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The most beautiful ancient russian towns are ready to open to you their mystic secrets!
Novgorod Novgorod - one of the most ancient cities of Russia located in its North-West, near the site where the Volkhov river takes its waters from Lake Ilmen, emerged as a political center of Slavic and Fino-Ugric tribes in the mid-9th century, while as a town it was formed in the middle of the 10th century. The history of Novgorod is closely linked with all major stages in the life of Russian state. In the times, when the statehood of Rus was just in the making, the Novgorodians invited Scandinavian prince Rurik to keep law and order, thus giving birth to the prince Rurik dynasty that ruled over all Russian lands throughout more than 750 years. The adoption of Christianity at the close of the tenth century turned Novgorod into a powerful ecclesiastical center. The efforts of Novgorod Bishops in spreading and promoting the Orthodoxy were given high credit in the mid-12th century when they were elevated to the ranks of Archbishops which made the Bishops Chair of Novgorod most powerful in the Russian Orthodoxy. The right of Novgorod to select its own princes, that was granted in the middle of the twelfth century, attracted princes to the Novgorod throne, and that provided favorable conditions to maintain the unity of Russian lands tending to be feudally divided, while the annexation of Novgorod republic to Moscow Principality at the end of the 15th century resulted in the united Russian State with Moscow as a capital. Throughout many centuries, Novgorod was a political center of vast territories stretching up from Baltic lands and Finland in the West to northern Urals in the East. It was also one of the greatest international trade centers on the Baltic-Volga commercial route that tied northern Europe with Asia as early as in the mid - 8th century. Novgorod is the cradle of Russian republican and democratic traditions. In the course of over 600 years, up till 1478, all vital decisions on its life and foreign policy were taken by the "veche" - ancient parliament comprising the representatives of the town aristocratic families. At crucial times of Novgorod history, all people took part in the veche. The republic's special political structure, spiritual freedom and territorial independence were highly favorable to evolve culture and art. Novgorod was one of Russia's major centers of literacy and book production. As far back as in the 30-s of the 11th century, by the will of the great Prince Yaroslav The Wise, Novgorod saw the first school to train three hundred children at a time. Medieval Novgorod was one of the greatest art centers of Europe. Its architectural traditions, school of icon-painting, jeweler's and decorative applied art became famous all over the world. The town's military power, its remoteness from dangerous southern borders, successful campaigns against clergical reforms and heresies enabled to preserve a unique complex of architectural monuments with frescoes of the 11th - 17th centuries, the oldest Russian manuscripts, chronicles, acts, icons. The only time in its history when Novgorod suffered military damages was in the course of the World War II: for over two years the city, being at the front line, was bombed and shelled by both combating armies. Turned into ruins, this city on the Volkhov River was brought to life again by the restorers who managed to revive old architecture. One of the most interesting attractions of the city is its ancient Kremlin. The oldest in Russia, this fortress was mentioned in chronicles as early as in 1044, while its today's walls and towers were constructed at the close of 15th century. The Detinets (that was the original name of the citadel ) was closely related to all most important events in the life of ancient Novgorod: hosting foreign embassies, seeing-off warriors to fight the enemy, convening people veche meetings. You will be for sure fascinated by the cathedral of St. Sophia, the Holy Wisdom of God - the oldest survived Russian stone monument, situated in Kremlin. It was built in 1045. Powerful monolithic massive structure of the monument still dominates not only the Kremlin, but the whole historic downtown of Novgorod. In its interior your attention will be drawn by the unique historically formed iconostases, ancient mural paintings, icons - national relics of Russia (including the famous icon of the 12th century - Virgin of the Sign, that was returned back to the cathedral in 1991, when divine services were resumed here), and other relics of Bizantine, Western Europe and Russian art. In the course of hundreds of years the Cathedral of St. Sophia was a center of clergical, political and cultural life of ancient Novgorod. In addition to the above-mentioned St. Sophia's Cathedral, the Kremlin also features such other striking monuments as the Faceted (Archbishop's) Palace - a rare example of Gothic architecture, built in 1433 in team with German masters, as well as the impressive and beautiful St. Sophia's Bellfry of 1439 with a set of bells dating back to the 16th - 18th cc. In the central square of the Kremlin you will find the monument "The Millenium of Russia", designed by Mikhail Mikeshin and erected in 1862. It is a unique document in bronze immortalizing alongside with outstanding politicians of Russia all those who greatly contributed to the development of the country: its culture, science, art, literacy, literature. Leaving the Kremlin and St. Sophia Quarter of the city, you can get to the opposite bank of the Volkhov by a footbridge, and then to the territory of another architectural open-air museum the Yaroslav's Court and ancient Trade-yard displaying many survived monuments of the 12th - 16th centuries: churches of St. John-The Baptist, Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa, Murrh-Bearing Women and others - all reminding of busy trade life of Novgorod in old bygone days, as Yaroslav Court with its former wooden palace of Great Prince Yaroslav The Wise was widely known since the middle of the 8th century as a site of the international Trade-yard, oldest in northern Europe. There are also a lot of monuments of the twelfth century Novgorod architecture - the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in Yaroslav's Court and the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady in St. Anthony's Monastery, that have brought to us old fresco painting, carved iconostases, the necropolis of the 17th - 18th centuries. In the old cloister - the St. George (Yuriev) Monastery, that was founded as early as in the 12th century by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, as a legend reads. The open-air architectural-ethnographic museum "Vitoslavlitsy" provides a whole complex of genuine folk wooden architecture, including ancient churches of the 16th - 18th centuries and peasant houses of the 19th - early 20th centuries, exhibitions of folk art and everyday life items of Novgorod peasants of the same period. A visit to Novgorod usually leaves guests with unforgettable impressions of the inimitable and majestic Novgorod landscape which can be appreciated by making a boat tour of the Volkhov river and Lake Ilmen, by seeing Peryn - the site of the pre-Christian heathen- temple, by going to Lipno island with one of the few preserved architectural specimens of the 13th century - the Church of St. Nicholas decorated with frescoes of the same age. To ask the question To get information Just click e-mail More towns? |
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