Cathedral of the Epiphany in Polack, Eastern Orthodox cathedral in Polotsk, Belarus
The Cathedral of the Epiphany in Polotsk is a cross-domed, single-apse stone church with two single-tier towers on its western facade. A tall drum with a spherical cupola and faceted lantern rises over the crossing; the north tower held seven bells. In 1839 the baroque pediments of the facades were removed or reduced.
Monks of the Epiphany Monastery began building the stone cathedral in 1761, and it was consecrated on 5 August 1777. It was originally a single-apse cross-domed church with a two-tower main facade. Baroque pediments on the facades were removed or reduced in 1839, and the building was later rebuilt several times.
The cathedral is the seat of the Polotsk and Hlybokaye eparchy of the Russian Orthodox Church. Three fragments of fresco painting from the second half of the 18th century survive, and tempera figures of three hierarchs, about three metres tall, remain on the drum's inner surface. Since 27 April 2020 the relics of the priest-martyr Konstantin Zhdanov have rested here, brought from Disna.
The building is accessible from Nizhnye-Pakroskaya Street, where regular religious services and cultural programs take place throughout the year. Visitors should plan around these scheduled activities when visiting.
The cathedral kept three fragments of 18th-century fresco painting, including three-metre tempera figures of three hierarchs on the drum piers, partly restored in the 19th century. Its famous Iveron icon of the Mother of God, in a gilded silver cover with 18 precious stones, was moved to the Sophia Cathedral after a fire.
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