The England football team head to Minsk on Wednesday to play their World Cup qualifying match against Belarus. Deputy Sports Editor JON GREEN visited the capital and was won over by what he encountered there

I'M standing in exactly the centre of Europe – and a giant of a man wearing a beret, a scowl and what I can only assume is a gun bulging beneath his fawn leather jacket is telling me to "go away".

The small granite pyramid that I'm trying to photograph signifies that I'm in the middle of Minsk in the centre of Belarus, which the locals proudly claim is the geographical heart of Europe.

And when the natives can look as intimidating as the chap standing just a few feet away from me, eyeing my camera with an almost paranoid level of suspicion, then I'm not about to disagree.

This isn't the typical welcome in Belarus, where generally the hospitality towards visitors is warm and generous. But standing on the edge of Oktyabrskaya Square, shortly before the arrival of the President, the sight of a foreigner with a digital camera is clearly causing this not-so-secret policeman to get quite fidgety.

Not wishing to see our stand-off escalate any further, I decide to return my camera to its case, and once the motorcade sweeping Alexander Lukashenko into the Palace of the Republic had passed, so – thankfully – had the danger.

I visited Belarus during the week leading up to its parliamentary elections. And with the world's media pointing their cameras at Minsk, the communist state – described by the United States Government as Europe's "last outpost of tyranny" – was promising to clean up its act.

Since its independence from the USSR in 1991, Belarus – or "White Russia" – has remained fiercely loyal to its former motherland.

Recently, however, cracks have begun to appear in its relationship, with Russia threatening to double the price of its gas piped across the border.

Perhaps also spooked by Russia's excursion into Georgia – another former Soviet state – Lukashenko has begun to look West.

"Europe's last dictator" had promised independent observers unfettered access to the recent elections, which eventually saw the opposition parties fail to win any of the 110 seats that were contested.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said that last month's elections "fell short" of international standards, but that's unlikely to deter Belarus, who will continue to push for closer ties with the EU. And tourism could be its secret weapon.

Admittedly, the country's visa regulations – currently £63 for a tourist – coupled with the shortage of direct flights from the UK make it that bit more difficult to visit than its Eastern European neighbours.

And, it's fair to say, Belarus isn't exactly geared up to welcoming independent travellers.

A large proportion of visitors still arrive on state-run tours from other Commonwealth of Independent States countries and tourist information can be thin on the ground. In fact, Minsk's only tourist information office, run by Belintourist (19 Prospekt Masherova), closes for lunch – and at weekends. Belarus is preparing to welcome about 3,000 English men and women to their capital on Wednesday when their national side take on Fabio Capello's men in a World Cup Group Six qualifier at the 41,040-seater Dinamo Stadium.

But there are plenty of reasons other than the football to travel to Minsk – not least the architecture.

Situated on the main route between the Polish border and Moscow, Minsk was almost entirely flattened by the Germans during World War II – or the "Great Patriotic War", as it's known in Belarus.

Its pre-war population of 300,000 fell to just 50,000 by the time the Red Army reclaimed the city in 1944, and Minsk's Rakauskoye suburb was also the scene of one of the Nazis' largest Jewish ghettos, with only 13 of the estimated 100,000 population surviving the conflict.

AFTER Stalin decided against moving the national capital to Mogilev, the reconstruction began and Minsk is now graced with wide boulevards and a host of impressive buildings designed in the Socialist classical style.

The city's main thoroughfare, Nyezhavizhimosty Avenue, is said to be modelled on the dimensions of St Petersburg's famous Nevsky Prospekt, where the height of the buildings measures exactly half the width of the streets.

The large parks, the relatively empty streets (it's said that despite Minsk boasting a population of 1.8 million people, you'll never witness a traffic jam there) and the low-rise construction make it a wonderful place to tackle on foot. Wandering along Nyezhavizhimosty Avenue from Oktyabrskaya Square in the direction of Independence Square will take you past many of the main organs of state.

The central bank sits on the left, opposite the GUM department store, while the yellow-coloured KGB building – yes, they are still going strong in Belarus – is further along on the right. A statue of Felix Dzherzhinsky, the Belarussian founder of the KGB, watches over the headquarters from the park across the road.

Walking around Minsk is like stepping back in time – or into a John le Carre novel. A statue of Lenin still stands proudly in Independence Square, images of hammers and sickles adorn official buildings and, incredibly, the bright lights and billboards of Western consumerism have yet to blight the city's streets.

Only five minutes by foot from the Dinamo Stadium, at 20 Lenin Street, is the National Art Museum (admission £4). Despite being plundered by the Nazis during the war, the museum still houses a vast collection of Russian and Belarussian works, although sadly nothing by Marc Chagall, probably the country's most famous artist.

The collection includes works by influential post-war artists such as Mai Dantsig and Mikhail Savitsky with stirring titles such as The Miners of Soligorsk and Back to the Native Collective Farm. The gallery is definitely worth a couple of hours of your time.

If fatigue is beginning to set in, take the metro (15p) across the centre to Minsk's old town. As much of the Troitskoe Predmestiye (or Trinity suburb) was reduced to rubble during the war, the majority of the buildings here were rebuilt in the 1980s and now house a selection of shops, restaurants and bars along attractive cobblestone streets.

Located in the Svislach river, and reached by a bridge from the old town, is the Island of Tears. This haunting monument, inaugurated in 1996 to commemorate the soldiers who died during the USSR's ill-fated Afghan campaign, features a tiny chapel adorned with black sculptures of mothers and wives grieving the loss of their loved ones.

THE island is also the resting place of a buried capsule which contains earth brought back from the battlefields of Afghanistan.

The entrance to the monument also forms part of an unusual Minsk wedding ritual.

It's a tradition for newlyweds to scratch their names on to padlocks which they then fasten to the gate. Throwing the key into the river then ensures that the couple will remain together for eternity, apparently.

Just a short walk from the Island of Tears is the imposing Hotel Belarus, an ugly 22-floor concrete tower. There are plans to demolish it in the near-future, so make sure to take the lift to the top floor to enjoy the incredible views over the city from the panoramic restaurant – although I can't vouch for the quality of the food there.

Belarus was nicknamed "the potato republic" by its Russian neighbours, thanks to its fondness for the crop and, according to the United Nations, the Belarussians are still the world's largest consumer. They produce an incredible nine million tonnes of potatoes each year, and it's not surprising that their national dish – potato pancakes – appears on almost every menu you come across. In fact, the ubiquitous potato is known as "the second bread" in Belarus, and they have even found a way of producing a potato jam!

But Minsk does offer some excellent dining opportunities, potatoes and all.

The rustic Talaka restaurant offers local specialities such as borsch, mushroom soup in a bread bowl and a very tasty cheese hotpot.

The more upmarket Renessans, situated in a former monastery print works, is an ideal dinner option.

Its European-style menu has an excellent selection of meat and game dishes – my choice of filet mignon in cherry sauce is apparently one of their specialities – and the restaurant also boasts a cigar room, billiard tables and live piano music.

The restaurant prices, like almost everything else in Belarus, are very reasonable, but that's unlikely to last. Whether through political and economic change or from being finally discovered by Western tourists, Minsk – and Belarus in general – is bound to change in the near future.

To experience this former Soviet treasure in all its glory, get there before the budget flights arrive.

Factfile

Jon Green stayed at the five-star Crowne Plaza in Minsk (www.crowneplaza.co.uk). Double rooms cost £180 with breakfast. The four-star Hotel Minsk (www.hotelminsk.by) costs £120 a night.

He flew to Minsk with Czech Airlines from Heathrow via Prague. Return flights start at about £200, including taxes.

A taxi from the airport (Minsk-2 International) to the centre costs about £20 and can be picked up outside the arrivals terminal.

Contact the Belarus embassy in London (www.belembassy.org/uk/) for information about visas.

A two-course lunch with drinks at the Talaka restaurant costs about £10 (www.minskinfo.com/en/dining/belarusian_and_european/talaka/).

A two-course dinner with drinks at the Renessans restaurant (www.minskinfo.com/en/dining/belarusian_and_european/renessans/) costs about £18.