The reconstruction of St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk has begun

June 14, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Reconstruction of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Polotsk has begun, Director of the National Polotsk Historical and Cultural Museum-Reserve Olga Borodich told a BELTA correspondent. The restoration project is designed for three years and includes the replacement of the rafter system, carpentry work on replacing window units, and repair of the facade and blind area. The work will be financed from the republican budget. The first stage will involve roof repairs. It is planned that builders will complete this work during the summer. As Olga Borodich emphasized, only during this period will access to the museum, which also serves as a concert hall, be closed. At the same time, excursions, albeit virtual ones, through the museum will continue. Multimedia presentations will be held at the Museum of Belarusian Printing. The St. Sophia Cathedral is an architectural monument of the mid-11th to mid-18th centuries. Built on the high bank of the Western Dvina, it is one of the earliest churches of Kievan Rus' along with the St. Sophia Cathedrals in Kyiv and Novgorod, and the oldest stone building in the territory of modern Belarus. The Polotsk church has been rebuilt several times. In the 15th century, it acquired features of a fortress church, and in the 18th century, under the influence of Vilnius Baroque, the exterior of the Orthodox church was completely changed. Currently, only small fragments of the apse and foundation remain from the 11th-century church. The St. Sophia Cathedral has existed as a museum since 1987. The exhibition area is 870 sq.m. The museum exhibits tell about the history of architecture, numerous reconstructions, repairs, and the last restoration of the monument, which took place in the late 1960s. The concert hall in the St. Sophia Cathedral was opened in 1983 and has a seating capacity of 304. Festivals of ancient and modern chamber and organ music are held annually in April and November in the concert hall of the St. Sophia Cathedral, with organ music concerts every Sunday. -0-