By Elena Bormotova: Ancient burial vaults and galleries have been discovered in Polotsk’s Savior Transfiguration Church designed by St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk in 12th century.
Scientific works are being carried out by the archeologists, historians and restoration artists of the Polotsk State University, as well as by experts from Minsk and Russia’s State Hermitage Museum.
This season is primarily dedicated to outdoor works, namely to removing late cement covering from the lower parts of the building, 2.5 meters above the ground level. This allows revealing the authentic 12th century brickwork and the plaster of that period, perhaps with partially preserved murals. Outdoor wall inscriptions have already been discovered and are now being studied by professionals.
No written sources of that period have been preserved in Belarus, which is why only the wall inscriptions can shed light on previously unknown facts. It was actually prohibited to write on temple walls, however, about 4,000 ancient graffiti have been found on the walls of the Savior Transfiguration Church alone, which made it possible to establish the names of the architectural monument’s creators.












