Transfiguration Church in Polack, Eastern Orthodox church in Polack, Belarus
The Transfiguration Church is a stone building with traditional dome architecture located in Polotsk. Inside, it preserves remarkable frescoes from the 12th century that remain visible to this day.
The church was built in the mid-1150s, not 1128, under the direction of an architect named Ivan, described in the life of Euphrosyne of Polotsk as head of the church builders. Pavel Rappoport considered it the first example of the tall, tower-like church that shaped Old Russian architecture. The roof was rebuilt in the 17th to 19th centuries, and in the 1830s the dilapidated building was restored rather than demolished.
The 12th-century frescoes, painted between 1133 and 1145 on the order of Euphrosyne of Polotsk, include the Orans, the Nativity and the Flight into Egypt, plus a rare 'St Anthony and centaur' in the western vault. Graffiti near the altar record commemorations, autographs and everyday notes from five periods.
The church opens its doors to visitors outside prayer times. The main entrance is located on the western side of the building.
In 2015 archaeologists digging at the church found underground galleries, an exonarthex and, three metres down, a whole hidden church with its own altar and frescoed walls. Among more than 10,000 fragments of frescoes they recovered a brick bearing the building scheme of the church and a 1920s dollar coin.
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 93,784 contributors worldwide.
