Cross of Saint Euphrosyne

Euphrosyne, mother superior of Polotsk Convent, ordered the cross to decorate the new Transfiguration church.

The simple cypress cross was decorated with gold, gemstones and enamel, depicting Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, the Theotokos (Mother of God), the Four Evangelists, the archangels Gabriel and Michael, and three patron saints of Euphrosyne and her parents.

In 1928 the nationalized relic was taken to Minsk, then, in 1929, to Mogilev, and was locked in a safe box of the regional Communist Party headquarters.

The cross disappeared during the swift invasion of Belarus (June-August 1941) by German forces during World War II.

There are at least three different versions (other than destruction by fire or plunder): In 1997, Nikolay Kuzmich, a craftsman from Brest, completed an officially endorsed replica of the cross, now on display in the Polotsk cathedral.