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POLOTSK

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V22, Page 13 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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POLOTSK  , a

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town of Russia, in the government of
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Vitebsk, at the confluence of the Polota with the
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Dvina, 62 m. by
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rail N.W. of the town of Vitebsk . Pop . 20,751 . Owing to the continuous
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wars, of which, from its position on the
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line of communication between central Russia and the west it was for many centuries the scene, scarcely any of its remarkable antiquities remain . The upper castle, which stood at the confluence of the rivers and had a stone wall with seven towers, is in ruins, as is the
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lower castle formerly enclosed with strong walls and connected with the upper castle by a
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bridge . The
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cathedral of St Sophia in the upper castle, built in the 12th century, fell to ruins in the 18th century, whereupon the
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United Greek bishop substituted a
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modern structure . Upwards of two-thirds of the inhabitants are Jews; the remainder have belonged mostly to the Orthodox Greek Church since 1839, when they were compelled to abandon the United Greek Church .
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Flax,
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linseed, corn and
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timber are the leading articles of commerce . Polotesk or Poltesk is mentioned in 862 as one of the towns given by the Scandinavian Rurik to his men . In 98o it had a prince of its own, Ragvald (Rogvolod or Rognvald), whose daughter is the subject of many legends . It remained an
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independent principality until the 12th century, resisting the repeated attacks of the princes of Kiev; those of
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Pskov, Lithuania, and the Livonian Knights, however, proved more effective, and Polotsk fell under Lithuanian
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rule in 1320 . About 1385 its independence was destroyed by the Lithuanian prince Vitovt .

It was five times besieged by

Moscow in 15oo-18, and was taken by
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Ivan the Terrible in 1563 . Recaptured by Stephen Bathory, king of Poland, sixteen years later, it became
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Polish by the treaty of 1582 . It was then a large and populous city, and carried on an active commerce . Pestilences and conflagrations were its ruin; the plague of 1566 wrought
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great havoc among its inhabitants, and that of 1600 destroyed 15,000 . The castles, the town and its walls were burned in 1607 and 1642 . The Russians continued their attacks, burning and plundering the town, and twice, in 1633 and 1705, taking possession of it for a few years . It was not definitely annexed, however, to Russia until 1772, after the first dismemberment of Poland . In 1812 its inhabitants resisted the French invasion, and the town was partially destroyed .

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