Red Bridge in Polack, Monument bridge in Polotsk, Belarus

The Red Bridge in Polotsk is a reinforced concrete beam bridge over the Polota River, on the route of Yefrasinnia Polatskaya Street. It was built in 1975 on the site of a wooden bridge, recreating the earlier decorative elements. A memorial sign stands in front of it.

The wooden bridge over the Polota was the only crossing in Polotsk and the site of fighting on 19–21 October 1812, when Russian troops under General Wittgenstein and the Petersburg militia took it and entered the city. Its deck was said to be red with blood, which gave the bridge its name. Destroyed in the Second World War, it was rebuilt in wood in 1946, and in 1975 replaced by a reinforced concrete bridge reproducing the earlier decorative elements.

The name recalls the October 1812 fighting: the wooden deck of the only bridge over the Polota was said to be red with blood. The street crossing it is named after Euphrosyne of Polotsk. A memorial sign before the bridge quotes the 1812 events.

The bridge carries Yefrasinnya Polatskay Street over the Palata River, so it is crossed on foot or by road as part of that street. The memorial sign stands in front of the bridge, on the approach, and is read before crossing. The river is small and the crossing short; allow a few minutes.

The memorial plaque by the bridge quotes the words carved on it: Russian troops under General Wittgenstein and a Petersburg militia detachment crossed here after fighting on 6–8 (19–21) October 1812 and freed the city, starting the expulsion of Napoleon's forces from Belarusian land. The bridge has been called Red since then in memory of the dead and the spilled blood.