 – 'Santa' store. Other stores are not listed here, as they are not important in this context.
In front of 'Santa', there are these parapets. One is covered with grass, and in the second, higher one, there are grates. What is this?
The journalists head to the northwestern end of the building, to the intersection with an unnamed drive opposite the 'Salyut' cinema. Between the two buildings with stores, there is a narrow drive with rising walls. Local residents often use it as a parking lot.
Here, in the drone shot, you can see a truck and a car parked there.
The journalists boldly enter this drive. This is how it gradually descends. This drive is the entrance to the tunnel.
It was built for delivering goods to the stores. As can be seen from their list, heavy daily products (meat, milk) or light but bulky items (industrial goods, clothes, toys) were brought here. In general, the turnover was large, with many goods and trucks, and if they were unloaded from the courtyard side of the building – then the constant movement and exhaust fumes would make life unbearable for local residents. Therefore, the vehicles were driven underground, hidden from sight and smell.
In general, there are grates-gates here, but it seems they are never closed. Lights are burning somewhere in the distance. That's where you need to go.
Right by the gates, there are piles of trash. On the outside – in large black garbage bags, on the inside – haphazardly, simply on the ground.
Immediately underfoot, potholes in the asphalt begin to appear. While the trash is occasionally swept away somehow, the road potholes have probably never been patched in half a century. From time to time, some barrels and various iron objects are found along the way. Everything looks like in detective stories, where one gang of gangsters arranges a 'meet-up' with another gang somewhere in the middle of abandoned Marseilles docks.
Approximately half the way has been covered. The light at the beginning of the tunnel, near the grated gates, has significantly dimmed. However, the light at the end of the tunnel has intensified.
And along the way, artifacts from the past are encountered. On the left side of the tunnel, there are small unloading ramps at the same level as a truck's floor.
The doors are closed, but the text on them remains. And half a century later, we can see: "Promtorg No. 1, store No. 4. Toy Section", "Boys' Clothing Section", etc. There is no lighting here, and presumably, nothing has been unloaded here for a long time.
But further on, where the light is on, there is activity. Air conditioner fans are installed above those ramps. The inscription "№26" on the wall refers to the former 'Meat, Milk' store.
The tunnel ends with a large hall where a truck can turn around, and another dead-end enclosed by grates.
This place is located directly under the 'Santa' store; pallets are stacked near this ramp, people walk around, occasionally stepping out for a smoke break; obviously, trucks also come here, but none were encountered during the journalistic expedition.
Daylight also enters this hall. In the ceiling, you can see the same grates that were observed near the parapets on the surface. Of course, they are made so that exhaust gases can freely exit upwards and so that loaders do not get poisoned by them. There is also an emergency exit to the surface here through a round hatch.
Throughout the tunnel, several more such exits are occasionally encountered. On the surface, they are disguised with grates between flower beds.
According to the journalists' calculations, the tunnel ends approximately under the point where the 'Santa' premises end on the surface and the 'Vitebsk Carpets' premises begin. Starting from the grated gates near the tunnel's entrance – it turns out to be exactly 200 meters (not counting the sloping descent to the tunnel).
So, in Serebryanka, there is such a 200-meter tunnel, which far from all local residents know about.
The long 13-entrance building still holds many interesting things. You can enter the 'Santa' store.
Sergey Druzhko, in his show "Unclear, but a Fact", could probably say this about this dummy "brickwork" that hides a secret door:
"How many more secrets does such a seemingly simple grocery store hide, under which, in the very heat of the Cold War, a huge tunnel was built for trucks carrying strategic cargo?"
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Comments
Добра было б, каб адміністрацыя Санты павесіла хоць нейкую шыльду з інфармацыяй пра танэль і схему праездам да яго. Бо кіроўцы цяжкавікоў вымушаныя круціцца па двары ў пошуках месца для выгрузіць.