Fragments of a 12th-century wall found during excavations near St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk
An expedition of Polotsk State University found fragments of a 12th-century wall near St. Sophia Cathedral during excavations, Aleksey Kots, a senior lecturer at the Department of History and Tourism at PSU, told a correspondent of Times.by.
Excavations near the temple, built in the 11th century during the reign of the famous Polotsk prince Vseslav the Sorcerer, were initiated by the Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve.
The research has been ongoing for two weeks. Students from the local university are participating in the excavations. Further work will continue with the involvement of volunteers.
"The excavations are needed to assess the condition of St. Sophia Cathedral, because repair and restoration work will begin in the near future and will continue for the next five years," said Aleksey Kots.
According to him, the excavations are taking place in an area near the medieval temple that has not been previously investigated. Materials from archaeologists obtained in the 70s and 80s of the last century are known, but they are poorly processed. In this regard, the museum-reserve decided to conduct additional searches near the walls of St. Sophia.
"Today we found a fragment of a 12th-century wall. It is known that additions were made to the temple itself, built in the middle of the 11th century, later. The discovered masonry is made of plinth bricks with lime mortar and brick crumbs. In the near future, we will completely uncover this section. These are the remains of an extension to the original temple – the eastern gallery," specified the head of the excavations.
Aleksey Kots added that during the work, archaeologists have already descended to a depth of 1.7 meters. A cultural layer from the 16th-17th centuries was recorded here, when some economic activity took place near the cathedral.
Also during the excavations, a layer of the destruction of St. Sophia in the first half of the 18th century was discovered, along with traces of 19th-century repair work.
A significant number of finds confirms that this place was popular among the urban population. Coins from the 17th-19th centuries, a number of decorations, and household items were also found here.
"Further work will allow us to clarify the architectural details of the cathedral," concluded the senior lecturer at the Department of History and Tourism at PSU.
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