Beauty and future tennis player maria y. sharapova was born in the distant siberian town of nyagan. this happened on april 19, 1987. parents masha yuri viktorovich and elena petrovna sharapov were born and grew up in belarus gomel. but they decided to leave the city a few months before the birth of their daughter. this decision was dictated by the close distance of gomel to chernobyl, which became a source of environmental pollution and radiation. masha was born in a safe and clean area, and soon the family moved to the south, choosing to live in sochi. masha started tennis very early. at the age of four, the girl already knew how to hold a racket. there is information that evgeny kafelnikov himself presented the first racket to the future champion. the father of the legendary russian tennis player was friends with masha's father yuri sharapov.
Minsk is not only the capital of Belarus but also one of the most beautiful cities in Eastern Europe. There are a lot of ancient sights in the city which are widely visited by tourists. They include numerous churches, cathedrals, monasteries, chapels, and fortresses. One of the most interesting sights in Minsk is the Cathedral of Saint Virgin Mary. It is an amazingly beautiful building of baroque style. This Roman Catholic cathedral appeared in 1710 but was later destroyed and rebuilt. It used to be a church of the Jesuit monastery.
