Polotsk

Coordinates: 55°29′N 28°48′E / 55.483°N 28.800°E / 55.483; 28.800
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Polotsk
Полацк (Belarusian)
Полоцк (Russian)
Polatsk
Town
UTC+3 (MSK)
Postal code
211291, 211400—211402, 211404—211415, 211422
Area code+375 214
License plate2
Websitepolotsk.vitebsk-region.gov.by

Polotsk (

Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2024, it has a population of 79,579.[1]

Nomenclature

The

Vikings
rendered that name as Palteskja.

Geography

Lakes

Climate

Climate data for Polotsk (1991–2020)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 4.4
(39.9) 		5.2
(41.4) 		11.8
(53.2) 		22.2
(72.0) 		26.8
(80.2) 		28.7
(83.7) 		30.3
(86.5) 		29.9
(85.8) 		24.9
(76.8) 		17.9
(64.2) 		10.4
(50.7) 		5.7
(42.3) 		30.3
(86.5)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) −2.0
(28.4) 		−1.1
(30.0) 		4.2
(39.6) 		12.4
(54.3) 		18.7
(65.7) 		22.1
(71.8) 		24.1
(75.4) 		23.0
(73.4) 		17.3
(63.1) 		10.0
(50.0) 		3.3
(37.9) 		−0.6
(30.9) 		11.0
(51.8)
Daily mean °C (°F) −4.5
(23.9) 		−4.4
(24.1) 		0.1
(32.2) 		7.0
(44.6) 		12.8
(55.0) 		16.5
(61.7) 		18.5
(65.3) 		17.2
(63.0) 		12.0
(53.6) 		6.2
(43.2) 		1.0
(33.8) 		−2.7
(27.1) 		6.6
(43.9)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) −6.7
(19.9) 		−7.2
(19.0) 		−3.4
(25.9) 		2.1
(35.8) 		7.2
(45.0) 		11.1
(52.0) 		13.3
(55.9) 		12.2
(54.0) 		7.8
(46.0) 		3.3
(37.9) 		−0.8
(30.6) 		−4.6
(23.7) 		2.9
(37.2)
Record low °C (°F) −21.3
(−6.3) 		−19.5
(−3.1) 		−12.9
(8.8) 		−4.9
(23.2) 		−0.1
(31.8) 		4.6
(40.3) 		8.2
(46.8) 		5.5
(41.9) 		0.8
(33.4) 		−4.8
(23.4) 		−9.9
(14.2) 		−14.4
(6.1) 		−21.3
(−6.3)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 49.9
(1.96) 		46.6
(1.83) 		39.2
(1.54) 		41.0
(1.61) 		63.7
(2.51) 		84.3
(3.32) 		89.2
(3.51) 		69.9
(2.75) 		59.4
(2.34) 		64.9
(2.56) 		54.0
(2.13) 		49.9
(1.96) 		712.0
(28.03)
Average precipitation days (≥ 1.0 mm) 12.2 10.5 9.6 7.6 9.5 11.1 10.9 9.6 8.8 11.1 10.5 11.7 123.1
Source: NOAA[2]

History

Polotsk in the 16th century.

Polotsk is one of the earliest mentioned cities of the Eastern Slavs. The Primary Chronicle mentioned Polotsk in the year 862 (as Полотескъ, /poloteskŭ/), together with Murom and Belozersk. However, an archaeological expedition from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus suggests that Polotsk existed in the first half of the 9th century.[3]

The first known prince of Polotsk was Rogvolod (ruled 945–978). He had two sons and a daughter named Rogneda. Rogvolod promised Rogneda to the prince of Kiev, Yaropolk, as a wife. But Yaropolk's brother, Vladimir, had attacked Polotsk before Yaropolk came. He killed Rogvolod, his wife and sons, and married Rogneda.[4][5]

Vladimir and Rogneda had five children and the eldest of them,

Izyaslav
, became Prince of Polotsk (ruled 989–1001).

Between the 10th and 12th centuries, the

Balts in the west. Its most powerful ruler was Prince Vseslav of Polotsk, who reigned from 1044 to 1101. A 12th-century inscription commissioned by Vseslav's son Boris may still be seen on a huge boulder
installed near St. Sophia Cathedral.

The Siege of Polotsk in 1579

During the

Russo-Polish War (1654–67)
.

The main street of Polotsk in 1865, by Dmitry Strukov

In 1772, Russia seized Polotsk (then Połock) as part of the First Partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.

Since the Russian Empress

Stefan Batory, with the Jesuit Piotr Skarga (1536–1612) as its first rector) into the Połock Academy (1812–1820), with three faculties (Theology, Languages and Liberal Arts), four libraries, a printing house, a bookshop, a theatre with 3 stages, a science museum, an art gallery and a scientific and literary periodical, and a medical-care centre. The school was also the patron of the college in Petersburg, the mission to Saratov
and an expedition to Canton.

During the French invasion of Russia the district saw two battles, the First Battle of Polotsk (August 1812) and the Second Battle of Polotsk (October 1812).

In 1820, pressure from the Russian Orthodox Church influenced the Russian Emperor Alexander I to exile the Jesuits and to close the Polock Academy, there were 700 students studying there.[8][9] The Russian authorities also broke up the Academy's library of 40,000–60,000 volumes, the richest collection of 16th- to 18th-century books — the books went to St. Petersburg, Kiev and other cities, 4000 volumes (along with books from other closed Jesuit schools) going to the St. Petersburg State University Scientific Library.[10][11]

Polotsk came under occupation by the German Empire between 25 February 1918 and 21 November 1918 during World War I, by Poland between 22 September 1919 and 14 May 1920 in the Polish–Soviet War. and by Nazi Germany between 16 July 1941 and 4 July 1944 during World War II. In August 1944, there were serious considerations to transfer Polotsk and its surrounding areas (18,000 square kilometers) with ~400,000 people from the Byelorussian SSR to the Russian SFSR, however Joseph Stalin, persuaded by Panteleimon Ponomarenko, eventually rejected to approve the already prepared transferring documents and subsequently Polotsk functioned as the center of Polotsk Region between 20 September 1944 and 8 January 1954.[12] A reorganisation of the area between Vitebsk and Molodechno Regions left Polotsk part of the former.

Cultural heritage

View of Polotsk in 1912

The city's

Peter I of Russia. Hence the present baroque building by Johann Christoph Glaubitz dates from the mid-18th century. Some genuine 12th-century architecture (notably Transfiguration Church) survives in the Convent of Saint Euphrosyne, which also features a neo-Byzantine cathedral, designed and built in 1893—1899 by Vladimir Korshikov.[13]

Cultural achievements of the medieval period include the work of the nun

Cyril of Turaw
(1130–1182).

The first Belarusian printer,

Johann Gutenberg
and just several years after the first Czech Bible (1506).

In September 2003, as "

Cyrillic
scripts for many years.

Sports

The city has produced players for the Belarus national bandy team.[14] In October 2011, the team planned to participate in the Russian Cup in rink bandy,[15] but did not after all.

Notable people

Gallery

  • Saint Sophia Cathedral
    Saint Sophia Cathedral
  • Saint Sophia Cathedral
    Saint Sophia Cathedral
  • Boris stone
    Boris stone
  • Bogoyavlensky Convent
    Bogoyavlensky Convent
  • Bogoyavlensky Cathedral
    Bogoyavlensky Cathedral
  • Convent of Saint Euphrosyne
    Convent of Saint Euphrosyne
  • Convent of Saint Euphrosyne
    Convent of Saint Euphrosyne
  • Polotsk main square with Hotel Dzvina
    Polotsk main square with Hotel Dzvina
  • Railway station
    Railway station
  • Former Lutheran church
    Former Lutheran church
  • Church of Protection of Holy Virgin
    Church of Protection of Holy Virgin
  • Church of Andrew Babola
    Church of Andrew Babola

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Official transliteration.

References

  1. ^ a b "Численность населения на 1 января 2024 г. и среднегодовая численность населения за 2023 год по Республике Беларусь в разрезе областей, районов, городов, поселков городского типа". belsat.gov.by. Archived from the original on 2 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  2. ^ "World Meteorological Organization Climate Normals for 1991-2020 — Polotsk". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  3. ^ Archaeologists have won the dispute in the ancient chronicles of the earlier date base of Polotsk
  4. ISBN 978-90-04-26022-1
    .
  5. ISBN 978-1-317-87224-5
    .
  6. ^ a b The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 1300-c. 1415. p.706
  7. ^ a b The New Cambridge Medieval History: c. 1300-c. 1415. pp.769-770
  8. ^ Symposium 2014: Jesuit Survival and Restoration 1773 - 1814: 200th Anniversary Perspectives from Boston and Macau
  9. ISBN 9789004282384
    , pp. 83-98
  10. ^ "Polotsk history".
  11. ^ Stam, David H. International Dictionary of Library Histories. Chicago, Ill: Dearborn, 2001. vol 1, p. 686
  12. Радыё Свабода
    (in Belarusian).
  13. ISBN 5-87417-207-6
    , p.260
  14. ^ Bandy Archived 2011-09-04 at the Wayback Machine at Bandy2008
  15. ^ "Google Translate".
  16. ^ Uladzimir Arloǔ(Арлоў Уладзімір)
  17. ^ Lyavon Barshchewski: “I could become а prime minister. But not a president. And not a member of parliament. (Лявон Баршчэўскі: «Я прэм’ер-міністрам мог бы стаць. Але не прэзыдэнтам. І не дэпутатам»)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Polotsk.
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