Spaso-Euphrosyne Monastery

Euphrosyne of Polotsk, a princess who became a nun and is the patron saint of Belarus, founded this convent in the twelfth century, and the Saviour church built for it around 1161 by the architect Ioann survives: a small single-domed brick church whose interior is covered with frescoes of the same period, uncovered from beneath later overpainting in a long conservation programme and now the most complete body of twelfth-century wall painting in the country. Euphrosyne's cell is preserved within the walls. A large nineteenth-century cathedral stands alongside. The convent is active, with nuns living and working here, and the cross of Euphrosyne, a famous reliquary lost in 1941, is represented by a modern recreation.

What you actually see

• The Saviour church - the twelfth-century building and its frescoes.
• The uncovered painting - the medieval work recovered from overpainting.
• Euphrosyne's cell - the preserved room within the church.
• The working convent - the nineteenth-century cathedral and the community.

When to go

May to September for the approach; the convent is open year round. Access to the fresco church can be restricted during conservation work and services. Feast days bring pilgrims in numbers.

Honest expectations

This is a working convent with dress rules: heads covered and skirts for women, no shorts. Photography inside is generally prohibited. Access to the twelfth-century church depends on conservation work and is sometimes closed. Services take precedence.

Nearby

St Sophia cathedral lies south; central Polotsk is between them.