Artillery half-caponier № 134 (exterior appearance)

So, our first spot is artillery half-caponier № 134. It was built in 1932 and was a part of a separate company defence area “S” of the Minsk Fortified Region. A half-caponier is a fortification structure, which can only deliver flanking fire in one direction (in comparison to a caponier which delivers fire in two opposite directions)

A concrete oreillon (from a French word оreillon meaning earflap) is a part of a half-caponier, which main function is to cover the embrasures from fire and to protect the land in front of the pillbox. If needed the embrasures could be closed with armoured shields which were possible to move up and down by wire rope and windlass from the inside of the pillbox.

The field-facing wall and the ceiling are 1.5 m and 1.10 m thick correspondingly. Such walls protected the pillbox from the 203 mm howitzer high-explosive shells and from the 152 mm gun projectiles.

These concrete walls show fragmentation marks from artillery shell explosions. As it is known, the battles in the territory of the Minsk Fortified region lasted for 4 days - from June 25 to June 28 of 1941. Despite very unfavourable battle conditions, many pillboxes of the Minsk fortified region made a stout resistance to the enemy. We memorialise the defenders of the Minsk fortified region and their act of glory. That is why people lay flowers under the commemorative plaque in their honour and come here to explore their - and our - history.