Jesuit College in Polotsk, Jesuit educational institution in Polotsk, Belarus

The Jesuit College in Polotsk is a stone complex whose three-storey main building was erected in 1750, replacing earlier wooden structures near the Upper Castle. The site also included a wooden Cathedral of Saint Stephen, stone barns, a stable, a carriage house, a bakery, a brewery, workshops and a cloth factory. In 2005 former college buildings were partially reconstructed and transferred to Polotsk State University.

The college was founded by the Jesuits in 1580 and grew over the following decades into one of the leading seats of learning in the broader region. Russian authorities shut it down in 1820, ending more than two centuries of continuous schooling on the site.

The college's name comes from the Jesuit order that ran it, and its church was dedicated to Saint Stephen, the patron of King Stephen Báthory who invited the Jesuits in 1579. After 1820 the buildings passed to other institutions; since 2005 the former college complex has belonged to Polotsk State University.

The complex is now part of Polotsk State University, so arranging a visit in advance is the best approach. Access to certain areas may depend on what academic activities are happening at the time of your visit.

The academy's library held up to 60,000 volumes before the Jesuits were banished in 1820; the collection was then dispersed among institutions across Eastern Europe. Both Polotsk State University and the Pontifical Faculty of Theology in Warsaw, founded in 1998, claim the college's heritage.