Polotsk (Russian: Полоцк) or Polatsk (Belarusian: Полацк, romanized: Polack)[a] is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus.

However, an archaeological expedition from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus suggests that Polotsk existed in the first half of the 9th century.

It repeatedly asserted its sovereignty in relation to other centers of Kievan Rus', becoming a political capital, the episcopal see and the controller of vassal territories among Balts in the west.

The Grand Duke of Lithuania Vytenis annexed the city by military force in 1307, completing the process which the Lithuanian princes had begun in the 1250s.

[7] By doing so, the Lithuanians managed to firmly grasp the Dvina trade route in their hands, securing an important element for the surrounding economies.

Since the Russian Empress Catherine II did not acknowledge the Papal suppression of the Society of Jesus (1773–1814), the Jesuit branches in these lands were not disbanded, and Połock became the European centre of the Order, with a novitiate opening in 1780, and with the arrival of distinguished Jesuits from other parts of Europe who brought with them valuable books and scientific collections.

The city's Saint Sophia Cathedral (1044–1066) was a symbol of the independent-mindedness of Polotsk, rivaling churches of the same name in Novgorod and Kyiv.

Some genuine 12th-century architecture (notably Transfiguration Church) survives in the Convent of Saint Euphrosyne, which also features a neo-Byzantine cathedral, designed and built in 1893—1899 by Vladimir Korshikov.

[14] Cultural achievements of the medieval period include the work of the nun Euphrosyne of Polotsk (1120–1173), who built monasteries, transcribed books, promoted literacy and sponsored art (including local artisan Lazarus Bohsha's famous "Cross of Saint Euphrosyne," a national symbol and treasure lost during World War II), and the prolific, original Church Slavonic sermons and writings of Bishop Cyril of Turaw (1130–1182).

The original idea for the monument came from the Belarusian calligraphy professor Paval Siemchanka, who has been studying Cyrillic scripts for many years.