“ Minsk is the headquarters of the IVth Army Corps and the see of a bishop of the Orthodox Greek Church, and from 1798 to 1853 it was a see of the Roman Catholic Church. The manufactures are few and insignificant. Since the introduction of railways the commercial importance of the place, which formerly was slight, has begun to increase.
Minsk is mentioned in Russian annals in the 11th century under the name of Myen’sk, or Menesk. ”