Six medieval scholars and bachelors are vying for the right to become a monument in honor of student life in Polotsk

March 12, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA /. Six medieval students - scholars and bachelors - are vying for commemoration on the grounds of the former Jesuit collegium in Polotsk. This is the number of draft projects submitted for the competition of the first sculpture in Belarus in honor of students, Stanislav Krassovsky, chief specialist of the Polotsk City Executive Committee, told a BELTA correspondent. The competition commission will have to choose the most interesting sculpture option, which will be made of metal and installed this year near the historical monument, which now houses the Faculty of History and Philology of Polotsk State University. As Stanislav Krassovsky noted, the sculpture of a medieval student is a tribute to the first higher education institution in Belarus, which was the Polotsk Jesuit Collegium founded in 1581 by Stefan Batory. However, the initiators of the idea - the rectorate of Polotsk University - decided to immortalize not only the scholar but also the modern student in metal. Unlike medieval Europe, when only men could study at universities, more and more young women are studying in modern universities, so the image of a modern student should be embodied by a sculpture of a girl. It will be installed next year near one of the new buildings of PSU - in Novopolotsk. Polotsk University is perhaps the only educational institution in Belarus whose faculties are located in two cities. In Polotsk, the first officially declared cultural capital of Belarus, the country's history and culture are treated with respect and awe. About two dozen sculptures and monuments remind of the glorious past. Among them are monuments to legendary figures - Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Francysk Skaryna, Prince Vseslav Bryachislavich nicknamed the Sorcerer, and there are also unusual ones, like the sculpture of a cunning merchant or a composition in honor of the Belarusian letter "u neskladavae". This year, the sculpture of the Polotsk student will not be the only new monument. In May, a monument to the Heroes of the War of 1812 will be unveiled in Polotsk, and a little later, a monument to the architect Ioann, who built the Transfiguration Cathedral in the 12th century, will appear. -0-