Scientists have managed to clarify the location of the Pyatnitskaya Church, which was completely destroyed in the 1930s. Among the most interesting finds is a fragment of plaster with a scratched inscription from the 16th century. In addition, this season researchers conducted excavations near the St Sophia Cathedral where they discovered a previously unknown fragment of a 12th-century gallery.

As Aleksei Kots, a senior lecturer at the Department of History and Socio-Humanitarian Sciences at Polotsk State University, explained, the university conducts archaeological expeditions in Polotsk every year. «This year was busy with a packed schedule, with two expeditions at once. The first took place near St Sophia Cathedral, with work starting at the end of June and lasting until early August. The second began in the first days of July on the grounds of the former Boris and Gleb Belchitsky Monastery and was completed at the end of July. It was joined by researchers from the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, with which the university has been cooperating since 2015,» he said.

The Boris and Gleb Belchitsky Monastery, the Eastern Orthodox male monastery of the 12th century, was located on the left bank of the Dvina River near the mouth of the Belchanka River. Unfortunately, not a single church has survived from it. «Our goal was the remains of the Pyatnitskaya Church. It survived until the 20th century but was severely damaged in the 1920s, and in the 1930s it was completely dismantled. We knew the approximate area where it stood, but its exact location had been lost. Unfortunately, almost nothing remains of the church itself, only traces of the foundation. We discovered a fragment of a brick wall from an 18th-century burial crypt, about 40 centimeters high and roughly 4 meters long,» Aleksei Kots said.

He added that a collection of building materials was also gathered, including ancient plinths (bricks). «We also found fragments of plaster with scratched graffiti. Presumably, it is an inscription from the 16th century -the name Ivashko. We found coin materials. We documented burials from the city cemetery of the 14th — 16th centuries, which is typical for Polotsk,» Aleksei Kots notes.

The excavations near St Sophia Cathedral involved specialists, university students, and volunteers. «We uncovered fragments of two 12th-century walls. These are part of the annexes to the ancient cathedral, the so-called galleries. They surrounded the building on different sides and served as spaces for a library or burials. The walls are built using the recessed-row masonry technique and have survived to a height of about half a meter. We hoped to find one of the walls, but the second one, located slightly to the north, was discovered for the first time,» Aleksei Kots noted.

Currently, all the finds and data need to be systematized. Research will continue next year.