Description of the attraction
The monument to the Monk Euphrosyne of Polotsk was opened and consecrated on September 28, 2000. Euphrosyne of Polotsk is the heavenly patroness of Belarus and the city of Polotsk, where she was born and raised, where she founded a monastery.
Euphrosinia was born into a princely Slavic pagan family, where her parents gave her the name Predslav. She began an ascetic life at the age of 12, having gone to a monastery, where her aunt was the abbess, taking the Orthodox name Euphrosinia. She became the first Belarusian canonized Orthodox saint, the first educator of Belarus. She was also a skilled diplomat and peacemaker, bringing together proud warlike princes who fought bloody internecine wars. Euphrosinia lived a long life, during which she did a lot for her people, for the Orthodox Church, for her country. Euphrosinia of Polotskaya died in her advanced years in Jerusalem, where she went on a pilgrimage.
The bronze statue of Euphrosyne of Polotsk was created by the sculptor Igor Golubev. The height of the statue is 3.2 meters. The Monk Euphrosyne is dressed in strict monastic attire. In her hand she holds the greatest Orthodox shrine, the Cross-Ark, made at her request by Lazar Bogsha. The cross contained particles of the Cross and the Holy Sepulcher, as well as particles of the relics of Orthodox saints. A bronze statue of Euphrosyne stands on the street named after her. The street leads from the former St. Sophia Cathedral to the Spaso-Euphrosyne Cathedral she founded. As conceived by the sculptor, the Monk Euphrosinia is, as it were, on the way from the place of her birth to the place of her destiny.
