Located in the center of the Polotsk Lowland, on the Western Dvina River, at the confluence of the Polota River. Hence the name of the city and the name of the tribe "Polochane", who settled in the Upper Podvinye, forming an independent tribal "reign". In fact, the "Polochans" are the western branch of the Krivichi and this name comes from Polotsk, their main tribal center. Polotsk Krivichi were formed in the 8th-9th centuries. as a result of the settlement of the Slavs in the territory occupied by the Balts.
Archaeological excavations at the Polotsk settlement, carried out in 2007 by D. V. Duc, showed that the settlement was inhabited already in 780. The first written mention of the city we find in the "Tale of Bygone Years" under the year 862 as the city of Krivichi.
Settlement
Most researchers associate the original core of Polotsk with a settlement (area 73 × 75 m), located on the right bank of the Polota River, 0.8 km from its confluence with the Western Dvina, surrounded by water on four sides; higher up the Polota there was a settlement (“suburb”). Initially, the settlement was not surrounded by ramparts. However, the Krivichi that appeared here in the 8th - 9th centuries were not the first inhabitants of the settlement. Long before their arrival, there was a small settlement of the Eastern Balts, carriers of the so-called Dnieper-Dvinian archaeological culture. The seizure and burning of Polotsk by the Novgorod prince Vladimir in 980 led to the fact that already in the XI century life on the settlement gradually dies down, and from the XII century its territory began to be used as a necropolis.
In 986, the legendary Christian missionary Torvald, along with his colleague Stevnir Torgilsson, moving through Kenugard (Kiev) along the Nepru (Dnieper), arrived in Polotsk. On "Mount Drofna" they built a church and opened the monastery of St. John the Baptist. In Polotsk, Thorvald met with another famous Viking, Olav Tryggvason. Thorvald died in Polotsk, presumably after 1002. Later, the Skald Brand-traveler visited Polotsk, who claimed that Thorvald was buried "in the mountain near the Church of John" and was revered as a saint.
At the beginning of the XI century. The town's detinets was moved from the settlement to the Upper Castle. In the XI-XIII centuries. Polotsk consisted of several parts ("posadov" or "ends"), geographically separated from each other. Its most ancient part was located at some distance from the Western Dvina on the right bank of the Polota. We refer to it the original settlement and settlement, which at first had an area of 0.3 hectares, and then in the XI century. increased to 2-3 hectares. The second part of the city is Veliky Posad, its area is about 16 hectares. The third part stretched along the right bank of the Western Dvina to the southwest from the Upper Castle. This Zapolotsky Posad (Zapolotye) had a length of 800 m, a width of about 200 m, an area of about 16 hectares. In the XI-XII centuries. the main territory of Polotsk was about 80 hectares, including the area of the Upper Castle. The territory of Polotsk has increased in comparison with the 9th century. several dozen times,which indicates the rapid development of the city.
Presumably in the XII-early XIII century. about 8 thousand people lived in Polotsk. 2-3 km from the city there were villages (one of them - Seltso - lay along the Plot), princely courts (one in Belchitsy), Spassky monasteries (in Selts), Bogoroditsky (on the right bank of the Polota), Predtechensky (on the Western Dvina island). On the left bank of the Polota, almost opposite the Mother of God Monastery, there was Volovye Lake. According to legend, it was the temple of Perun.
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Upper lock
After being burned down in 980, the Upper Castle gradually became the core of the city from the middle of the 11th to the 18th centuries. which played the role of the administrative and cultural center of Polotsk. It is an elevated area at the confluence of the Polota with the Western Dvina with steep slopes and a trapezoidal area (approximately 7 hectares). This place has good natural defenses. On three sides, access to it is blocked by the named rivers, from the east there is a deep ditch, where the Black Stream once flowed. The northeastern end of the Upper Castle is comparatively low and adjoins the Lower Castle. Here was the entrance to Detinets from the side of Veliky Posad. The oldest rampart on the Upper Castle dates from no earlier than the 11th century. Artisans lived on its outer side, representatives of the nobility and clergy lived on the inner side. In the eastern part of the Upper Castle in the XII-XIII centuries. there lived artisans.
Probably in the 70s. XII century. in Polotsk Detinets, a church was built, the remains of which were studied through excavations. Its plan is very close to the plan of the Belchitsky Cathedral: the under-dome space of the six-pillar church is also formed not by eastern, but by western pairs of pillars. Unlike the Belchitsky Cathedral, there is only one semicircular apse, while the lateral ones have straight outlines on the outside. The northern and southern vestibules of the temple have independent apses. The outer shoulder blades are somewhat more complicated than in the Belchitsky Cathedral.
Simultaneously with the church in Polotsk Detinets, a small civil building was erected - obviously, the tower of the prince's palace. Probably, the church in Detinets was not the only monument in which the Polotsk architects developed new forms. So, it is possible that the church located on the outer side of the moat separating the Polotsk Detinets from the roundabout town (“Church on the Moat”) and the church built in Detinets somewhat earlier had a similar composition. Unfortunately, only the foundation of the apse has survived from this church, which does not allow us to judge its planned scheme.
Sophia Cathedral
In the middle of the XI century. on the Upper Castle, the Cathedral of St. Sophia was built (not earlier than the 1040s and not later than 1066; probably on the site of a wooden church, presumably replacing a pagan sanctuary). The architectural solution of the Polotsk Sophia Cathedral is similar to the temples of the same name in Kiev and Novgorod. The temple, like the Novgorod one, was painted only with frescoes, while in Kiev fresco and mosaic decorative decoration of the temple was combined. The construction of all three churches was probably carried out by an artel invited from Constantinople. It was a five-nave cross-domed church with princely choirs, with a dedicated altar in the central apse with a syntron, with a dome 5.85 meters in diameter. After numerous destructions and rebuildings from the ancient cathedral of the XI century. remained the foundation, the lower parts of the walls and support pillars,and only the eastern apse rises to a height of about 12 m.
During the construction of the cathedral in the XI century. Plinfu, a flat brick, was used as a building material, the recipe for which, like the masonry technology, was brought here by Byzantine craftsmen. The masonry of the cathedral was carried out in the classical technique for Byzantine architecture with a "recessed row", when every second row of plinths was hidden, recessed deep into the wall and rubbed over with a cement stone. And such a striped, unplastered temple was on the outside in the 11th century, and inside the walls were plastered and painted with frescoes.
According to written sources, at the end of the XIII century. "Oh St. Sophia" was the residence of the Polotsk bishops. There was also a room for the entire staff of clergy at the episcopal see ("Krylos"). The governor's court was located in the northwestern part of the Upper Castle (the territory of the modern city hospital).
Spaso-Euphrosinievsky monastery
In 1125 the Spaso-Euphrosyne monastery was founded in Polotsk, named after the holy princess Euphrosyne of Polotsk, who settled near the Transfiguration Church in Selts. Over time, the sisters of the Monk Euphrosyne were tonsured here: native Evdokia (in the world of Gordislav) and cousin Eupraxia (in the world of Zvenislav) - the only daughter of the Polotsk prince Boris Vseslavich. In 1161, by the diligence of St. Saint Euphrosyne was erected a stone Church of the Transfiguration - the best preserved monument of ancient Polotsk architecture. Its builder was the architect John. The gilded altar cross donated by the princess with particles of the relics of many saints and the Life-giving Cross of Christ became the real shrine of this temple. In the XIII century. the shrine was taken out of Polotsk, but returned to the monastery by Ivan the Terrible in 1563.after a successful siege of the city.
There is an indication that half a kilometer from the monastery there were the ruins of a church on the site of a Catholic cemetery, where plinths of the 12th century were located … Finally, in the vicinity of the Spaso-Euphrosyne Cathedral, the remains of the foundation were found underground, apparently close in time to a building, perhaps, the Church of George.
Borisoglebsky monastery in Belchitsa village
The monastery was founded by the Polotsk prince Boris Genvilovich, the grandson of the Lithuanian-Novogrudok prince Mingaila, who took possession of the Polotsk principality around 1190 (shortly after the end of the dynasty of princes of the house of St. Vladimir in Polotsk). It was located in Belchitsy on the left bank of the Western Dvina River in the 12th century. - outside the city limits of Polotsk at that time. At this time, the Polotsk princes, having ceded the Upper Castle for residence to the bishops, had their own mansions on Belchitsa, therefore, palace churches were built near them, which became part of the monastery. The monastery consisted of at least four temples. However, to date, foundations of only 3 churches have been found on the territory of the village of Belchitsa. The monastery included the so-called "Big Cathedral" (the real name is not known), Pyatnitskaya and Borisoglebskaya churches (built in 1222) and a triconchus temple. Images of St. Passion-bearers Boris and Gleb (in the baptism of Roman and David) are preserved on the frescoes in c. in the name of St. Paraskeva Pyatnitsa in the Belchitsky Monastery, in the Transfiguration Church. Polotsk Euphrosyne Monastery. The large cathedral was probably used as the burial vault of the Polotsk princes.
Also in Polotsk since 2015 they have been restoring the Transfiguration Cathedral. There, Hermitage specialists, together with students and teachers of the Polotsk State University, carry out archaeological excavations. From time to time, various interesting artifacts were found, and now they have discovered an underground church of the 12th century - and this is a unique find. Specialists say that there are no such structures in Ancient Russia. Or at least they didn't. Inside there are the remains of the ancient throne, frescoes, a fragment of the icon with St. George the Victorious.