The Cathedral of Holy Wisdom

For many centuries, the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom was a symbol of independence, greatness, the political, economic and cultural significance of Polatsk among “cities equal to it.” Although many wars, explosions and reconstructions did not allow to preserve the original appearance of the church, in the history of Belarus, the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom has been considered as the source from which the national stone construction (architecture) began.

Built by the legendary Prince of Polatsk Usiaslaw the Sorcerer in the middle of the 11th century, the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom became the place for the archbishop’s chair, for a library, for the conclusion of political and trade agreements, keeping of the sovereign treasure, creation of Polatsk chronicles, copying of books. It also served as a hide-out for the inhabitants of Polatsk during the war. The first stone building on the territory of modern Belarus – the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom – paved the way for stone construction, and was a kind of Polatsk school of architecture with a strong influence on the development of architecture in the Old Russian lands.

Witnesses to the events of the Polatsk principality have survived to these days: the foundation, the altar apse, fragments of ancient masonry and frescoes, synthon (stone bench for priests) and cross-shaped pillars that once divided the temple space into five naves. Those who want to know about the history of architecture of the ancient monument may see all of these relics, as well as items found during the architectural and archaeological researches conducted in the Cathedral between the years 1969 and 1980, at the museum exposition.

One of the most interesting findings is a limestone from the middle of the 11th century. It contains names scratched on it: “Davyd, Tuma, Mikula, Kopes’, Pyotr, Vorishko.” This monument of epigraphy was found at the foundation of the south wall. These may be the autographs of participants or observers of the construction of the temple.

The glass cases contain the following exhibits: plinth form brick that dates from the 11 century, containing notches, letters, numbers, various signs and symbols, including the Trident of the Rurikids; a fragment of a silk bedspread with gold-thread embroidery from a female burial of the 16th century. Among the exhibits, there are items found during the excavations of the Upper Castle: a twisted gold ring from the 11th century, brought to Polatsk from the distant Scandinavian Gotland, and a pendent seal of the Grand Prince of Kiev Vsevolod Yaroslavich (1078–1093).

The Cathedral of Holy Wisdom, as Polatsk itself, experienced many dramatic events, destructions and fires. It was rebuilt into a defensive-type temple at the turn of the 15^th–16^th centuries. In 1596, the Orthodox Cathedral was passed to the Uniates and remained under their control until 1839.

The last reconstruction of the Cathedral was done during this period, namely in 1728–1750. Having been destroyed by an explosion of a powder warehouse in 1710, the Cathedral preserved its foundation and walls to a height of 8 and 12 meters, which were included in the new building erected by Johann Christoph Glaubitz.

The Belarusian architect Valeryy Ryhoravich Slyunchanka (1945–1992) was the author of the project of restoration of the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom that started in 1969. Belarusian and Lithuanian restorers, Russian archaeologists (P.A. Rappoport, V.A. Bulkin), and Czech masters of organ building contributed to the return of the monument to full life. It has been open for exhibition since 1987.

Thanks to the unique acoustics, a chamber music hall was opened at the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom in 1983. The first musical event in the restored Cathedral was the performance of works from the so-called “Polatsk notebook” (the 16th century) by the ensemble “Cantabile”. In 1985, majestic organ music was played in the Cathedral hall. An organ was designed and installed especially for the Polatsk Cathedral by the well-known Czech firm “Rieger-Kloss”. It has 3905 tubes of various sizes, 48 registers, a system of foot pedals and 3 hand-held keyboards. The first to perform playing the organ was the great organist and composer Oleg Yanchenko (1939–2002).

International festivals of ancient and modern chamber music have been held at the ancient Сathedral in April for 28 years in a row, while in October it hosts the international festivals of organ music “Sophia’s Bells”. It is noteworthy that the III Organ Festival of October 1998 in Polatsk premiered at its opening O. Yanchenko’s Symphony No. 4 “The Tale of Igor’s Campaign”, performed by the State Symphony Orchestra, the Belarusian State Choral Chapel named after R. Shyrma and the choral ensemble “Camerata”.

Again, like nine hundred and sixty years ago, light, colour, music, sculpture, and architecture organically merged to form an amazingly powerful emotional image.

The concert hall with its unique acoustics is organically combined in the monument with the museum exposition, the protagonists of which are the musealised remains of the Cathedral from the middle of the 11th century.

Not only did the new function of the Cathedral fail to distort the original appearance of the temple, but it also revealed and emphasized  its main invincible aspect – the high skills of its creators.