Public discussion of the sketches for the monument to Princess Olga has begun in Vitebsk

October 13, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. Public discussion of the sketches for the monument to the founder of Vitebsk, Equal-to-the-Apostles Princess Olga, has begun in the city on the Dvina River, Petr Podgursky, chief specialist of the culture department of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent. A total of 16 projects by Belarusian sculptors and architects from Vitebsk, Polotsk, and Minsk are presented in the Music Lounge of the regional center. The princess is depicted both as a young, modestly dressed girl and as an established ruler in rich attire. Most of the sketches are rather monotonous: Olga, standing on a pedestal, holds a cross, a temple, or a shield with the Vitebsk coat of arms in her hand. At her feet is a scroll with a part of the chronicle legend about the founding of the city. More interesting against this background are the projects dedicated to Olga's arrival in the future city. In them, the saint is on the stern of an ancient boat. The top main locations for the possible placement of the monument, according to the authors, include Freedom Square from the side of the Summer Amphitheater, the confluence of the Vitebsk and Western Dvina rivers, as well as the right and left banks of the Western Dvina from the side of Millennium Square and the Salt Warehouses. As the interlocutor noted, among all the projects, the proposal to reconstruct the tower of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee stands out. The authors intend to rebuild it into a tower with four glass elevator shafts and observation decks. The structure will be crowned with the figure of the city's founder with a cross disproportionately large for her height. A professional assessment of the presented works will be given by a competent jury, which will include professional sculptors, architects, and art historians. The formation of the jury has already begun. The winner of the competition will be determined by a majority of votes. The first results will be known in early November. The beautiful legend of the founding of Vitebsk says that in 974, Princess Olga, having defeated the Yatvingians and Pechenegs, crossed the Dvina River and stopped with her army for the night. She liked the place very much, and the ruler decided to found a city here: she laid a wooden castle, naming it Vitebsk after the Vitebsk River, built a stone church of St. Michael in the Upper Castle, and the Annunciation in the Lower Castle. Archaeological excavations in the historical part of the city confirm the presence of a settlement here in the 10th century. Thus, the legend has a right to exist. Petr Podgursky is convinced that every city should have its starting point in history and an interesting legend associated with this event. This is a heritage they are proud of. For example, Romans gladly tell about the she-wolf who nursed Remus and Romulus, the founders of their city. And the inhabitants of the Polish city of Gniezno first tell any tourist about the ruler Lech, who saw a white eagle and ordered a settlement to be founded in that place. -0-