Материал исследования по английскому языку в 11 классе "Беларусь… Таинственная и неизвестная"

Belarus. The Mysterious and Little Known

The aim of our tour is:

• to tell people about the mysterious and little known facts in the History of the Lake District;
• to popularize Polotsk Stonehenge, a unique historic monument and sacred place;
• to make it popular with native people and tourists;

• to awake people`s interest to the History of Belarus;;
• to encourage people`s desire to investigate our native land;
• to bring up a feeling of patriotism, pride, love for Motherland;
• to preserve the unique historic places for future generations.

Scientists consider: Our Polotsk land "has got a unique historic monument which united Science, Religion, Culture of Ancient times…" What is the relevance of our research tour "My Mysterious and Little-Known Land"?

The stone monuments are unknown to my countrymen…
Native people have got a vague idea about the ancient historic places;
No one takes care of them…
No one visits these places…

D. Westwood said,
"The Past left a lot of puzzles and Mysteries. Sacred places, symbolic landscapes, ancient towns and lost lands surround us, attractive both for students, adventurers and curious researchers and tourists. And it keeps keeping its secrets…
But if you don`t know the history of your Motherland, you have no future. If you are not a boring person, if you live an active way of life, if you love your Motherland, this project is for you!

What is our Homeland famous for? …
Its historic heritage, great countrymen, sacred places, heroes of the Great Patriotic War and labour, storks and wisents, its picturesque scenery…

I am sure, you are patriots of our great land and you`ll agree with me that to describe our native place one needs to be a poet! We live in the world famous territory: It`s Polotsk District.

Our region is a vast picturesque plain with
Beautiful pine forests and shady groves,
Crystal-clear lakes and quiet shady rivers,
Green meadows and fields,
Hills and elevations,
national parks and reservations.

But today we`ll speak about one more fact in the history of our native place. Our Homeland is a small and beautiful country with the mysterious Past. Today I invite you to investigate our favourite recreation area, the so-called Polotsk-Ushachy Lake District.

Let`s travel to one of the mysterious places in Belarus, which may be called Polotsk Stonehenge. It is situated at a distance of 25 kilometers from Polotsk near the village of Bikulnichi in the area of the most popular lakes: the Gomel, the Yanovo, the Paulskoye.

Holiday-makers like to spend their free time in this district all the year round, but, no doubt, the best time for swimming, sailing and fishing is summer. These lakes attract a lot of people but only a few know that it`s a unique place in Belarus.

It is the so-called Polotsk Astronomic Complex. It was discovered by S.N. Glushkov in 1987. He is a famous researcher of local history in Polotsk District,
S.N. Glushkov discovered some places with a lot of stones, big and small, located in a special way near Lake Yanovo, Lake Gomel and Lake Paulskoye.

Then the place was investigated by a group of students who, as students of local history, did research in the so-called Lake District under his leadership.
In the course of time the Place got a number of names: "Kamyani", Polotsk Astronomic Complex, Polotsk Observatory, Polotsk Complex, Polotsk Megalitic Observatory, Polotsk Stonehenge.

Polotsk Astronomic Complex

What is it like? It is situated in the very heart of the historic-ethnographical region, which occupies the Dvina River basin, stretches as far as Lake Naroch to the West, as far as Logoisk and Borisov in the South and farther along the watersheds of the River West Dvina and the River Dnieper.

This is Polotsk Astronomic Observatory.

It is considered to be a unique ancient complex. Scientists consider the aim of the Complex to have been the same as that of English Stonehenge, which was used…

• as a temple to the Sun;
• as a calendar;
• for astronomical measurements;
• as an ancient "computer" to forecast the time of the next eclipse.

Polotsk Stonehenge is not so large. It has got some peculiarities:

• The stones are of smaller size;
• The stones are of pink and red colour;
• The stones are oriented at the Parts of the World;
• The stones near Lake Yanovo are located in the form of the Russian letter "П".
• The stones have the obvious signs of handwork.

Unfortunately, we`ll never know its secrets… Historians estimated the fact, that the territory was populated by Polotsk Krivichi in the 7th -10th centuries. Our ancestors created original culture. The relics of national architecture, cult and defensive architecture, samples of stone carving trade testify to it.

It was the first Feudal state on the territory of Belarus. The Stone Complex got the status of the state archeological monument of Belarus on February 18, 1988.
Why was that very place chosen by our ancestors for the sacred place of warship and observation?

The researchers have discovered one more astonishing fact about this mysterious place. Look at the lakes in the light of the Star Map… These are the Gomel, the Yanovo and the Paulskoye in the photo from the Satellite. The researchers speak of the conformity of the three lakes with the part of the Star Map:

Lake Yanovo and the constellation "Orion" on the star map. Lake Gomel and the constellation "Greater dog" on the star map. Lake Paulskoye and the constellation "Taurus" on the star map.

You can see that the contours of the lakes and the contours of the constellations coincide! I believe, we`ll never guess this mystery of this Nature creation.
We invite you to take part in the tour to the mysterious Lake District.

The student of the Lyceum, Olga Sobitnyuk, took part in the exploration of this sacred place and we are thankful to her for the wonderful idea of the Project. She called it "Lakes, Stones and Stars".

We call our research tour "My Mysterious and Little-Known Land". Let`s travel to the Lakes of the Polotsk-Ushachy Lake District, on the shores of which the mysterious ancient stone monuments of the past are located.

• Why not visit this unique place of our Homeland?
• Why not breathe in the sacred air of ancient times?
• Why not touch the ancient, mysterious stones, which remember hands of our forefathers?
• Why not relax, get lost in the wonderful fields of our Motherland and listen to birds` singing?
• Why not enter a quiet, shady and picturesque river in your Native village?
• Why not read a clever book by a small lake?
• Why not look at the night starry sky and watch the mysterious constellations?
• Why not serf the night sky and think about eternal life and the Mysterious world?
• Why not travel through time and imagine these places, and beautiful white-haired and blue-eyed people on the shores of these amazing lakes and rivers…
• Why not go there?

Every nation must research and preserve its sacred places…