At the beginning of the 18th century, a complex of buildings of the Gostiny Dvor was erected on the Upper Market Square - the place where the best shops of Minsk were located, where rich visitors and guests of the city visited..
In the 90s of the 18th century, architect Kramer rebuilt the complex, uniting all the buildings into a single whole and giving them the features of classicism style. In 1909 the Gostiny Dvor, following the Art Nouveau fashion, acquired a new look. It housed a merchant's club, where composer A. Skryabin, poets K. Chukovsky and V. Mayakovsky performed, and the Minsk branch of the Azov-Don Bank..
In 1917, the complex housed the Executive Committee of the Western Front, meetings of the Executive Committee of the Minsk Soviet were held here, and in September and October 17, the 1st and 2nd North-Western conferences of the RSDLP(b) were held here. At the latter it was announced that power in Minsk would be transferred into the hands of the Soviets.
After the revolution, the building of the Gostiny Dvor housed the Oblispolkom, the Council of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies of the Western Region and the front, and other higher organs of Soviet power in Belarus.
