Patriarch Kirill will familiarize himself with the spiritual heritage of the Polotsk land and will perform a litany for those who died during the war

September 27, Polotsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill will continue his primatial visit to the Polotsk Diocese today, and in the afternoon he will travel to the Vitebsk Diocese. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the Belarusian Exarchate. The third day of the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church's stay in Belarus falls on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, so His Holiness will perform the Divine Liturgy in the Holy Cross Exaltation Church of the Polotsk St. Euphrosyne Monastery. While in Polotsk, His Holiness will inspect the Transfiguration Church and St. Sophia Cathedral, the spiritual and cultural heritage of the ancient Belarusian city of Polotsk. The Transfiguration Church is an outstanding work of ancient architecture, embodying the pinnacle of achievements in church architecture of the Polotsk land. The entire church was decorated with fresco paintings; two small cruciform cells were arranged in it near the choir, in one of which the venerable Euphrosyne devoted herself to prayer and contemplation. Currently, the church is undergoing restoration of the preserved paintings. In the initial period of the Fatherland's history (11th-12th centuries), St. Sophia Cathedral of Polotsk held a special significance for the city in both church and civil terms: there were only three such churches in Rus'. In this sense, Polotsk was among the most important early state formations that emerged in those distant times in the lands of the Eastern Slavs. This temple is even mentioned in "The Tale of Igor's Campaign." Bishops such as the Most Reverend Dionysius and the Most Reverend Simeon, canonized by the Church, served in St. Sophia. In the afternoon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia Kirill will arrive in the Vitebsk Diocese. He is expected to visit the memorial cross at the site of the death of 100,000 victims of Nazism in the Vitebsk concentration camp, where he will lay flowers. Then, with the participation of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a prayer service will be held in the Holy Protection Cathedral. In the evening, Kirill will lay a wreath at the monument on Victory Square in Vitebsk and perform a litany there for the fallen during the Great Patriotic War. The visit program will conclude on September 28 with His Holiness's meeting with youth in the Vitebsk Summer Amphitheater. After that, the Patriarch will depart for Moscow. -0-