The Temple of the Annunciation of the Most Holy Mother of God

Since ancient times, the Annunciation Church was the main and most revered church. Residents of Vitebsk, who left the city, took a blessing on the road in this temple, and returning, thanked the Virgin for her help in traveling. According to legend, in the Holy Annunciation Church, St. Alexander Nevsky became engaged to Polotsk Princess Alexandra.

Historians suggest that the church was built in the early twelfth century with the participation of Byzantine masters. During the construction of the temple, the original construction technique was used: the walls of the temple are lined with rows of white hewn limestone blocks, interspersed with double rows of plinth (flat and wide bricks). The shrine was the only cult monument in Eastern Europe, built in the style of Byzantine-Balkan architecture. Of great artistic value were the fresco paintings of the Annunciation Church, which covered all its walls, however, to this day they have not survived.

During the Great Patriotic War, the building was severely damaged and fragments of ancient frescoes were opened from under the layers. In 1961, they tried to blow up the church, while its vaults collapsed, but the walls resisted, but the frescoes were finally lost. In 1998, the temple was restored in the guise of the XII century, and in 2005 the walls of the temple were covered with a new painting.