Polotsk

Location: Situated in Vitebsk region.

Polotsk (Vitebsk region) is one of the most ancient cities in Belarus and Eastern Europe, it was first mentioned in chronicles in 862. The period of Vseslav Charodey’s (“Vseslav the Magician”)(11th century) rule was the period of flourishing for Polotsk principality, one of the largest Slavonic states situated at the strategically important point on the way and became the center of crafts and culture.

In 1066 Polotsk was adorned by Sophia Cathedral -- a unique pearl, an exact copy of the Byzantine sacred place. Sophia Cathedral became the third cathedral of this kind at the Slavonic lands after Kiev and Novgorod Cathedrals.

The city was a cradle for Saint Ephrosinya Polotskaya who was one of the most significant persons in the Middle Ages and now is a saint protector of Bearus. She founded Saviour-Ephrosinya female monastery (in 1120-ies). The Saviuor-Ephrosinya church with its unique 12th century frescoes, forms a part of the monastery and is an outstanding memorial of Polotsk architecture school. One of the most precious sacred objects in the monastery is a famous Ephrosinya Polotskaya cross, created in 1161 by a jeweler Bogsha. This cross as well as the relicts of the Saint protector became an object of worship for thousands of pilgrims, who arrive to Polotsk annually from all the country.

The name of the city is connected with another light of the Belarusian culture – the first-printer Francisc Scorina. In Prague in 1517 he was the first in the history of the Eastern and Southern Slavs, to print the Bible in the Slavonic language, in particular in the Belarusian language understood by the common people. It is possible to get acquainted with the activity of the enlightener in the Museum of book-printing.

A giant of the Belarusian history, Polotsk is still not completely studied and seized to the bottom. But it could open its secrets to the ones who love the city with all their heart.