Nikolai Okolovich (1863-1934)
Nizhne-Pokrovskaya Street is one of the oldest streets in Polotsk. Historical sources confirm its existence already in the second half of the 11th — beginning of the 12th century. From the 13th century the street was densely populated, served as one of the main streets in the city, it was crossed by the Dvina River to the city markets, churches, synagogues, Catholic and Orthodox monasteries were located on it, the richest and most influential citizens lived there.
The first known name of this street was Velikaya Street. In the last quarter of the 18th century (in connection with the construction of St. Pokrovskaya Church) it was renamed into Nizhne-Pokrovskaya Street, in 1919 — into Lenin Street, and in 2008 the street again returned the name Nizhne-Pokrovskaya. It received its current direction in accordance with the classicist plan of Polotsk developed and approved in the late 18th century, which gave the layout of the historical center of the city the features of regularity.
House No. 12 on Nizhne-Pokrovskaya Street was built in the early 20th century (1904). The territory, where the building is located today, was closely populated in the 12th century, but until today only the remains of a wooden house with a clay floor and a tile stove, dated not earlier than the middle of the 17th century, have survived in this place. Architectural and archaeological research has shown that the mentioned house of the 17th century was destroyed by a strong fire.
In the middle of the 19th century the territory of the modern house No. 12 was divided into two plots, one of them belonged to the Polotsk landowner Kazimir Kulesh (had no building), and the second — to the noblewoman Sophia Bogomolets (occupied by two wooden dwelling houses and outbuildings). It was one of the houses of Sophia Bogomolets that was the predecessor of the existing 1904 building.
In the early 20th century, the house had a high brick basement, which is not visible today due to a significant (up to 0.5 m) rise in the street level. The original entrance to the building was located on the west side, and a wide paved driveway led to it. The house had many rooms and was designed for a large family, most likely a priestly one. It is not excluded that in the first decade of the 20th century Nikolai Okolovich (1863-1934), an Orthodox priest, a martyr (by the decision of the Holy Synod of the Belarusian Exarchate in 2007 he was consecrated), a teacher of the Law of God in the Polotsk cadet corps, lived here for some time.
After the October Revolution the house was municipalized and used as a dwelling. After the end of the Great Patriotic War it was significantly rebuilt, divided into three residential apartments with separate entrances, and in this form it existed for almost the entire Soviet period. Today the building has been repaired and is privately owned.
House No. 12 is a beautiful monument of wooden one-storey residential buildings of Nizhne-Pokrovskaya Street of the early 20th century.