Near Vitebsk, a water pipeline was being dug, and a 400-year-old stone cross of Harasim Ihnatavich was found
Ordinary earthworks by local utility workers brought an interesting find. In the small village of Karouka, Vitebsk district, a stone cross that had lain there for about four centuries was unearthed. Now it will be kept in the Vitebsk City Hall.
Stone cross from the village of Karouka, Vitebsk district. Photo: Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
The artifact was discovered on March 30, 2026, during works carried out by "Vitebskvodokanal" in the village of Karouka, Zadubrovensk rural council, near Surazh. After encountering the stone cross, the enterprise's workers contacted historians.
The very next day, March 31, the artifact was delivered to the Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore. A hoisting crane was required to unload the massive stone block. The historical find was carefully lifted from the truck bed and lowered into the reception area of the entrance to the underground floor of the Vitebsk City Hall, where the museum is located.
Transportation of the stone cross to the regional museum. Photo: Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
Transportation of the stone cross to the regional museum. Photo: Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
Transportation of the stone cross to the regional museum. Photo: Vitebsk Regional Museum of Local Lore
On the front side of the found cross, one can make out the roughly carved name of a certain Harasim Ihnatavich — it is unknown who this person was.
At the bottom of the cross, a date is carved, written in traditional Cyrillic letters for that period, as unambiguously indicated by a special superscript mark — a titlo. The first symbols read quite confidently: "҂АХ…". In the ancient numbering system, the letter "А" with the thousands sign means 1000, and the letter "Х" corresponds to the number 600. The next symbol, indicating tens of years, resembles either the letter "Л" (thirty) or "М" (forty). The last letter, which is responsible for units, is difficult to correlate with standard Cyrillic numerals. Nevertheless, the dating to the 17th century leaves no doubt.
The cross was erected just a couple of decades after the bloody war of the mid-17th century, when Russian troops turned eastern Belarus into a desert.