Location: Novgorod Oblast Map
Hotels, motels and where to sleep
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Veliky Novgorod (also Novgorod-on-Volkhov) is one of the oldest
Russian cities, which left a noticeable mark both in domestic and
world history. It existed on the banks of the Volkhov even in the
pre-chronic period and became the starting point of all Russian
statehood. Having escaped plunder during the Mongol invasion,
Novgorod managed to preserve several unique monuments of
pre-Mongolian architecture, and about a century ago, ancient
frescoes were discovered under the layers of plaster of ancient
churches, the oldest of which date back to the 12th century, which
brought Novgorod truly worldwide fame. The Great Patriotic War
significantly reduced the number of local monuments, but thanks to
the efforts of restorers, some of them were saved, so that the
ancient temples of Novgorod and its environs were included in the
UNESCO list. Nowadays, Novgorod is a large regional center in the
north-west of Russia. It is included in the Silver Ring of Russia
and is very popular with tourists, including foreign ones.
Founded in ancient times, Veliky Novgorod for several centuries was
the commercial, political and cultural center of the entire Russian
North. Conducting a lively trade with Western Europe, the city had
very close ties with the Hanseatic League, without formally entering
it. With the advent of first Kiev, then Moscow, and later St.
Petersburg, Novgorod gradually lost its former power and by the 18th
century turned into a quiet provincial city with a huge number of
monuments reminiscent of its former greatness.
In ancient
Novgorod, wooden buildings prevailed, but the most significant
religious buildings were built of stone. This, as well as the fact
that Novgorod escaped the raids of the Mongol-Tatar army, allows us
to see the stages of the formation of the Novgorod style, which went
from imitating Byzantine churches in the face of the grandiose St.
Sophia Cathedral to the heights of Novgorod architecture of the
XIV-XV centuries, represented by the churches of the Savior on
Ilyin, Fedor Stratilat on the Creek and Peter and Paul in
Kozhevniki. After joining Moscow, the original urban architecture
fell under the influence of Moscow canons, although the local flavor
is still felt in the monuments of the 16th century. Later, the
development of Novgorod went in line with Russian traditions. Like
other cities, it has gone through redevelopment, leading to absurd
results, the rebuilding of old temples and new construction in all
the prescribed styles.
Unfortunately, most of the ancient
monuments were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, and in the
first years of restoration work, due to a lack of building
materials, many ruins of ancient buildings were dismantled into
bricks. Nevertheless, in the project for the restoration of the city
- its author was a connoisseur of ancient Russian architecture A.V.
Shchusev - it was planned to create an urban environment with
harmoniously coexisting ancient monuments and modern buildings. And
although the real construction work quickly went beyond the scope of
the project, in general, in present-day Novgorod, it was possible to
do the almost impossible: in the historical center, modern buildings
modestly coexist with majestic churches proudly standing in open
spaces, and the lack of residential buildings of the 18th-19th
centuries is more than compensated by numerous cozy parks and city
alleys.
Novgorod stands on the Volkhov River, which connects
Lake Ilmen with Lake Ladoga. In the name Ilmen, the stress is placed
on the first syllable.
Ancient Novgorod was almost completely made of wood. Sophia Cathedral
(1045-1050), built by Yaroslav the Wise, became his first stone
building. The style of the five-nave cross-domed cathedral, which has
come down to us almost unchanged, largely repeats its South Russian
counterparts, but it was from it that the formation of the original
Novgorod style that existed until the 16th century began. New stone
churches appeared in the city only half a century later, their customers
were rich princes, which determined their stylistic similarity with St.
Sophia Cathedral, as well as with Kyiv churches of the 11th-12th
centuries. From this group of churches, the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky
Cathedral (1113), the appearance of which was restored by restorers
after the war, and St. George's Cathedral of the St. George's Monastery
(1119-1130) have come down to us. Close to this type is the relatively
small Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the St. Anthony
Monastery (1117-1122), which became the forerunner of later small
churches. In their external appearance, reflecting the internal
structure, they are characterized by the segmentation of the facades
with blades, the use of three equally high apses, a pommel cover and
several cupolas.
During the XII century, the shape of churches
gradually transformed into a cubic one. This is felt already in the St.
George's Cathedral of the Yuriev Monastery, but it is best seen in the
last princely building on Novgorod land, the Church of the
Transfiguration of the Savior on Nereditsa. Its internal structure still
repeats the St. Sophia Cathedral, but the number of naves was reduced to
three, and the dome, originally helmet-shaped, was supported by only
four pillars.
The formation of the Novgorod Republic led to the
disappearance of the princes-customers, therefore, by the end of the
12th century, large and richly decorated cathedrals were replaced by
small four-pillar one-domed churches, free from architectural excesses,
but with a rare expressiveness of forms and proportions. They were
usually built very quickly, in just a few summer months, and the best
examples of this type are the Church of the Annunciation at Arkazhi
(1179) and a couple of churches with a special three-lobed facade, which
apparently came to Novgorod from Smolensk - the pre-Mongolian miniature
Church of the Nativity in Perynsky skete (1226) and the Church of St.
Nicholas on Lipna (1292). The simplification of architecture not only
affected the complete disappearance of decoration from the facades, but
also affected the apses: from the three equally high altar semicircles
of the Church of the Annunciation, through the intermediate stage of
lowered side apses (as, for example, in the Church of the Savior on
Nereditsa), by the end of the 13th century, the Novgorodians came to a
single apse solution, which has become one of the attributes of the
local style.
Until the loss of independence by Novgorod in 1478,
the type of a single-domed cubic temple dominated the city, but was
creatively rethought by local craftsmen: first, the segmentation of the
facades with shoulder blades returned to use, and then to the trademark
Novgorod arched belt on the drum - it was already used in St. Sophia
Cathedral and, by the way , could have a different scale - decorative
decoration of the facades was added. The internal structure of the
temples has undergone only one major change: starting with the
Assumption Church on Volotovo Field (1352), both in Novgorod and in the
related Pskov school, four domed pillars began to be placed closer to
the walls, thereby changing the interior of the temples. By the end of
the XIV century, real masterpieces appeared in the city. These are the
churches of Theodore Stratilates on the Stream (1361) and the Church of
the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street (1374): the latter is also famous
for the paintings of Theophanes the Greek. In total, more than a dozen
such structures have been preserved in Novgorod and its environs. The
eight-slope gable covering, often found in these churches, came into use
only in the 16th century and is the result of later reconstructions.
After joining the Moscow principality, local architecture gradually
absorbed the features of Moscow architecture, as a result of which
curious transitional forms of temples arose in the 16th century, where
both Moscow and local traditions peacefully coexist in different
proportions. Among the best examples of this group are several churches
of Yaroslav's court and the pretty church of Boris and Gleb in Plotniki
(1536). The term "Novgorod" is almost never applied to later urban
architecture, although both the local nature and magnificent examples of
ancient architecture made it possible to preserve the originality of the
younger temples.
Since ancient times, the city existed on both sides of the Volkhov
River: on the Sofia and the Trade sides. The Sofia side has grown around
the citadel with St. Sophia Cathedral in the center. Yaroslav's
Courtyard is the historical core of the Trade side. The sides are
connected by a pedestrian bridge leading from the Prechistenskaya Arch
of the Kremlin directly to Yaroslav's Courtyard, and a pair of transport
bridges located to the north of the historical center. A huge park is
laid out around the Kremlin, and the entire old city is surrounded by an
earthen rampart left over from the fortifications of the Roundabout
City. Most of the city attractions are concentrated inside the city
ramparts or slightly behind them. The railway and bus stations are also
not far away, one and a half kilometers west of the Kremlin. The
historic core of the city is quite compact and you probably won't need
public transportation to see it. Several interesting monasteries are
located in the vicinity of the city. Yuryevo is easily accessible by
buses that depart regularly from the railway station. It is easier to
get to other nearby churches and monasteries by taxi: buses run
infrequently and most of the time will be spent waiting for them.
If you are visiting Novgorod for the first time, plan to visit the
city for at least one day, and two days should be enough to understand
where you actually got to and see not only the historical center, but
also a couple of temples in the vicinity.
Nerevsky end
Sofia side
Zagorodsky end
Sofia side
Lyudin end
Sofia side
Carpentry/ Plotnetsky end
Trading
side
Slavensky end
Trading side
Red hut, Sennaya sq. 5 (Sofia side, in front of the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (905) 290-86-86. 9:30–18:00. Novgorod is a rare example for Russia of a well-organized tourism industry. The Tourist Information Center's website contains a wealth of reasonably structured information, which you can also get over the phone (it's said to be open almost 24/7) or in the "live" office, which has sightseeing maps and beautifully printed booklets. Near an expensive cafe of Russian cuisine.
Novgorod detinets
1 Novgorod Kremlin.
According to chronicles, the first wooden fortress surrounded by a
moat was built in Novgorod in the 11th century under Prince
Vladimir, son of Yaroslav the Wise. In the XIII-XV centuries, the
citadel was rebuilt several times, until, finally, first stone
towers were erected, and then walls, the construction of which was
started from the coastline. The result was a stone fortress, fenced
with red-brick walls, about 1.5 kilometers long, 8 to 15 m high and
3.6 to 6.5 m wide. Of the 12 stone towers of the late 15th century,
nine survived. Instead of two of them - the Resurrection and the
collapsed Prechistenskaya - in the 19th century, passage arches were
made, around the same time the Borisoglebskaya tower, washed away by
floods, was dismantled. Two towers, round in plan, the Fedorovskaya
and Metropolitan towers, as well as Zlatoustovskaya, Pokrovskaya,
Kokuy, Knyazhaya, Spasskaya, Palace and Vladimirskaya towers have
come down to us. Most of the walls were rebuilt to one degree or
another, only the spin between the Knyazha and Spasskaya towers
remained unchanged from the 15th century. The wall between a pair of
round towers, which were part of the Vladychny Court complex, is
notable for the coexistence of two types of battlements. The lower
ones, two-horned, date back to the end of the 15th century, while
the upper ones, rectangular, appeared a century later with the
construction of a two-tier battle. Several towers stand out from the
general array:
2 Vladimirskaya tower. The tower, square in
plan, standing in the northern part of the embankment, is
distinguished by rich decor: it is decorated with a belt of runner
and curb, a fresco on the facade and a pair of inset crosses - a
Novgorod cross of 1244 and a cross of the 16th-17th centuries.
3 Palace tower. In the arches of the loopholes, frescoes with
geometric ornaments have been preserved; the most daring dates date
them back to the 15th century. You can get inside the tower by
walking along the wall from the belfry of St. Sophia Cathedral.
There is a small exhibition of ancient weapons and armor.
4
Kokui Tower. Tue–Wed 12:00–14:30, Tue–Wed 15:30–20:00, Fri–Sun
12:00–14:30, Fri–Sun 15:20–20:00. 100 rubles (2014). Stands out for
its height. At the end of the 17th century, the original
three-tiered tower was built on with a pair of octagonal structures
and covered with “white iron”. In the 18th century it was called
Kalanchoy, and the current name took root only at the beginning of
the 20th century. The tower houses expositions of the Novgorod
museum, and a pair of spyglasses are installed in the upper tier for
viewing the surroundings. Once upon a time, the Voivodship Court was
adjacent to the tower, from which only the foundations of the Grand
Chamber remained.
5 Pokrovskaya tower. In ancient times it
had a passage gate, and acquired its present form at the end of the
16th century. Unlike other towers, it protrudes noticeably beyond
the line of fortifications and has mounted battles.
6
Holy Sophia
(Wisdom) Church (1045-1050). Mon–Sun 8:00–20:00, the
current cathedral, but access to it is free. Sophia Cathedral is a
completely unique building. Firstly, it is the only church of the
11th century in Russia and the oldest monument of ancient Russian
architecture in the country. Secondly, even outside of Russia there
are only two ancient Russian buildings older than Novgorod Sofia -
these are the St. Sophia Cathedrals in Kiev and Polotsk, both of
which were rebuilt beyond recognition, while the Novgorod one was
preserved almost in its original form. Like two other Sophia
cathedrals, the Novgorod temple was built by Yaroslav the Wise
(formally his son Vladimir) in memory of the victory over the
Pechenegs in 1045-52, its appearance for many years determined the
entire development of ancient Russian architecture not only in
Novgorod, but throughout the Kiev region. Rus'. As far as we know,
this is the first five-domed ancient Russian temple. True, at the
end of the 11th century, the Martirievskaya porch with an additional
cupola was added to the cathedral, in fact turning it into a
six-domed one. The cathedral was the center of the spiritual and
cultural life of the Novgorod Republic: for example, important state
decisions were made in it that could not be made at the veche, the
bishop was here, the treasury was kept here and money was given out
for various kinds of enterprises. No money was spared for decorating
the cathedral, and, most surprisingly, a lot has survived to this
day. Outside, the cathedral is plastered, but for most of its
history it did not have plaster, and there is a section of the wall
above the western entrance where masonry and even traces of frescoes
are visible. One of the entrances is closed by the forged Magdeburg
Gates, once taken out as a trophy from Uppsala and containing a huge
number of reliefs, mainly on Old Testament themes. The frescoes of
the cathedral were lost, but two remarkable iconostasis survived.
The central Uspensky contains icons of the 13th-16th centuries (the
latest is 1528). Opposite it stands the carved throne of Ivan the
Terrible, made in 1572, on which the tsar prayed after slaughtering
half the city's population during a pogrom. In front of the
iconostasis stands the two-sided icon of the Sign, which, according
to legend, saved the city from the Suzdal army in the 12th century.
The Alekseevsky cross to the left of the iconostasis was erected in
honor of the victory at Kulikovo Field. The Small Nativity
iconostasis, located on the right, contains, among other things, a
list from the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God. To the right of the
central iconostasis, in the Martirievskaya porch, fragments of
frescoes from 1109, the oldest in Russia, have been preserved, and
underneath them is a completely unique thing - graffiti from about
the same time, left by ordinary parishioners.
7
Holy Wisdom Bell Tower Church
(XV-XVIII). 10:00–18:00 except Wed, break 14:00–15:00; from Fri to
Sun: until 20:00; closed from November to May. 170 rub. The
snow-white five-span belfry, attracting the eye from the river, was
built in 1439 instead of the predecessor that collapsed from the
flood. At the entrance to the building there are several heavy bells
of the 16th-17th centuries, and smaller bells are on display inside
the belfry, for which you need to purchase a ticket. The same ticket
entitles you to go up to the observation deck with views of the
Yaroslav's Court, walk along the eastern side of the wall from the
belfry to the Spasskaya Tower and visit a small exhibition of
ancient weapons and armor inside the Palace Tower. Adjacent to the
belfry is a two-storey house of the 17th century with stone
architraves and a belt of runner and curb.
8 Millennium of Russia
(1862). The monument in honor of the millennium of the calling of
the Varangians to Rus' was opened in September 1862 and is a real
masterpiece of monumental art. The project of the monument was made
by sculptors M.O. Mikeshin and I.N. Schroeder and architect V.A.
Hartmann, and his first sketch, according to rumors, was drawn by
young Mikeshin on a napkin in the dining room of the Academy of
Arts. During the years of occupation, the monument was dismantled,
the lanterns surrounding it and the bronze lattice were taken to
Germany, the sculptures were thrown to the ground. The monument was
restored immediately after the liberation of the city, but the
lanterns and the grate appeared again only in the 1970s. It is a
combination of the royal orb, the Monomakh's cap and the veche bell
and is crowned with a kneeling female figure, symbolizing Russia,
and an angel blessing her. More than a hundred different figures are
located in two tiers below. A few figures of the second tier depict
prominent statesmen and symbols of the most important historical
events, such as the baptism of Rus', the liberation from the
Mongol-Tatar yoke or the victory in the Northern War. The lower tier
is given to the best representatives of the country, including
military and folk heroes, writers, artists, educators and famous
statesmen.
In ancient times, the Vladychny Court, which was
the residence of religious ministers, occupied the northwestern part
of the citadel and was fenced off from the rest of the fortress by a
wall. Exactly in this courtyard, the Novgorodians announced their
accession to the Moscow principality, from here Ivan the Terrible
gave the signal to start the oprichnina pogrom. In the XIV-XV
centuries, the courtyard included many religious, residential and
commercial buildings, which arose through the efforts of Archbishops
Vasily Kaliki and Euthymius II. But from that time only one civil
structure has come down to us - the Vladychnaya Chamber. All other
buildings in this part of the citadel appeared later.
9 The
Faceted (Vladychnaya) Chamber (1443). 10:00–18:00 except Mon. full /
preferential - 150/80 rubles. The oldest building of the Vladychny
Court was built in the 1430-1440s and is the oldest civil building
in the country. The three-storey brick building appeared due to the
efforts of Euthymius II, and German craftsmen gave the building an
unusual Gothic look. The upper floors of the chambers were intended
for all sorts of festive events, and the basement served as a
warehouse or dungeon. The chamber is famous for the rib vaults of
the main halls, which form faceted ceilings, hence its second name -
the Faceted Chamber. The building currently houses two exhibits. On
the second floor, in the Gothic Hall and the Chamber of the Cross, a
unique collection of jewelry and arts and crafts of the 5th-17th
centuries is presented, and in the one-pillar hall of the first
floor, decorated with a monumental portal, there is an exhibition
"The Chamber of Archbishop Euthymius II in the Vladychny Court".
Adjacent to the chamber is the 19th-century vicars' building, in
front of which there is an excavation of the chamber of Archbishop
Basil (1350).
10 Church of St. Sergius of Radonezh and the Clock
Ringer, Kremlin, Veliky Novgorod. The gate church of St. Sergius of
Radonezh (1459-1463) became the first temple in Rus' in the name of
this saint - however, a later version of the structure has come down
to us. Nearby rises the Chasozvonya, erected in 1673 instead of the
collapsed St. Euthymius Pillar. For a slight roll, it is sometimes
compared to the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
11 Likhudov Corps. full /
preferential - 60/30 rubles. It was built in 1670 on the foundations
of a 15th-century building known from historical literature as the
"Archbishop's Palace". In fact, it was a huge economic and service
complex, which had "amenities" rare for that time - a kind of
sewerage and garbage chute that went towards the moat. The building
of the Likhudov Corps is made in the spirit of its time, and the
name is due to the Likhud brothers, who opened the Greek-Slavonic
school here, later transformed into a theological seminary. To the
north of the Likhudov Corps, on the same foundations of the 15th
century, another similar building was built, which housed the
Judgment and Spiritual orders. And even to the north, the ruins of
the same “Archbishop's Palace” stretch.
12 Nikitsky building,
Novgorod Kremlin, 11 bldg. 1. It got its name from the nearby cells
of Bishop Nikita (XI-XII century) and is a multi-temporal building.
Its oldest part is the eastern wall, left over from the fortress
wall that once separated the Vladychny Court from the rest of the
citadel.
13 Entering Jerusalem Church (1759). Not the most
interesting building of the citadel, located next to St. Sophia
Cathedral. The baroque church was built in 1759 on the site of an
older structure from the mid-14th century. At the beginning of the
20th century, the building was rebuilt again, and then destroyed
during the war. Restored in 1958 and adapted for a lecture hall.
14 Office building (XVIII - XIX centuries), Novgorod Kremlin, 4. An
architectural monument of classicism, built in the 1780s according
to the project of architect V.S. Polivanova, meets visitors with a
pair of bronze lions. The rooms on the first floor are puzzling with
vaulted ceilings made in the spirit of the 17th century. Once the
provincial administration was located here, where A.I., exiled to
Novgorod, served in 1842-1842. Herzen. Now the building is shared by
the Novgorod Museum (see What to do) and the regional scientific
library.
15 Regional Philharmonic. One of the “youngest”
buildings of the citadel, however, traces its history back to 1716,
when, by Peter’s decree, an orphanage and an almshouse were opened
in the then existing one-story building. In 1770, the building was
built on and given over to the Metropolitan's Chambers, but, by the
way, it was almost never used for its intended purpose - the bishops
spent most of their time in the capital. The one-story building
adjacent to the chambers was built on in 1912 and turned into the
Diocesan House, given in 1921 to the theater of the October
Revolution, and in the post-war years to the drama theater. Now the
regional philharmonic society is located here.
16 Church of the
Intercession. The pretty baroque-looking church was built no earlier
than 1580, and acquired its present appearance at the end of the
17th century.
17 Church of Andrew Stratelates
Church, Novgorod Kremlin. from May to October Thu–Mon
10:00–18:00, from November to May Thu–Mon 10:00–17:00. full /
preferential - 30/20 rubles. The southern chapel of the large
Borisoglebsky Cathedral of the 12th century that has not come down
to us, built by order of the Novgorod rich man Sotko Sytinich. The
cathedral burned many times and in the middle of the 15th century,
under Euthymius II, it was completely rebuilt. At the same time, the
chapel of Andrei Stratilat appeared. In the 17th century, the
cathedral collapsed, and it was dismantled to the ground, retaining
only the southern aisle. The church was restored in the 2000s, the
murals of the 16th-17th centuries have been preserved in the
interior.
18 Eternal Flame of Glory. Opened in 1965 on the site
of two mass graves. In one, 6 Soviet figures who died in 1923-1937
are buried, in the other - 19 soldiers of the 59th army who laid
down their lives in the winter of 1944. The authors of the monument
are Leningrad artists and architects Ya. A. Svirsky, V. M.
Skorokhodov, E. M. Rapoport and P. Yu. Yushkantsev.
Around the citadel is the Kremlin park, which arose after
the war on the territory of the former Summer Garden. In
turn, the Summer Garden was laid out at the beginning of the
19th century on the site of the hidden ramparts of the Small
Earthen City - one of the rings of defensive fortifications
around the fortress of the 16th century. The Kremlin park is
suitable for a leisurely walk and pleases with shady alleys,
fountains and monuments, not to mention the views of the old
fortress.
19 Musical monument to S.V. Rachmaninov.
Sergei Rachmaninov was a native of the Novgorod province and
in early childhood he often visited his maternal grandmother
Sofya Alexandrovna Butakova, who owned a house opposite the
Tithes Monastery and a small estate in the vicinity of
Novgorod. Here he first heard the ringing of Novgorod bells,
which left an indelible mark on his soul and later embodied
in wonderful music. True, there is practically nothing left
of either the house or the estate, and in general, only the
Rachmaninoff Conservatory and a monument erected in 2009 in
the Kremlin park remind of the famous countryman in the
city. The double-sided monument was made by the sculptor
A.I. Rukavishnikov and architects V.V. Zakharkina and I.Ya.
Bezlakov. On the one hand, the composer, two human heights
in size, sits on the back of a park bench, and on the other,
this bench itself is located - its dimensions are such that
the legs of those who want to be photographed on it hang
funny in the air. But the main feature of the monument is
quite different - it sounds! Somewhere in the depths there
is an audio equipment that transmits well-known archival
recordings of Rachmaninoff's works around the clock,
including piano concertos performed by the author.
20
Vazhnya (Sennaya scales), Sennaya Square, 5. A small
building of the 19th century, designed by engineer F.I.
Rerierga. This is one of the very few civil
pre-revolutionary buildings that survived the war in
Novgorod. The building is used as a tourist information
center.
21 Victory Monument, at the end of the street.
Meretskov-Volosov. The memorial complex was installed on the
banks of the Volkhov River on Ekaterininskaya Gorka, located
in the southern part of the Kremlin Park. It was opened on
January 20, 1974 on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of
the liberation of Novgorod from the Nazis; the authors of
the project were sculptors G.V. Neroda, A. Filippova and
architects A. Dushkin, A. Saykovsky. The monument, nicknamed
by the caustic townspeople the Horse, is arranged very
unpretentiously and consists of an eight-meter equestrian
statue, behind which rises a thirty-meter brick tower topped
with a boat with a balcony. An internal spiral staircase
leads to the balcony, whether it is possible for mere
mortals to climb there is unknown. Jan 2022 edit
Several
more churches / monasteries are located around the citadel
no further than one block from the Kremlin park.
22
Trinity Church in Yamskaya Sloboda, st.
Troitskaya-Proboynaya, 9. The first version of the church
was built in 1365 by order of local merchants who traded
with Yugra. After several fires and restorations in 1734,
the church was actually rebuilt, retaining only the
foundation from the previous building, part of which, to the
delight of scientists, has survived to this day. In the 19th
century, a stone aisle and a tiered bell tower with a spire
appeared, replacing the burned-out wooden buildings. During
the Great Patriotic War, the church was badly damaged and
was partially restored only in the 1970s. Fragments of
frescoes of the 18th century can be seen in the kiot above
the northern entrance, and typical Novgorod tiled decor has
been preserved on the drum. Across the road from the church
is the famous Trinity excavation site, an archaeological
site that has become the source of many valuable finds. You
can get to the excavation on your own (9:30–19:00) or with a
guided tour, which are held from mid-June to mid-September
on any day except Monday.
23 Vlasiy Church, Bolshaya
Vlasyevskaya street, 2. Closed to the public. Like many
Novgorod monuments, the church is well located in an open
space, which makes it possible to view it from all four
sides. This is a typical single-domed Novgorod church with
three-lobed facades, built in 1407 on the site of a
burned-out wooden church of 1184. During the Great Patriotic
War, the church was almost completely destroyed and after
the war it was almost demolished, but the intercession of
the "scientific community" of the two capitals saved it. In
1954-1959, according to the surviving fragments of ancient
vaults, the remains of domes and parts of perspective
portals with lancet completion, the church was restored “in
the forms of the 15th century”, the restoration project was
carried out by D.M. Fedorov.
24 Desyatinny Monastery
(Nativity of the Virgin) , Desyatinnaya Street, 18.
10:00–17:30. The ancient monastery was founded in the 13th
century by the mother of Alexander Nevsky, according to
legend, on the very spot where in 1170 the Novgorodians
defeated the Suzdal army. Nothing has survived from those
ancient times, the oldest local monument is a mysterious
red-brick pillar in the middle of the monastery, which is
actually the ruins of the Church of the Nativity of the
Blessed Virgin Mary of 1397. The monastery is visible from
afar thanks to the snow-white gate belfry of the early 19th
century, however, heavily rebuilt at the beginning of the
20th century and restored after military destruction only
today. The walls and most of the buildings of the monastery
date back to the 19th - early 20th century. The monastery
does not operate and is used for exhibition halls of the
Museum of Artistic Culture of the Novgorod Land. There are
also artists' workshops and a porcelain museum workshop.
25 Church of the Twelve Apostles on Propastekh , st. Tithe,
6. A miniature, very proportional church, one of the typical
representatives of Novgorod architecture. Its first stone
version, built in 1455, had a three-lobed, modestly
decorated facade, which is easily recognizable in the
current appearance of the temple. During the restructuring
of the 16th century, the silhouette of the church was
simplified by dismantling the belfry and the western
narthex, and the roof was replaced with a four-pitched one,
converted in 1904 into a modern eight-pitched one. The first
wooden church “in Propastekh” is mentioned in the chronicle
as early as 1230, when a terrible famine occurred in
Novgorod and a special person brought entire dead families
to the “church near the skudelni” or “to the abyss”. During
the Great Patriotic War, the church almost did not suffer,
however, after the war it was restored, strengthened and
studied.
26 White Tower (Alekseevskaya). The only stone tower left from the
defensive structures of the Round City of the end of the 16th century.
The fortifications included a moat filled with water, earthen ramparts
with wooden walls on them, and more than forty wooden towers, partially
replaced with stone ones over time. The ramparts still encircle the
entire old part of the city, but of the towers, only Alekseevskaya,
built in 1582-1584, has survived. It may have survived thanks to an
unusually strong foundation on bulk soil. Inside the tower is hollow,
not even the ceilings between the floors have been preserved. If you
want to take a walk along the rampart, you can turn onto the picturesque
Oborony Street that runs along it, resembling rather a simple village
street. There is nothing unusual in the shaft, except for the fact that
it goes right in the middle of a modern city, and you still won’t be
able to bypass it when walking around the center.
27 Church of the
Apostles Peter and Paul on Sinichya Gora (on Silnishche), Petrovsky
Cemetery. The church was built from plinth in 1185-1192. In style and
construction techniques, it combines the features of Polotsk and
Novgorod architecture. Until the middle of the 18th century, the church
was part of the Peter and Paul Monastery, after its abolition it turned
into a cemetery. In the 1960s, attempts were made to partially restore
the forms of the 12th century to the temple. Its current state is not
conducive to visiting.
28 Voskresensky Monastery, Oborony Street,
13, 15 (on foot - on the way from the Kremlin to Yuryev Monastery along
Troitskaya Street, after the White Tower, turn to the Volkhov River and
along Oborony Street to the end.). Two churches - John the Merciful on
Myachina (1422) and the Assurance of Thomas (1463) - all that remains of
the Resurrection Monastery, founded in the XII century. Both churches
were partially rebuilt in the 17th century. The Church of St. John the
Merciful, with an unusual two-span belfry on the facade, suffered during
the Great Patriotic War and was restored in the 1960s. The Church of the
Assurance of Thomas, which has preserved its original apses of different
heights with a runner's girdle, has not yet been fully restored. Due to
its remote location and deplorable state, the monastery is not
particularly popular with tourists.
29 Church of the Annunciation in
Arkazhy (Annunciation on Myachina). The church is good not only for its
typical Novgorod forms, but also for its picturesque and secluded
location. It stands on the southern shore of Lake Myachino, in the
former village of Arkazhi, from where its two common names come from. It
is believed that the church was built in 70 days in 1179 on the occasion
of the 10th anniversary of the victory of the Novgorodians over the
Suzdal army. Only the lower half of the original structure survived,
while the collapsed vaults and dome were restored in the 17th century.
At the same time, an eight-pitched roof appeared. Inside, fragments of
the painting of 1189 were preserved, which were almost completely
destroyed by the German troops during the war years.
30 The Church of Theodore Stratilat on Shchirkov Street with a bell
tower (1294), st. Novoluchanskaya, 10. Mon–Sun 8:00–19:00. This stone
church was built in 1292-1294 on the site of a wooden one and,
surprisingly, its entire lower half has been preserved without later
layers. In 1682, new vaults and domes were erected over the remains of
the building, and a tiered bell tower appeared at the beginning of the
19th century. The facades of the church are decorated with inset crosses
of the 14th-15th centuries - four on the northern and one on the
southern facades, and the tiled decoration of the 17th century has been
preserved on the drums.
31 Holy Spirit Monastery, st. Dukhovskaya.
closed. One of the largest and richest monasteries in Novgorod is
mentioned in the chronicle as already existing in 1162. His first stone
building was the Church of the Holy Spirit (1357), and the current
church with this dedication dates only to the end of the 19th century.
But the Trinity Church with a refectory, built in 1557, has been
preserved. The five-domed church, finished with red brick, is
interesting for its rather intricate decoration of the facades with the
upper six-part articulation and gable coating, the drums and apses are
framed with belts of pentagonal recesses. Now the monastery is not
operating, the churches are closed, but are available for external
inspection.
32 The Church of Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki,
Zverinskaya Street, 4. Open from April to October Wed–Sun 11:00–16:00.
full / preferential - 30/20 rubles. It is located outside the Earthen
City in Kozhevniki, the area inhabited by furriers-tanners who were
evicted outside the city limits because of the unpleasant odors that
accompanied their work. The church was built in 1406 and thanks to the
decor of the facades, it is one of the most beautiful city churches. Its
original appearance with unplastered walls made of red shell rock and
brick decor on the facades was restored during the restoration of 1959.
Among the features of the interior is the use of an open stone staircase
to enter the choir stalls, instead of the usual staircase in Novgorod in
the thickness of the western wall. A museum has been organized inside
the church, and its iconostasis must be looked for in the Novgorod
historical museum in citadel.
33 Nikolo-Belsky Monastery, Zverinaya
(Bredova), 14. It existed as an independent one in the XIV-XVIII
centuries and, albeit in a rebuilt form, but retained the ancient church
of St. Nicholas the White (1313). Later, the monastery was assigned to
the neighboring Zverin Monastery and the rest of the buildings on its
territory date back to the 19th century. The Church of Nikola Bely is a
representative of traditional Novgorod churches with a minimum of decor;
now it houses a center of folk art. There is a museum on the territory
of the monastery.
34 Zverin-Pokrovsky monastery, Zverinskaya street,
16 10:00–17:00 except Thu and Fri. Church of Simeon the God-Receiver:
full / preferential - 60/30 rubles, admission to the Intercession
Cathedral is free. The monastery was founded near the confluence of the
Gzen River with the Volkhov in the Zverinets forest, known since the
11th century, where Novgorod princes hunted. The date of foundation of
the monastery is unknown, but already in 1148 there was a wooden church
of the Intercession in it. Its most ancient buildings are the stone
Church of the Intercession of the Virgin (1399) and the Church of Simeon
the God-Receiver (1467), built in the Novgorod style, built in one day
to get rid of the plague and known for well-preserved frescoes of the
15th century, which can be viewed during the opening hours of the
museum. Also in the monastery there is a large, angular and, by Novgorod
standards, not very interesting Intercession Cathedral (1901). Near the
monastery in 2010, a monument to Peter and Fevronia was erected.
35
Monument to the Novgorod militia of 1812, Velikaya street. Installed in
2012 in memory of the heroic deed of the Novgorod militia during the
Patriotic War of 1812. The monument was recreated by the sculptor A.I.
Rukovishnikov instead of the destroyed pre-revolutionary monument to
A.P. Bryullov.
36 Church of the Assumption of the Virgin in Kolmovo,
Pavel Levitt Street 18, bldg. 3. Not the most interesting of the local
churches was built in the Kolmovsky Monastery in 1530-1533 on the basis
of an earlier stone church. The hipped bell tower standing nearby, most
likely, appeared along with the church. The temple was restored at the
end of the 20th century; inside there are icons of the 19th century.
37 Yaroslav's Courtyard is a section between Volkhov and Bolshaya
Moskovskaya Street, where seven ancient churches are located on a small
square. Five of them stand in close proximity, and the other two are a
little further away - on the other side of Ilyina Street. In ancient
times, somewhere here was the residence of Yaroslav the Wise, which, in
fact, gave the name to this territory. Once Yaroslav's Courtyard was a
very lively place. It was densely built up with shops, barns and
shopping arcades, placed right between the churches. Churches also
served trade: their thick stone walls were good protection from both
thieves and fires. The famous Novgorod veche gathered right there,
solving all sorts of serious issues, and at the berths (in Novgorod,
vymolov) merchant ships crowded along the coast: at times there were so
many of them that a fire could spread from one coast to another.
38
St. Nicholas Cathedral on Dvorishche (Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral).
Wed–Sun 10:00–18:00. full / preferential - 100/50 rubles. The main
temple of Torg was built in 1113-1136 by Prince Mstislav, the son of
Vladimir Monomakh. It is designed within the framework of the Kyiv
architectural tradition of the late 11th-early 12th century and is the
oldest not only on the Yaroslav's Court, but also on the entire Trade
side. By the end of the 19th century, the cathedral came with one
central onion dome. The harmonious helmet-shaped form of the five
current chapters is the result of scientific restoration. Inside,
incomplete fragments of frescoes from the first half of the 12th century
have been preserved, including the Last Judgment, Job's wife and St.
Lazarus.
39 Veche Square. It served as a gathering place for free
Novgorodians from the moment the princely residence appeared, and before
that, the veche gathered in Novgorod Detinets. The square with the veche
bell was located near the walls of the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral
from the side of the Pyatnitskaya Church and was once a very busy place
where the pressing issues of the life of the state were resolved. The
last time the Veche met in 1478, after which the Novgorod Republic
ceased to exist. Now it is a small lawn with a high mound, where nothing
reminds of the turbulent past.
40 The Church of John the Baptist on
Opoki (1127-1230, 1453). The one-domed massive church was built by
Prince Vsevolod, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh. In 1453 it was
re-arranged with the preservation of the forms of the XII century. In
the XII-XVI centuries, it was the main church of the association of wax
merchants "Ivanovskoe Sto", which included only very rich people. On the
lower floors of the building, pre-sale preparation of goods was carried
out and control standards of measures were stored. During the war, the
church was destroyed, rebuilt in 1952-1956.
41 Church of St. George
in Lubyanica at the Market, Yaroslav's Court. 10:00–18:00 except Wed and
Thu. full / preferential - 60/30 rubles. This not the most harmonious
building in the form of a low octagon on a massive quadrangle arose as a
result of "grafting" to the ancient building of the Moscow Baroque. From
the first stone church of 1356, the foundation, plinth and masonry of
walls to a height of 4.5 meters have been preserved. The rest appeared
in the XVII-XVIII centuries. Frescoes of the Church of the
Transfiguration of the Savior on Kovalev Field are exhibited inside, do
not miss it.
42 Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin at the
Market, st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya 5-a. The first stone church was founded
in 1135 in memory of the Novgorodians who died in the battle with the
Suzdalians near Zhdana Gora. By 1144, the construction was completed,
but later the church was rebuilt several times. In 1458, the building
was actually rebuilt, although on the old basis. The church is notable
for its simple form and rather laconic decoration in the form of
segmentation of the facade with shoulder blades and a belt of a runner
on a low drum.
43 Church of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa at the Market (1207),
Yaroslav's Courtyard. from 1 April to 30 September: 11:00-18:00 except
Tue and Wed. 30 rub. Viewing and visiting this unusual church, which has
its own recognizable face, gives some idea of the construction methods
of ancient Novgorod churches. The current eclectic building is the
result of half a century of scientific restoration carried out under the
direction of G.M. Stender. In the history of the building, as many as 15
construction periods were identified, and therefore Shtender made some
assorted forms from different times out of the building, trying to show
the development of Novgorod construction technology. By the way, the
eight-pitched roof and a small cupola on a thin drum appeared during the
last reconstruction of the building. The very first Church of Pyatnitsa
at Torgu was built in 1207 by overseas merchants, as the Novgorodians
who traded abroad were called. The general outlines of the new church
(the layout of its first version can be seen in the historical part of
the museum in Detinets) were completely atypical for the Novgorod
churches of that time and repeated the silhouettes of two southern
Russian structures - the Smolensk church of Michael the Archangel and
the Chernigov Pyatnitskaya church. However, the new type of temple took
root perfectly on local soil, and later similar silhouettes repeatedly
appeared during the construction of Novgorod churches until the 15th
century.
44 Church of the Myrrhbearing Women. The church was built in
1510 on the site of a burned-out wooden one, which replaced the stone
church of 1445. The main customer for the construction was the founder
of the merchant dynasty Ivan Syrkov, who was sent to Novgorod after the
republic joined the Moscow principality. Cold, and then warm aisles
appeared in 1537 through the efforts of the grandson of Ivan Syrkov. The
church itself became most famous for the fact that at the end of the
16th century a part of the treasury of Ivan the Terrible was stored in
its warehouses. During the war years, the building was damaged and was
restored in 1958-1960. Now it is the Children's Cultural Center, where
exhibitions and concerts are held.
45 Church of Procopius. A small
single-domed church with an eight-slope roof was built in 1529 at the
expense of Ivan Syrkov's son, Dmitry. The church was used not only as a
place of worship, but also as a warehouse, and therefore the inside is
divided into three floors and a cellar. In the shape of the building,
the influence of the Moscow tradition is noticeable. Refurbished in
1954.
46 Gate tower of Gostiny Dvor (XVII century). full /
preferential - 60/30 rubles. A civil building with two passage arches
and a small tower with a tent adjoining the tented bell tower of the
Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral. The purpose of the building remained
unclear for a long time, but now it is believed that it was the gate
tower of Gostiny Dvor, built in 1686. Another surviving fragment of the
Gostiny Dvor is a white arcade standing alone on the river bank. It
miraculously survived the demolition of the complex in the 1950s, and
now, thanks to its prominent location, it is one of the symbols of the
city.
47 Church of the Annunciation and Michael the Archangel at the
Market, st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 4. A pair of churches standing nearby,
once part of a single ensemble. The exact date of construction of the
unplastered one-domed Church of the Annunciation is unknown. According
to one version, it appeared no later than 1466, but it was probably
seriously rebuilt in the 16th century. It is connected with the church
of Michael the Archangel converted into a civil building (beginning of
the 14th century) by a massive gallery crowned with a white hipped bell
tower.
48 Church of the Savior on Ilyin, st. Ilyina, 26. Wed–Sun
10:00–17:00, closed in rainy weather. 120 rubles - adult, 60 rubles. -
students, children under 16 - free of charge. One of the most
interesting local churches, which cannot be ignored, was built in 1374
by the inhabitants of Ilyinskaya Street. The church was erected on the
site of a wooden temple, known at least since 1169 - the year of the
siege by the Suzdal people and the miraculous salvation of Novgorod
thanks to the icon “The Sign of the Mother of God” kept in the church
(today the icon can be seen in St. Sophia Cathedral). Compositionally,
this is a one-domed, one-apse church typical of Novgorod, which once had
three-bladed facades with a roof covering instead of the current vaulted
roof of the 16th-17th centuries. From all other local churches, it is
distinguished by the noble intricacy of the decor of the facades. One of
the highlights of this decor is the asymmetrically arranged sculptural
crosses, and of the new decorative elements, a set of three windows and
two niches, united by a multi-bladed brow, is used here. But the main
thing is inside: these are fragments of murals of 1378, made by
Theophanes the Greek. The frescoes, which often suffered from fires and
repairs, were cleared of plaster by the 1930s, however, some of the
murals suffered during the war years. Now from the famous frescoes you
can see the famous domed image of the face of the Almighty Savior, as
well as fragments of the Eucharist in the altar. The murals of the
Trinity Chapel on the choir stalls in the northwestern corner of the
temple are best preserved.
49 Znamensky Cathedral, st. Ilyina, 26.
10:00–17:00 except Tue and Wed. full / preferential - 60/30 rubles. The
cathedral was built in 1682-1688 specifically to store the famous local
icon of the Mother of God of the Sign, until then located in the nearby
Church of the Savior on Ilyin. It was erected by the forces of Moscow
archers and Novgorod carpenters on the site of the eponymous church of
the XIV century. In 1702, the walls of the cathedral were painted by
Kostroma masters, later their frescoes were recorded and cleared only
during the post-war restoration. During the war years, the cathedral was
damaged by the Germans, who set up barracks in it, and was restored only
in the 1970s. The four-pillar cathedral with its five domes and a bypass
gallery is made in the spirit of Moscow and Kostroma traditions. The
protruding western porch acquired its present form only in the middle of
the 19th century. In the 17th century, an equally alien hipped bell
tower was erected next to the cathedral, and the Holy Gates leading to
the cathedral with two covered domes appeared in the 19th century.
50
Church of the Apostle Philip and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, st.
Nikolskaya, 34. A rare type of double church with an unusual number of
cupolas covered with ploughshares. Two completely independent churches
were built in 1527-1528 on the basis of a stone church of 1384. The
southern church of Philip was intended for Novgorod boyar families, and
the northern Nikolskaya church was intended for residents of nearby
villages. At the beginning of the 17th century, the parishes united, and
services in churches began to take turns. Both churches were rebuilt
many times, in the 17th century a small hipped bell tower was attached
to them. In 1899, the St. Nicholas Church was dismantled, and at the end
of the 20th century, having completed the research of the monument, it
was restored in the forms of the 16th century, while retaining the later
bell tower and the western porch.
51 Church of the Apostles Peter and
Paul on Slavna, st. Znamenskaya, 4. It was built in 1367 by the
Novgorodian Lazuta next to the German Court, which at that time stood in
the southern part of the Trade Side, called Slavensky Hill or Glorious.
Until the 1950s, the church came without vaults and domes, they were
restored in use during the restoration. The composition of the temple is
typical of the Novgorod churches of the 14th century; along the edges of
the southern and northern portals, ancient stone crosses are embedded in
the wall. Nothing of interest remained inside.
52 Church of Elijah
the Prophet on Slavna, st. Oddly enough, this temple is one of the
oldest in the city, but its condition makes a special walk to it
absolutely meaningless, unless you decide to visit it at the same time
as the Church of the Apostles Peter and Paul standing a hundred meters
away on Slavna. The official date of construction of the church is 1202,
in the 15th century it was completely rebuilt, after the war it was
restored and began to be used for household needs and even as a
dwelling.
53 Clement Church on Ivorov Street (1520), st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya,
36. Chronologically, one of the last churches in the Novgorod style,
though distinguished by somewhat ponderous squat proportions. It was
built of brick in 1520 by the Moscow merchant Tarakanov on the stone
foundation of the 14th century church. The massive western vestibule
once had a two-tiered bell tower (XVII century), which was dismantled
into bricks in the 1950s.
54 Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica, st.
Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 42. It was built in 1462 on the foundation of the
first stone temple that quickly collapsed in 1381. The church, quite
traditional in form, has an unusual openwork decoration of a runner and
a curb covering the upper part of the southern and eastern facades.
Nearby is a hipped bell tower of the 17th century.
55 The Church of
Theodore Stratilat on the Brook, st. Fedorovsky Ruchey, 19. 10:00–17:00
except Thu and Fri. adult/preferential — 60/30 rubles. As it is written
on a memorial tablet, the church was built in 1360-1361 by order of the
mayor Vasily Danilovich. According to other sources, the customer was
the posadnik Semyon Andreevich with his mother Natalya. In the second
part of the name of the church - "on the Stream" - the memory of the
Fedorovsky Stream, which was covered in the 20th century, was preserved,
which gave the name to the street that arose in its place. The church is
one of the best examples of Novgorodian architecture of the 14th
century. This traditional cubic temple with three-lobed facades is good
for its intricate decor, which became a model for later buildings: the
ancient segmentation of the facades with shoulder blades returned, and
decorations from niches, hollows and crosses were added to it,
decorating the drum with arcs-brows and belts of arches and a runner.
The hipped bell tower with the refectory was added in the 17th century
and is somewhat discordant with the ancient temple. Inside, although
fragmentary, a painting made in red-brown tones of the second half of
the 14th century has been preserved, reminiscent of the frescoes of the
Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior and often attributed to
Theophanes the Greek himself. Numerous graffiti of the 14th-15th
centuries have been preserved on the inside-wall stairs leading to the
choirs, and secret chambers intended for storing all sorts of valuables
are hidden under the stairs of the southern wall. The church was
restored in 1959, now it houses a museum.
56 Church of Nikita the
Martyr (1557). A massive church, not distinguished by particular grace,
consisting of a large number of outbuildings. It was erected during the
time of Ivan the Terrible near the unpreserved Sovereign's Court and at
first had five domes and a gallery-ambulance. Perhaps its best parts are
the bell tower with a spire attached from the south and the northwestern
Nikolsky aisle. The western vestibule of the early 18th century was
recreated in the 2000s.
57 Mikhailitsky Monastery, Molotkovskaya
street, 14-16. From the ancient monastery with a dedication to the
Nativity of the Virgin, only two buildings have come down to us - the
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin restored in the forms of the 17th
century (1379) and the refectory with the church of Mikhail Malein
(1557). Both temples now belong to the Old Believer Pomeranian
community.
58 Church of Boris and Gleb in Plotniki Wikidata item,
emb. A. Nevsky. The church has a picturesque location and is clearly
visible from the opposite (left) bank of the Volkhov. It was built by
order of Novgorod and Moscow merchants, and in its architecture the
influence of Moscow masters is clearly visible, which manifested itself,
among other things, in the choice of building material. The church, made
entirely of bricks, was placed on the foundation of the temple of 1377,
inheriting from it an archaic plan with one semicircular apse.
Otherwise, the form of the church has changed markedly. Although the
church remained four-pillared, retaining the corresponding three-part
articulation of the facades, now each “section” of the facade has
acquired its own gable cover, and the number of domes has increased to
five. The covering of the western vestibule repeats the forms of the
main volume, and in the decoration of the apse and drums, a belt made of
a new geometric element - pentagonal two-ledged niches - is repeatedly
used. Next to the church is one of the two city monuments to Alexander
Nevsky (sculptor Yuri Chernov, 1985), the second - a white bust of the
prince - is installed on the Railway Station Square.
59 Church of St.
John the Theologian on Vitka, emb. A. Nevsky. The church in the Novgorod
style was built in 1383-1384 and was part of a convent, historical
information about which has not been preserved. The temple has almost
completely preserved its ancient forms, having lost the original
three-blade facade, and in the 16th century it acquired a vestibule,
later replaced by a refectory with a small belfry. In 1929, the church
was almost demolished for brick, but was spared and later used as a
warehouse at a nearby boat station. In 2001, the church was transferred
to the Old Believer community.
60 Antoniev Monastery, Antonovo
district (From Yaroslav's courtyard to the monastery you can take bus
number 5, or walk along Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, turning onto
Studencheskaya Street; walking along the shore is not recommended: you
can run into a fence, weeds or garbage.). The monastery was founded in
1106 by Anthony the Roman, who became its first abbot. According to
legend, he sailed from Rome by sea on a rock, and according to a more
prosaic version, he came to Novgorod from the Kiev-Pechersk monastery.
On the territory of the monastery there are buildings of different
periods, some of them are occupied by the faculties of the former
Pedagogical Institute, and now the Yaroslav the Wise University.
61 Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, Antonovo district, 3.
Tue–Sun 10:00–17:00. full / preferential - 60/30 rubles. The main
attraction of the monastery is the three-nave single-domed cathedral
(1117-1119), in which fragments of frescoes dating back to 1125 were
discovered at the end of the 19th century. It is believed that in the
17th century the old frescoes were renovated, and in 1837 some of them
were knocked down and a new painting was made. The surviving fragments
of the 12th century mural were uncovered only by the end of the 20th
century and, of course, you can easily distinguish them from later ones.
Look for these fragments on the apses, on the sides of the altar, and on
the western side of the eastern pillars.
62 Church of the
Presentation of the Lord with a refectory, Antonovo district, 3/2. ☎ +7
(9021) 49-67-24. It became the first Novgorod temple without pillars and
at first had an octagonal covering.
A small belfry above the gate was
built in 1807; cells from the beginning of the 18th century, rebuilt in
the 19th century, have also been preserved.
63 Church of the Nativity
on the Red Field Wikidata item, Nativity Cemetery. 10:00–14:00 except
Thu and Fri. full / preferential - 60/30 rubles. The church was built
outside the Round City in 1381-1382 on the site of an even more ancient
temple and at about the same time became the main temple of the Nativity
Monastery. Around the church, there has long been a Christmas cemetery,
closer to us, the princes Dolgorukovs executed in the 18th century were
buried here, and in the southern part of the cemetery there is the grave
of Lyubov Petrovna Rakhmaninova, mother of S.V. Rachmaninov. The church
was hardly rebuilt, except for the change in the shape of the roof and
the addition of a vestibule in 1829. Apparently, this is precisely why a
fairly complete ensemble of monumental painting has been preserved in
it, created, as they say, by visiting (Serbian?) masters in the 14th
century, although no documentary evidence has been found either about
the date of painting or about its performers.
64 Derevianitsky
Monastery. It was first mentioned in 1335 on the occasion of the
construction of the stone Church of the Resurrection on Derevyanitsa in
it. In 1695, they decided to replace the dilapidated church, but the new
stone church stood for only a couple of years, after which in 1700 it
was replaced with the five-domed Resurrection Cathedral, to which side
chapels were later added. The Assumption Church with a refectory and a
bell tower appeared in 1738, was significantly rebuilt in the 19th
century, and was restored after the war in the forms of the 18th
century. In the 19th century, a diocesan women's school was organized on
the territory of the monastery, for which a three-story brick building
was specially built. The monastery is not active. You can get to the
monastery by buses No. 17A or No. 1, 13, 24 to the stop Soviet Army
Street.
Yuryevo is a small village located near Novgorod near the place where
the Volkhov River flows out of Lake Ilmen. There are as many as three
local attractions near it, which you can only miss if you don’t have
time at all. It is easy to get to Yuryevo by public transport: two
circular routes No. 7 and 7A run regularly right from the railway
station building from the side of the forecourt (schedule here). The
fare is the same as for trips around the city.
65 Peryn Skete,
Peryn Skete. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-45-39. open during daylight hours, in summer
- Mon–Sun 6:00–22:30. Nowadays, this is just a monastery founded in
1828, but on its territory there is the smallest Novgorod church built
around 1226 (its dimensions in plan are 7.5 × 9.5 meters). This alone
suggests that the Peryn Skete is a difficult place with a very ancient
history. There used to be an island here, which turned into a peninsula
only in the 1960s. On the island there was a tract of Peryn, on which,
according to scientists, there was a pagan sanctuary of the god of
thunder Perun. This temple is mentioned in the chronicle, which tells
that in 980, by order of Vladimir Svyatoslavovich himself (the one who
later baptized Rus'), the idol of Perun was erected on the temple. All
this may well be true: the pre-Christian site, as well as the traces of
a pagan sanctuary, archaeologists immediately discovered.
After
baptism, a wooden church of the Nativity of the Virgin was built on the
site of the temple, which stood for a little over two hundred years, and
later a stone church with the same dedication was placed instead.
Perhaps at the same time the very first local monastery was founded,
about which the chronicles only report that in 1386 it was burned by the
Novgorodians themselves when the army of Moscow Prince Dmitry Donskoy
approached. In the 18th century, the monastery, which survived many
upheavals, was abolished, and in 1828 a skete was founded here. A little
later, construction work began and new, very colorful monastic buildings
made of red brick, which have survived to this day, appeared. At the
same time, the ancient stone Church of the Nativity of Christ was also
rebuilt, which was returned to its original appearance during the
post-war restoration.
Actually, this church is the main reason to
come here. It was built in the pre-Mongol era and is one of the first
churches in the new Novgorod style. It is distinguished from later
temples not only by its miniature size, but also by the noticeable
"tapered" silhouette. By the way, the shape of the cross of the church
is typical of the pre-Mongolian period.
Surrounded by a pine
forest, the skete offers breathtaking views of the Volkhov and Ilmen,
and on the opposite bank you can see the silhouette of the Church of the
Savior on Nereditsa. In the skete, the monks made an eco-trail with
information signs telling about the living creatures of the Peryn
Peninsula - however, quite common for these latitudes.
66 Yuriev
Monastery. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-30-20. Mon–Sun 10:00–20:00. The monastery was
founded in 1030 by Yaroslav the Wise and for a long time was the first
important local monastery, the Yurievskaya Lavra, in honor of its
founder, who was named George (Yuri) at baptism. The ensemble of the
monastery includes: St. George's Cathedral - katholikon of the
monastery. Two five-domed cathedrals: Spassky and Holy Cross. The first
stands opposite the St. George's Cathedral, the second - in the
northeast corner of the monastery. Both were erected in 1824 after a
great fire that destroyed the previous temples of the 1760s. The Church
of the Icon of the Mother of God "The Burning Bush" and the Church of
the Archangel Michael are located in the southeastern tower of the
monastery fence. The four-tier gate bell tower was built in 1838-1841
according to the project of Carlo Rossi. It has rather strange
proportions, and in order to explain this, they mention the legend
according to which Nicholas I crossed out one tier from the project so
that the bell tower would not exceed the height of the Ivan the Great
bell tower. In the 1920s, the monastery was abolished and turned into a
museum, and in the 1990s it was returned to the church and now it is a
functioning monastery.
67 St. George's Cathedral. The stone cathedral
was first mentioned in the annals under 1119, it was built by order of
Prince Vsevolod, the grandson of Vladimir Monomakh, and the builder was
the Russian master Peter. Like all ancient local churches, the cathedral
was made of limestone, fastened with lime mortar and crushed bricks. It
was not plastered, and its original appearance can be seen from the
abandoned sections with ancient masonry. Fragments of the 12th-century
painting have been preserved inside (they should be looked for in the
slopes of the windows of the southern and northern corners), but the
main painting dates from the beginning of the 20th century and was made
by Vladimir craftsmen. From the 12th to the 14th century, the cathedral
was a princely tomb, and therefore many celebrities of that era are
buried inside.
Vitoslavlitsy - Museum of Wooden Architecture
(next to St. George's Monastery.). ☎ +7 (8162) 79-21-50. Mon–Sun
10:00–17:00. full / preferential - 150/100 rubles. One of the best
museums of wooden architecture in Russia was founded in 1964 by the
efforts of the architect-restorer L.E. Krasnorechev. More than 30 wooden
buildings brought from the surrounding villages have been collected on
the territory, and the plans of the museum workers are even grander - to
bring their collection to 70 copies, adding “small forms” like wells,
swings and scales. The museum got its name in memory of the ancient
village, mentioned in the annals under 1134 on the occasion of the
construction of the Panteleimon Monastery. The remains of this monastery
are located on the territory of the museum and are now being dealt with
by archaeologists, but in the future it should become another museum
exhibit. The first copy of the museum collection was the tent church of
the Assumption of the Virgin from the village of Kuritsko (1595). The
oldest wooden temple of the museum is the three-hipped Church of the
Nativity of the Virgin from the village of Peredki; dendrochronological
analysis determined the date of its construction as 1531. In the St.
Nicholas Church (1765) one can see a four-tiered carved iconostasis,
partially filled with icons of the 17th-18th centuries; concerts of
sacred music are also held in it. The remaining churches and chapels of
the museum date back to the 17th-18th centuries, while wooden houses and
outbuildings date back to the 19th-20th centuries. The museum is divided
into four sectors according to the areas of origin of objects and is
planned in the form of a village, arranged like the old Novgorod
villages. A special information stand informs which buildings can be
viewed inside on the current working day.
68 Settlement. An ancient settlement, first mentioned in chronicles
under 1103. Scientists believe that it was it that was the old city in
relation to the younger settlement - Novgorod. Once upon a time there
was a princely residence on Gorodische, which included a palace,
churches and outbuildings. From all this splendor, only the ruins of the
Church of the Annunciation on Gorodische of the 14th century, rebuilt at
the end of the 18th century, and then destroyed during the war, have
come down to us. In 2012, another attraction appeared here - the
"Prince's Stone". Archaeological excavations are underway at the site.
Part of the princely residence, where, according to legend, Alexander
Nevsky spent his childhood, is the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa
(visiting it during the boat trip is not provided). From Gorodishche you
can see the inaccessible Church of St. Nicholas on Lipna.
How to get
there: There are several options: 1) take a one and a half hour walk
along the Volkhov River on the ship "Veche", which is organized in the
summer on Saturdays at 11:00, and on Sundays at 14:15, the price is 500
rubles. (2014); 2) get from the bus station of Novgorod by bus number
186 (3 times a day); 3) use a taxi or private transport.
69 Remains
of the Church of the Annunciation on Gorodische , Gorodische. According
to chronicles, the Church of the Annunciation on Gorodishche was founded
at the beginning of the 12th century and became the second stone church
in Novgorod after St. Sophia Cathedral. In the middle of the XIV
century, the church was dismantled and a new temple was erected in its
place, which was rebuilt in the XVIII-XIX centuries. During the Great
Patriotic War, the church was turned into ruins as a result of artillery
shelling. At present, the preservation of the remains of the temple of
the XIV century has been completed. During the excavations on the
western side of the church, the remains of the foundation of the old
church of the XII century were found, which are museumified and
available for viewing.
Theatre
1 Novgorod Drama Theater (Новгородский академический
театр драмы имени Ф.М. Достоевского), 14 Velikaya st., ☎ +7 816 2 77
34 45, +7 816 2 77 74 92, e-mail:
theatre@mail.natm.ru.
2
Novgorod Philharmony (Новгородская Областная Филармония), ☎ +7 (816
2) 77 37 48, +7 (816 2) 77 37 34, +7 (816 2) 77 27 77 (booking
office), e-mail: filarmon@mail.natm.ru.
Other
DinoLand
Family Entertainment Centre.
Festivals
Christmas
fortune-telling, Vitoslavlitsy.
3 King Festival («Малый»,
новгородский театр для детей и молодежи), 32А Mira bul., ☎ +7 816 2
65 54 53, fax: +7 (8162) 65 54 53, e-mail:
kingfestival@rambler.ru. Mid-April. They sometimes hold performances in English
International Bell Ringing Festival, Vitoslavlitsy.
International Music Festival and the International Young Pianists
Contest. April-May
Ivan Kupala Day (pagan holiday merged with
the Christian holiday of Birth of Saint John the Baptist),
Ilmen-lake.
Summer festival "Sadko" (Садко). You can see real
old-Russian folklore. "Sadko" based on Russian medieval epic Bylina.
Adventurer, merchant and Musician from Novgorod. Also the main
character from a Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov opera.
Cinema
4
Novgorod Cinema ("Новгород", кинотеатр), 9 Lomonosova st., ☎ +7 816
2 62 62 43, e-mail: smirgalina@yandex.ru.
5 Russia Cinema
("Россия", киноцентр), 66 Chernyakhovskogo st, ☎ +7 (816 2) 77 73 36
(booking office), +7 (816 2) 77 42 55 (automatic teller machine),
e-mail: novkino@inbox.ru.
Novgorod Museum-Reserve. All museum expositions, as well
as the most valuable Novgorod churches, are combined into a
museum-reserve. Its facilities have rather convenient, "floating"
opening hours, i.e. on weekdays, at least some museums and churches are
always open (different every day), and on weekends all are open. There
are no single tickets. Each time you need to pay a rather modest amount
(30-100 rubles), but if you consider that there are 30 objects in the
reserve, it will turn out not so little. The prices indicated here are
valid only for citizens of the Russian Federation and Belarus. If you
have a different nationality and you cannot hide it, tickets will cost
twice as much. Some temples are open only in summer, you can look at the
frescoes only in dry weather.
Museum in the building of government
offices, Novgorod Kremlin, 4. Part of the magnificent museum exposition
is devoted to Novgorod history, including the famous Novgorod birch bark
letters and old household items. The unique collection of iconography
includes more than a thousand icons of the 11th-19th centuries, among
which are several almost complete iconostases of ancient Novgorod
churches and monasteries, as well as icons of Pskov, Moscow, Yaroslavl
and Vologda masters. The hall of wooden products mainly presents
exhibits from the surrounding churches, but there are also more exotic
specimens: for example, the carved royal gates of the Pskov-Pechora
Monastery. If you are even slightly interested in history, visiting this
museum is a must in order to appreciate the level of development of
medieval Novgorod, which is completely unthinkable for other ancient
Russian lands.
Museum of Fine Arts, Sofiyskaya sq. 2. ☎ +7 (8162)
77-37-38. 10:00–18:00 except Mon; on Thu: until 21:00. full/preferential
- 100/50 rubles. It occupies the building of the former Nobility
Assembly of Deputies, built in 1851 according to the project of A.I.
Stackenschneider (1802-1865) and significantly rebuilt a century later.
The exposition "Russian Art of the 18th-20th Centuries" demonstrates a
collection of Russian paintings, drawings and sculptures that came into
the museum's funds in 1920-1930 from noble estates and the Russian
Museum.
State Museum of Artistic Culture of the Novgorod Land ,
Desyatinny Monastery, 3. ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 77-70-44, +7 (8162) 77-42-56.
Tue–Sun 10:00–17:30. full / preferential - 80/50 rubles. The museum
specializes in the contemporary art of the Novgorod land, demonstrating
a constantly updated collection of paintings, drawings, sculptures and
arts and crafts. Here you can see a large collection of local porcelain
of the 19th-21st centuries, and one of the expositions tells about the
history of 25 Novgorod monasteries and shows fragments of frescoes.
Novgorod Academic Drama Theater named after F.M.
Dostoevsky, st. Velikaya, 14. ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 77-34-45, +7 (8162)
77-74-92. The theater has been leading its history since 1853. Its
current building was opened in 1987 and is one of the sights of
Novgorod: it is an outstanding monument of Soviet architecture, rich in
small forms, but no less interesting for its general, somewhat unearthly
appearance. In the evenings, the theater is beautifully illuminated and
looks great from the opposite bank of the Volkhov. Up close and in
daylight, the building looks somewhat worse, as it needs repairs, at
least cosmetic. There is a story that Andrei Makarevich, a young
graduate of the Moscow Architectural Institute, designed the building of
the theater, but in fact he just worked in a design organization and, at
best, had a hand (or a pencil) in the design of windows.
Novgorod
Regional Philharmonic, Kremlin, 8. ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 77-37-48, +7 (8162)
77-37-34, +7 (8162) 77-27-77 (ticket office). Surprisingly hectic
musical life flows in the Philharmonic Society, especially for a small
regional center like Novgorod. Concerts of classical and pop music 2-3
times a week.
Cinema center "Russia", st. Chernyakhovsky, 66. ✉ ☎ +7
(8162) 77-73-36 (ticket office), +7 (8162) 77-42-55 (answering machine).
The cinema of Soviet times has undergone a complete reconstruction.
Films are shown in two halls, there is 3D. WiFi.
Street theater
"Sadko".
The city beach is located directly under the Kremlin walls,
between the pedestrian bridge and the Victory Monument. In summer it can
be very crowded. Somewhat quieter, although less convenient places for
swimming are higher along the Volkhov, on the right (i.e., opposite from
the Kremlin) bank in the area of the Rurik settlement, near the pillars
of the destroyed railway bridge. Tourists are brought here by pleasure
boats. There is a beach on the other side, next to the St. George's
Monastery, and they also actively swim there.
It was first mentioned in Russian chronicles under 859. According to
V.P. Neroznak and E.M. Pospelov, the Gothic historian Jordan (VI
century) is already mentioned as Novietun - a Celtic tracing paper from
the Old Russian “Novgorod”. In the Russian chronicle under the year 1169
and under later dates, the city is referred to as Veliky Novgorod. The
same name is contained in the "List of Russian cities far and near" (end
of the XIV - beginning of the XV century), in the Book of the Big
Drawing (1627), in the lists of cities by V. N. Tatishchev (1739-1744),
in the Geographical and Statistical Dictionary P. Semyonov (vol. 3,
1867), but this form of the name has not received official recognition.
The first attempt to revive it was made by the City Council in 1914, but
the First World War and the ensuing Revolution and Civil War prevented
its implementation.
The second attempt to officially recognize
the name Veliky Novgorod dates back to 1998, when the regional Duma
adopted a special law on this issue. On June 11, 1999, the President of
the Russian Federation B. Yeltsin signed the federal law "On the
renaming of the city of Novgorod - the administrative center of the
Novgorod region into the city of Veliky Novgorod." Also in the 1990s,
many ancient street names in the city center were restored.
A feature of Novgorod is that it has always been
and remains divided into two parts - the Trade and Sofia sides, the
border between which is the Volkhov River. In the past, this
division was not only geographical in nature, but was also reflected
in the internal history of the city. The rivalry between the
inhabitants of the Trade and Sofia sides often led to open clashes
on the Great Bridge across the river. The medieval city took shape
on the site of earlier settlements at the source of the Volkhov from
Ilmen, where a cluster of sites and settlements can be traced back
to the Neolithic (4-3 millennium BC). An overview of the
pre-medieval realities of the Novgorod land is given in detail in a
number of materials.
In the 7th century, a Slavic settlement
arose on the Prost River. The rudimentary settlement of the Slavs on
Zemlyanoy settlement (Staraya Ladoga) could have arisen around the
year 700 or even earlier. In the first half of the 750s,
Scandinavian settlements appeared in the lower reaches of the
Volkhov, but at the turn of 760-770, the Scandinavians were forced
out by the Slavs. In the 9th century, at the source of the Volkhov
River on the outskirts of Slavensky Hill, the settlement of Rurik's
Settlement already existed.
At the modern scientific level,
the ethnic ties of the archaeological cultures of the Priilmenye are
controversial; According to toponymy, the area was inhabited by
Slavs, Finno-Ugric peoples and Balts. Ancient settlements of the
early Iron Age near Novgorod have been found, but no traces of an
impressive settlement have been found. Specialists are attracted by
one of the meanings of the Scandinavian name of the city
("Holmgard") - "the accumulation of settlements flooded during
floods"[39]. Probably, Holmgard was considered a chain of
settlements from the sources of the Volkhov (Peryn, Rurik’s
settlement) up to the Kholopye town (opposite Krechevitsy, near the
village of Novonikolaevskoye). The largest unfortified settlement
and, possibly, the center of Slovenes in Priilmenye at the end of
the 1st millennium was a settlement on the Prost River.
The official date of the foundation of Novgorod is
considered to be 859. This date is taken from the late Nikon Chronicle,
compiled in the 16th century. At the same time, the chronicle itself
does not say about the foundation of the city in this particular year.
Under the year 6367 (859) there is a record of the death of Gostomysl, a
Novgorod elder, which cannot be recognized as the date of the foundation
of Novgorod. The author of the official date of the founding of the city
was the historian M.N. Tikhomirov, who made a presentation at a
scientific conference in Novgorod on the eve of 1959, which made it
possible to celebrate the 1100th anniversary of Novgorod that year.
Arab sources of the 10th century mention the point of as-Slaviya
(Glory, Salau) as one of the three centers of the Rus, along with Kuyaba
(Kiev) and Artania (the identification of the latter is unclear). It is
believed that we are talking about the “old city” of the Ilmen Slovenes
that preceded Novgorod. The role of such an "Old Town" is assumed by
several settlements, among which the most likely are Rurik's settlement
and a settlement on the site of the future Slavensky end. The earliest
foreign mention of Novgorod (Nemogard, Νεμογαρδάς) is contained in the
949 essay of the Byzantine emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus "On the
Administration of the Empire". According to the assumption of T. N.
Jaxon and E. A. Rydzevskaya, Novgorod in the Scandinavian sagas is
called Holmgard (Holmgård, Holmgarðr, presumably, a tracing paper from
the Old Russian word) - the capital of Gardariki. The literal
translation of this name - "island city" - also suggests a certain "old
city" on the eastern bank of the Volkhov, since the Scandinavian name is
hardly applicable to the city centered on the site of the future
Detinets. In German sources, the city was called Ostrogard.
Russian chronicles give different versions of the origin of the city.
According to The Tale of Bygone Years (Laurentian List), the city
already existed by the time Rurik arrived in 862 and was founded by the
Ilmen Slovenes during their settlement after resettlement from the
Danube. According to the Ipatiev list of "The Tale of Bygone Years":
"Slovenian sedosha near Lake Ilmera and called by his name and made a
city and narekosha and Novgorod." The oldest chronology of The Tale of
Bygone Years is the result of artificial calculations and is
historically unreliable.
Almost any renewal of the settlement
near Ilmen was then perceived as the creation of a "new city". Rurik,
according to the Ipatiev list of The Tale of Bygone Years, first reigned
in Ladoga and only after the death of his brothers “came to Ilmer and
cut down the city above the Volkhov and nicknamed Novgorod” (there is
some contradiction with the message of the same chronicle about the
founding of the city by Slovenes).
The Novgorod first chronicle
of the younger edition mentions the Novgorodians in the undated times of
the legendary Kiy.
In the times of Kiev and Shchek and Khoriv, people
of Novgorod, the recommendations of Slovenia, and Krivitsi and Merya:
Slovenia had their own parish (their reigning - in many other
chronicles) and Krivitsi had their own, and their Mere; each owning his
own family ... “The Tale of Slovene and Rus”, a legendary and historical
work of the 17th century Novgorod in origin, calls the city of Veliky
Slovensk the predecessor of Novgorod, according to the work, founded by
Sloven, the legendary eponymous progenitor of the Slavs. The
construction of the "Tales ..." and its dating contradict historical
realities.
Novgorod appeared around the turn of the 9th-10th
centuries or at the beginning of the 10th century.
Archaeological
data show that the earliest explored wooden pavements on the territory
of modern Novgorod (Troitsky excavation site) date back to the 930s
(according to the dendrochronology method). Radiocarbon analysis of saw
cuts from oak logs of the gorodny, discovered on the site of the former
Prechistenskaya tower of the Novgorod Kremlin, showed that
fortifications on the site of the northern part of Detinets already
existed in the second or third quarter of the 10th century. The cultural
layer of the 9th - early 10th centuries has not been found in Novgorod.
Radiocarbon analysis of samples of the log cabin of the predecessor of
the Great Bridge of the 12th century, which crossed the Volkhov riverbed
between St. Nicholas Cathedral and the lost Cathedral of Boris and Gleb,
gave the date 959 ± 25 years. The oldest writing styles in Novgorod come
from the layers of 953-989. Scandinavian artifacts were present in the
first estates of Novgorod in the 930s-950s. Their distribution on the
territory of the city testifies to the free settlement of the
Scandinavians and their prestigious positions in the social topography.
The mixed cultural layer deeper than wooden pavements in Novgorod
reaches 30 cm and includes objects that can be dated back to before the
8th century.
The problem of the pre-dendrochronological cultural
layer of Novgorod remains controversial:
The oldest (early) pavements
discovered in all three places date back to the middle - the second half
of the 10th century, however, more or less significant layers of an
earlier time, unfortunately, are chronologically heterogeneous, which is
usually for early urban strata, when initially thin deposits are easily
mixed under the feet of the first generations of inhabitants. In any
case, the beginning of the settlement of the most ancient (early
medieval) sections of Novgorod can be attributed at least to the first
half of the 10th century.
For the history of the formation of
medieval Novgorod, data on the Rurik settlement (within the city since
1999) 2 km south of the historical part of Novgorod, where the
settlement dates back to the 8th-9th centuries, are useful.
Traditionally, one of the early settlements, the union
of which the city arose, is considered to be settlements on the site of
the Nerevsky, Slavensky and Lyudin ends of the city. The Slavic end
arose on the site of the village, which in the annals was called Kholm
(a settlement on a hill). There were no significant differences in
culture among these settlements, in 1971 V. L. Yanin, M. Kh. Finno-Ugric
peoples can be clearly seen in archaeological materials - peculiar
rings.
It has now been proven that the Merya lived only in the
district of Rostov: “on Rostov Lake Merya, and on Lake Kleshchina also
Merya” (Ipatiev Chronicle), which is supported by archaeological data.
Bracelet-like closed temporal rings are now interpreted as predominantly
Slavic.
In 862, according to many chronicles, the calling of
the Varangians took place, which became the beginning of the Old Russian
state. In the translation of D. S. Likhachev "The Tale of Bygone Years":
"In the year 6370 (862). They expelled the Varangians across the sea,
and did not give them tribute, and began to rule themselves, and there
was no truth among them, and clan upon clan stood up, and they had
strife, and began to fight with each other And they said to themselves:
"Let's look for a prince who would rule over us and judge by right." And
they went across the sea to the Varangians, to Russia. Those Varangians
were called Rus, as others are called Swedes, and other Normans and
Angles, and still other Gotlanders - so these. They said Rus, Chud,
Slovene, Krivichi and the whole: "Our land is great and plentiful, but
there is no dress in it. Come reign and rule over us. "And three
brothers were elected with their clans, and took with them all of
Russia, and they came and sat the eldest, Rurik, in Novgorod, and the
other, Sineus, on Beloozero, and the third, Truvor, in Izborsk. Sineus
and his brother Truvor died two years later, and Rurik alone assumed all
power, and began to distribute cities to his men - Polotsk to him,
Rostov to him, Beloozero to another. The Varangians in these cities are
nakhodniki, and the indigenous population in Novgorod is Slovene, in
Polotsk - Krivichi, in Rostov - Merya, in Beloozero - all, in Murom -
Murom, and Rurik ruled over all of them. And he had two husbands, not
his relatives, but the boyars, and they asked for leave to Tsargrad with
their family. And they set off along the Dnieper, and when they sailed
by, they saw a small city on the mountain. And they asked: “Whose town
is this?”. They answered: “There were three brothers Kyi, Shchek and
Khoriv, who built this town and disappeared, and we are sitting here,
their descendants, and pay tribute to the Khazars.” Askold and Dir
remained in this city, gathered many Varangians and began to own the
land of the meadows. Rurik reigned in Novgorod.
According to the
Nikon chronicle of the 16th century, already in 864 the Novgorodians
raised an uprising against the Varangians, led by Vadim the Brave.
However, the uprising was put down. In 882, the Novgorod prince Oleg set
out on a campaign against Kyiv and, capturing it, made it his capital.
Since that time, during the X-XI centuries, Novgorod remained the second
most important political center of Rus' after Kyiv. The eldest sons of
the Kyiv princes traditionally ruled in Novgorod.
In 990-991, the
Baptism of Novgorod by Prince Vladimir took place, at the same time the
Novgorod diocese was established.
In 1015, Prince Yaroslav the
Wise of Novgorod raised an uprising against his father. The Varangians
who were in the city, invited by Yaroslav as mercenaries, committed
violence against the Novgorodians and their wives, after which they were
killed "in the Poromoni courtyard." In response to this "arbitrariness",
Yaroslav deceived the "deliberate" Novgorod husbands who had killed the
Varangians into his residence in Rakoma and treacherously killed them.
Yaroslav's son Vladimir Yaroslavich built St. Sophia Cathedral and
wooden Detinets in the city.
In the 11th century, the princes of
Polotsk made many raids on Novgorod. Vseslav Bryachislavich managed to
capture the city in 1067. Then in Novgorod churches were plundered, part
of the city was burned, part of the population was taken into slavery.
In 1071, there was an uprising of the Novgorodians against the Christian
religion under Prince Gleb.
By the beginning of the 12th century,
Novgorod land included part of the Baltic states, part of Karelia, the
southern part of Finland, the southern coast of Ladoga, Obonezhie, the
banks of the Northern Dvina, and vast expanses of the European north up
to the Urals. The total population of Novgorod at the beginning of the
11th century was approximately 10-15 thousand, at the beginning of the
13th century - 20-30 thousand people.
In 1136, after the flight of Prince Vsevolod
Mstislavich from the battlefield at Zhdana Gora and his expulsion from
Novgorod, republican (veche) rule was established in the Novgorod land.
Since that period, power in the city actually belonged to the boyar
groups from among which the Novgorod posadniks were appointed. After the
approval of the independent boyar administration, the invitation of the
princes to the Novgorod table was necessary to protect the republic from
external enemies and to lead the armed forces of Novgorod, therefore
treaty alliances were concluded with the princes.
From the second
half of the 12th century, military conflicts began between Novgorod and
Sweden for control over the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland and
Izhora land - important areas lying on the trade route between Northern
Europe and Byzantium.
In 1169, for the first time in the
Laurentian Chronicle (XIV century), the component “great” (“Great
Novgorod”) was added to the name “Novgorod”. In 1170, the Novgorodians
repulsed the attack of the Suzdalians, led by Andrei Bogolyubsky, who
were trying to capture Novgorod.
In 1191-1192 (the broadest
dating: 1189-1195 or 1198-1199) - Novgorod concludes the first reliable
international trade agreement with German cities. From this period, the
active inclusion of Novgorod in the activities of the Hanseatic League
begins. In Novgorod, the courts of foreign merchants "Gotsky Dvor" and
"German Dvor" are founded. Yuryev Monastery became the center of the
spiritual life of the city.
During the Mongol-Tatar invasion,
Novgorod was not captured. Batu did not reach the city for 200 km and
turned south at the tract Ignach Krest.
At that time, Alexander
Yaroslavich, the son of the Grand Duke of Vladimir, ruled in Novgorod.
In 1240, Alexander, at the head of the Novgorod army, defeated the
Swedish troops that invaded the Novgorod lands in the Battle of the
Neva. The following year, the Novgorodians expelled the prince, but
after the invasion of the German crusaders, they were forced to turn to
Alexander again. On April 5, 1242, Novgorodians, led by Prince Alexander
Yaroslavich, defeat the Teutonic Knights in the Battle of the Ice. In
1245, the Novgorodians, led by Alexander Nevsky, repulsed the invasion
of Lithuania into Western Rus'. After Alexander's accession to the Grand
Duke's throne in Vladimir, his brothers, princes Andrei and Yaroslav,
fled to Novgorod during a punitive campaign (possibly initiated at the
request of Alexander Nevsky) of the Golden Horde troops (Nevryuev's
army), but the Novgorodians did not accept them, after which Andrei left
for Sweden, and Yaroslav in Pskov. In 1259, with the support of
Alexander Nevsky, the Mongols conducted a census in Novgorod to collect
tribute.
In 1259-1260 or 1262-1263 Novgorod concludes a new trade
agreement with German cities. The oldest Novgorod chronicles that have
come down to us (Novgorod First Chronicle) date back to the 13th
century.
In 1323, the Novgorodians founded the Oreshek fortress
on Orekhovy Island in Ladoga and stopped the Swedish expansion;
Orekhovsky peace is concluded - the first in Russian history "eternal
peace" of the Russian principality with a neighboring country. In 1392,
Niebuhr's peace with the Hansa is concluded.
Around 1416 in
Novgorod, representatives of the boyar families were elected posadniks
and thousandths and formed the Council of Lords. The republic was
turning into a caste, oligarchic state[77]. In 1420 Novgorod began
minting its own silver coin. In 1440, the Novgorod Judicial Charter was
adopted, a monument of Russian law.
In the 15th century, the
Russian principalities were united by Moscow and Lithuania. Novgorod for
a long time was on the sidelines of the unification process, trying to
maintain independence and balancing between the two centers of power.
However, by the 1470s, Moscow's pressure on Novgorod intensified. The
Grand Duke of Moscow Ivan III the Great tried to solve the problem
through diplomacy, but after Novgorod tried to call on Lithuania and
Poland for help, Ivan started a war with the Novgorodians and in 1471
defeated the Novgorod army in the Battle of Shelon. This predetermined
the final fall of the independence of the Novgorod Republic.
On January 15, 1478, after all the inhabitants of
Novgorod were sworn into allegiance and complete obedience to the Grand
Duke Ivan III, the Novgorod Republic ceased to exist. After a series of
wars with Moscow (Moscow-Novgorod wars of 1456, 1471 and 1477-1478),
famine, devastation and disease, the city loses its independence. Veche
was canceled, the veche bell was taken to Moscow; the power in the city
is received by the grand-ducal governors. Many boyar families were
expelled from Novgorod. It is thanks to this that Lubyanka arises in
Moscow - after Ivan III ordered the Novgorodians who lived in the
Novgorod region of Lubyanitsa and were evicted to Moscow after the fall
of the republic, to settle in this place. They also built the Church of
St. Sophia - in the likeness of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod. At the
same time, the redistribution of confiscated estates and lands was
carried out. In 1494, using the execution of two Russians in Reval as an
excuse to break ties with the Hanseatic League, Ivan III closes the
Hanseatic office in Novgorod and confiscates all goods (total value of
one hundred thousand hryvnias). Nevertheless, the system of local
self-government was preserved, Novgorod retained the right to mint its
own money (Novgorod denga), the right of diplomatic relations with
neighboring countries was returned.
During the reign of Grand
Duke Ivan III, the heresy of the Judaizers arose in Novgorod and then
spread to Moscow. In 1478-1490, a stone Detinets was built, which has
survived to this day.
In 1508, pestilence raged in Novgorod
(according to the chronicler, the pestilence continues for three autumns
in a row), 15,396 people died (according to the third Novgorod
chronicle). In the same year, a terrible fire occurs - the entire Trade
side burned down. The fire lasts two days, 3315 Novgorodians burned
down.
The reign of Grand Duke Vasily III for Novgorod became
relatively prosperous. The population of the city is growing, there is a
lively construction. In 1514, foreign trade was again allowed. The city
regained the right to collect taxes.
In 1565, after Tsar Ivan the
Terrible divided the Russian state into oprichnina and zemshchina, the
Sofia side of the city became part of the latter.
The oprichnina
pogrom, perpetrated in the winter of 1569/1570 by an army personally led
by Ivan the Terrible, caused enormous damage to the city. The reason for
the pogrom was a denunciation and suspicion of treason (as modern
historians suggest, the Novgorod conspiracy was invented by Grozny's
favorites Vasily Gryazny and Malyuta Skuratov). All the cities on the
road from Moscow to Novgorod were plundered, along the way Malyuta
Skuratov personally strangled Metropolitan Philip in the Tver Otrochesky
Monastery. The number of victims in Novgorod was, according to various
sources of contemporaries, from 27 to 700 thousand people (the number of
700 thousand victims is completely unrealistic, since in 1546 there were
only 35 thousand people in the city). In Novgorod, the rout lasted six
weeks, thousands of people were tortured and drowned in the Volkhov. The
city was sacked. The property of churches, monasteries and merchants was
confiscated.
In 1609, after the signing of the Vyborg treaty, the
Swedish auxiliary corps arrived in Novgorod under the command of J.P.
Delagardie and E. Gorn, who, together with Russian troops under the
command of Prince M.V. Skopin-Shuisky, took part in the struggle against
the supporters of False Dmitry II and Polish interventionists. In 1611,
taking advantage of the political situation, the Swedes began to seize
the Novgorod border lands - Korela, Yam, Ivangorod, Koporye and Gdov
were captured. On July 16, 1611, Novgorod was attacked by the Swedish
army; due to the betrayal and departure of the Moscow governor Buturlin
with his detachment, the city was quickly captured.
On July 25,
1611, an agreement was signed between Novgorod and the Swedish king,
according to which the Swedish king was declared the patron of Russia,
and one of his sons (Prince Karl Philip) became the Moscow Tsar and the
Grand Duke of Novgorod. Thus, the Novgorod land became formally an
independent Novgorod state, under the Swedish protectorate, although in
reality this was the Swedish military occupation of the city. It was
headed by Ivan Nikitich Bolshoi Odoevsky from the Russian side, and
Jacob Delagardie from the Swedish side.
During the absence of
Delagardie in the winter of 1614-1615, the Swedish military
administration in Novgorod was headed by Evert Horn, who pursued a tough
policy of annexing the Novgorod lands to Sweden, announcing that Gustav
Adolf himself wanted to be king in Novgorod. Many Novgorodians did not
accept such a statement, going over to the side of Moscow, they began to
leave the Novgorod state. Odoevsky sent his ambassadors to Moscow,
Archimandrite Cyprian and several elected ones. The ambassadors came to
the boyars and beat with their foreheads that they unwittingly kissed
the cross of the prince, and now they want to ask the tsar to stand up
for the Novgorod state and not let him completely die from Swedish
arbitrariness. Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich received the ambassadors very
graciously and ordered them to give them two letters: one official, in
which all Novgorodians were called traitors, and the other secret, in
which the tsar wrote that he forgives the Novgorodians for all their
faults. The ambassadors returned with two such letters to Novgorod,
officially showed only one letter, but secretly distributed the other
among the people.
The liberation of the ancestral lands of
North-Western Rus' together with Novgorod was the cause of the war with
the Swedes, which ended with the signing of the Stolbovsky peace treaty
on February 27, 1617. The results of the Swedish occupation for Novgorod
turned out to be very deplorable - half of the city was burned, only 527
citizens remained alive. Famine and disease raged in the devastated
region.
One of the most complete collections of documents in
Novgorod during the Swedish occupation is the Novgorod Occupation
Archive, kept in the State Archives of Sweden in Stockholm.
The situation of Novgorod after the ruin was
difficult. The number of refugees from the territories ceded to Sweden
under the Stolbovsky Treaty was growing; the ruined economy was hardly
restored. Due to the rise in the price of bread in 1650, a bread riot
breaks out in the city. During the days of the uprising in the city,
Metropolitan Nikon remained on the side of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, who
anathematized the rebels (for this he was severely beaten). Nikon's
behavior during the riot strengthens his position; in 1652 he becomes
Moscow Patriarch. Soon, with the beginning of Nikon's reforms, a split
occurred in the Russian Orthodox Church, affecting, first of all, the
Novgorod diocese.
In 1700, the Northern War begins, which at
first is overshadowed by the heavy defeats of the Russian troops. After
the defeat near Narva, Peter I hastily prepares the fortifications of
Novgorod for a possible siege by the Swedes. Swedish troops did not
reach Novgorod; nevertheless, the Novgorod regiment played an important
role in the Battle of Poltava in 1709.
In 1703, in connection
with the foundation of the new capital of the Russian state, many
craftsmen from Novgorod were involved in its construction. At the same
time, Novgorod finally loses its former importance as a trading post and
turns into an ordinary provincial town.
At the end of 1708, Peter
I carried out an administrative reform, dividing all of Russia into
eight provinces. The structure of the Ingermanland, or St. Petersburg,
province included the Novgorod, Pskov, Belozersky lands, as well as the
Northern Pomerania. Subsequently, all the provinces were divided into
provinces, and those, in turn, into districts. Novgorod became the
center of one of the eleven provinces that were part of the St.
Petersburg province.
In 1727, the Novgorod province was formed with the
center in Novgorod.
In 1764, Yakov Efimovich Sivers was appointed
to the post of Novgorod governor by Empress Catherine II. Under him,
great construction work began in Novgorod. The neglected provincial town
was to be turned into a provincial capital. By decree of the Empress of
1778, a new general plan of Novgorod, developed by the capital's
architects, was approved. The ancient layout of the city was replaced by
a regular one; instead of the old streets, new ones were laid, drawn
along the ruler. Entire blocks of stone buildings appeared, the Gostiny
Dvor, the metropolitan's chambers were reconstructed, a new bridge was
built on stone supports across the Volkhov, a gymnasium, an office and a
prison.
In 1771, the Travel Palace for Catherine was erected next
to Yaroslav's Courtyard. The Empress stayed there in 1780 during her
trip to the western provinces.
In the first half of the 19th
century, Novgorod became the center of military settlements. At the same
time, there is almost no industrial production in the city. In the
"Memorial book of the Novgorod province for 1875" it is noted that
17,384 people live in Novgorod along with military units. Only 63
workers worked at 12 small enterprises. Small factories and factories of
a semi-handicraft type were engaged in brewing and leather production.
They produced tiles, bricks, candles. Of the total number of residents,
military personnel and retired lower ranks accounted for almost a third
of the population. Nobles and clergy prevailed in the city. There were
3829 of them. On the territory of the city there were 37 churches, 4
monasteries, 13 chapels. Poorly developed industry and the associated
small working class among the population of the city were the reason for
using the city as a place of exile[86]. So, in 1841-1842, the writer
A.I. Herzen was exiled in Novgorod (in exile, Herzen was in the position
of adviser to the provincial government).
One of the brightest
pages in the history of Veliky Novgorod in the 19th century was the
celebration in 1862 of the 1000th anniversary of the Russian state. In
honor of this event, according to the project of M. Mikeshin, a monument
to the Millennium of Russia is being erected in the center of the
Novgorod Kremlin. Especially in honor of the celebration, a temporary
general government was established, which was personally headed by Grand
Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. The monument was unveiled in the presence of
Emperor Alexander II.
Despite the increased interest in its
history, Novgorod both at the end of the 19th century and at the
beginning of the 20th century remained a typical provincial city of the
Russian Empire (and then Soviet Russia), despite the status of the
provincial capital. In 1871, a railroad was brought to the city.
On April 14 (27), 1917, the Novgorod Provincial
Council of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies was formed in
Novgorod. On October 27 (November 9), 1917, the Council announced the
recognition of Soviet power, but demanded the creation of a "coalition
socialist government." On November 13 (26), 1917, by decision of the
executive committee of the Novgorod Soviet, a Military Revolutionary
Committee was formed under the chairmanship of the Bolshevik N. D.
Alekseev, which began the liquidation of the bodies of the Provisional
Government that were still operating in the city. On December 5 (18),
1917, the new composition of the provincial executive committee began to
implement the decrees of the Soviet government.
In 1927, within
the framework of the administrative-territorial reform carried out in
the USSR, the Novgorod province became part of the Leningrad region.
Novgorod became the center of the Novgorod district, but in 1930 the
district was abolished. The loss of the status of a provincial center
under the conditions of a planned economy meant depriving the region of
centralized financing. The Leningrad leadership, headed by S. M. Kirov,
considered the Novgorod region as a rural outskirts. No
industrialization was planned, Novgorod was turning into a provincial
city, "one hundred and first kilometers" for the expulsion of an
undesirable element from Leningrad.
During the Great Patriotic War, the city was occupied
by German and Spanish troops ("Blue Division"). The Nazis organized a
council that was subordinate to the local military commandant's office.
The Novgorod historian Boris Kovalev in his published monograph “The
Daily Life of the Russian Population during the Nazi Occupation”
described in detail the features of the Germans’ stay in Novgorod and
the collaboration structure, defining it as “quite typical for the
occupied territory of Russia”: for example, one of the well-known
supporters of cooperation with the Nazis were previously repressed
Novgorodians Vasily Ponomarev and Boris Filistinsky; it was noted that
the city was to be included in the Ostland commissariat. The city's
first burgomaster, Fyodor Ivanovich Morozov, was killed by a young
Spanish volunteer while trying to rob.
The occupation of the city
lasted from August 15, 1941 to January 20, 1944. The war caused enormous
and largely irreparable damage to both the monuments of the city itself
and its environs. All wooden buildings burned down. From the Novgorod
museum, which was not completely evacuated in time, the most valuable
collections of archeology, history and art were plundered. Almost the
entire city economy and industrial enterprises were destroyed,
world-famous monuments of Novgorod architecture were turned into ruins.
The material damage caused to Novgorod, according to the report of the
Extraordinary Commission on the atrocities of the fascist invaders,
amounted to over 11 billion rubles.
The cross of St. Sophia
Cathedral, dismantled and taken away by the invaders during the war
years, was returned in 2004 by the Spaniards and is in the Cathedral.
One of the churches destroyed by the Germans, the Church of the
Assumption on the Volotovo Field, was restored in the early 2000s with
German money.
The Leningrad-Novgorod operation and the
Novgorod-Luga offensive operation led to the liberation of the city by
January 20, 1944.
In December 1947, the last open trial of Nazi
criminals in the USSR took place in Novgorod.
On July 5, 1944, the Novgorod Region was formed by the
Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The
transformation of Novgorod into the administrative and economic center
of the region had a beneficial effect on accelerating its recovery. On
November 1, 1945, Novgorod was included in the list of fifteen cities
subject to priority restoration. In addition, a special decree is issued
on the restoration of architectural monuments. One of the first to be
restored was the Millennium of Russia monument; The monument was
solemnly reopened on November 5, 1944.
The first years of the
restoration of Novgorod were the most difficult for the townspeople.
They had to live in dugouts, basements. There were no necessary building
materials, there was an acute shortage of construction workers. Due to
the lack of materials, the surviving boxes of the City Duma building and
the shopping malls at Yaroslav's Court were dismantled into bricks. The
arcade of Gostiny Dvor was half dismantled, however, after the
intervention of historians, it was restored and currently forms the
unique image of the Trade Side from the Volkhov River.
Restoration work in Novgorod could not be carried out without a master
plan. An architectural team headed by academician A. V. Shchusev was
involved in the work on the draft general plan. The city's general plan
was based on the principle of an organic combination of new construction
with monuments of ancient Russian architecture by actively including the
latter in the modern development of the city. The draft general plan was
approved on December 22, 1945 by the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR.
This master plan was far from being fully implemented - later high-rise
construction, industrial enterprises appeared in the city center, for
the sake of economy buildings of standard architecture were built. Of
the most iconic buildings of that time, one should single out the
building of the railway station, built according to the project of
architect I. G. Yavein in 1953.
The presence of large free areas
and wastelands after the demolition of the rubble of destroyed buildings
in the city center made it possible to start extensive archaeological
research in the post-war years. The result of these studies were
numerous finds of objects of ancient Russian art and everyday life. One
of the most important finds was the discovery on July 26, 1951 of the
first birch-bark writing. Over the years of research, more than 1000
birch-bark writings were found in Novgorod. Since 1962, the Novgorod
archaeological expedition was led by the historian and archaeologist V.
L. Yanin. Under his leadership, in 2000, the oldest book of Rus', the
Novgorod Code, was found in Novgorod.
By 1953, Novgorod's
industrial production had exceeded the pre-war level. In the 1950s-70s,
the main restoration work of architectural monuments was carried out.
The city is gaining fame as a center of all-Union and international
tourism.
In subsequent years, the industrial development of the
city takes place - electronic industry enterprises are created; in 1967,
the first production was given by the Novgorod chemical plant. New
residential areas with high-rise buildings are being built (Western,
Northern).
In 1964, not far from the ancient Yuriev Monastery on
the shore of Lake Myachino, the creation of the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of
Folk Wooden Architecture began.
On June 23, 1983, by the Decree
of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, Novgorod was awarded
the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for the successes achieved by the
working people of the city in economic and cultural construction, active
participation in the fight against the Nazi invaders during the Great
Patriotic War.
On September 22, 1989, by the Decree of the
Presidium of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR, the district division in
Novgorod was liquidated.
In 1992, by decision of UNESCO, the historical
monuments of Novgorod and its environs were classified as a world
heritage site.
On June 11, 1999, the President of the Russian
Federation B. Yeltsin signed the federal law "On the renaming of the
city of Novgorod - the administrative center of the Novgorod region
into the city of Veliky Novgorod." Also in the 1990s, many ancient
street names in the city center were restored.
In 2004, the
Valdai Club was founded in the city. In 2003, 2006 and 2007, Veliky
Novgorod became the winner of the All-Russian competition for the
financial development of the Russian economy "Golden Ruble" in terms
of economic indicators of financial development in the "capital"
category in the North-Western Federal District. In 2010, the city
became the winner of the competition "The most comfortable city in
Russia".
October 28, 2008 Veliky Novgorod was awarded the
title of "City of Military Glory". On May 8, 2010, a monument-stele
"City of Military Glory" was opened to commemorate the conferment of
the honorary title to the city.
Since 2018, Veliky Novgorod
has been included in a new tourist route through the northwestern
cities of Russia - the Silver Necklace of Russia.
By plane
The passenger airport in Novgorod ceased to exist in the
2000s, since then, from time to time, the creation of a new airport on
the site of a military air base in Krechevitsy has been discussed, but
no real steps have been taken in this direction. You can fly to Moscow
or St. Petersburg, the latter is twice as close.
By train
The
Moscow-Petersburg railway, which was built strictly in a straight line,
bypassed Novgorod. The city stands on a lateral inactive line adjacent
to the main highway in Chudovo.
From Moscow: daily night train
(departs at 22:05, arrives at 06:24). If you need to travel during the
day, use the Sapsan, which make a stop in Chudovo (3 hours on the way),
and then change to a train from St. Petersburg or a bus (on average
every hour) - the latter, however, is not very convenient, since buses
stop on the highway and do not drive up to the railway station in
Chudovo.
From St. Petersburg: express trains "Lastochka" from
Moskovsky railway station (in the morning, around 7 am, and in the
evening around 20 hours, 3-3.5 hours). In addition to them, one slow
train has been preserved, which also departs from the Moscow railway
station around 8 in the morning. Occasionally, a commuter train runs to
Novgorod from Vitebsky Station, but you don’t need this train, since it
goes along the line lost in the swamps through Novolisino, spending more
than 4 hours on the road.
There is also a direct railway
connection with Nizhny Novgorod, Tver, Vladimir, Petrozavodsk and Pskov.
Suburban traffic on the railway line to Luga is either canceled or
resumed again, so if you plan to travel in this direction, you should
check the current schedule in advance.
Railway station, st.
Oktyabrskaya, 5. ☎ +7 (8162) 73-93-80 (information), +7 (8162) 77-53-72
(on duty). It is located at the end of Voskresensky Boulevard, one
kilometer from the Kremlin. Inside, all the usual infrastructure for a
small station: ticket offices, a waiting room and a 24-hour left-luggage
office. The stalls sell drinks and newspapers, you can buy a map of the
city. The station building was built after the war in a completely
unusual style for that time, inspired by ancient Russian architecture.
The station was designed by Igor Yavein, whose work was called by his
contemporaries "constructivism that went into the Novgorod underground."
Near the station, pay attention to the complex of other buildings of the
same period: cash pavilions, a luggage compartment, and even the Boiling
Water pavilion, in which hot water was collected before the appearance
of titans on trains. There used to be a bust of Marx in front of the
station, now it has been replaced by Alexander Nevsky.
By bus
The main bus service with St. Petersburg. Buses (including passing ones)
depart from the bus station every 30-60 minutes, on the way 3.5 hours.
They go to the St. Petersburg bus station (Obvodny Canal), making an
intermediate stop at the Kupchino metro station. Bus sizes and comfort
levels vary, but are often unsatisfactory. In addition to scheduled
buses, passenger transportation to St. Petersburg is carried out by the
transport companies NovgorodAvto and Atlas. The companies have several
collection points in Veliky Novgorod, the movement is carried out along
the M11 highway, 2-3 hours on the way. Stop in St. Petersburg near the
Moskovskaya metro station. In addition to St. Petersburg, there are
daily flights to Pulkovo Airport. The pick-up point from the airport is
parking lot P2. Travel time - 3 hours. For transportation, Atlas uses
comfortable minibuses (shuttles), ticket prices may vary depending on
demand. NovgorodAvto, in addition to minibuses, has buses for 49 seats,
with luggage compartments. Ticket prices are fixed.
There are 2
buses a day to Pskov (4 hours) and once a day there is a bus to the
interesting town of Porkhov (4.5 hours), from where you can go to Pskov
by rail or by local bus. In the south there is a single bus to Tver (via
Torzhok, Vyshny Volochek), which limits the connection of Novgorod with
neighboring regions.
Bus station, st. October, 1. ☎ +7 (8162)
73-99-79. 5:00–22:00. A two-story building of the early 2000s on the
forecourt. Luggage storage: 7:00–19:00.
By car
Novgorod stands
near the highways M10 and M11, 510 km from Moscow, 200 km from St.
Petersburg. Highway A116 goes south along Lake Ilmen, and then turns
west towards Pskov (200 km).
On the ship
There has been no
passenger navigation along the Volkhov for a very long time. The pier
near the Kremlin serves pleasure boats.
There are buses and trolleybuses in Veliky Novgorod. Their routes can
be viewed here, and the schedule here. Fare: 27 rubles (2018), payment
to the conductor. If their capabilities are not enough, you can use the
services of numerous taxis that are ready to deliver the traveler to any
place within the city or its environs for quite reasonable money. Taxi
can be ordered by phone, hailed in the city center or at the train
station, or use the Yandex-taxi aggregator, which has been operating in
the city since 2019.
Pleasure boats depart from the pier in front
of the Kremlin. They advertise themselves so actively that they create a
strong background noise and are simply annoying. The advertisement
reports a walk to Lake Ilmen, but in reality the boats do not reach the
lake, but take tourists to the Rurik settlement, where they give them
half an hour to walk, and then they take them back, accompanying all
this with an annoying, recorded audio tour through the loudspeaker (you
can however, be patient in order to get to the Rurik settlement). There
are also more entertaining flights without any excursion, when loud
music of dubious quality sounds on board the ship all the way.
1 TD "Rus", st. Bolshaya St. Petersburg, 25. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-23-29.
Mon–Sat 10:00–21:00, Sun 11:00–20:00. Useful shopping center, where
among other things there is a bookstore "Bukvoed" and pancake fast food
"Teaspoon".
2 TC "Lenta", st. Great, 22a. ☎ +7 (8162) 68-00-97.
around the clock. A large supermarket in Novgorod is located 2 km from
the center not far from the Volna shopping center and has two
indisputable advantages: it works around the clock, and even contains a
Teaspoon, which also works around the clock. If you are very hungry in
the middle of the night, you are here.
3 "Volna" shopping center, st.
Bolshaya St. Petersburg, 39. ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 33-89-69, +7 (8162) 33-89-70.
Mon–Sat 10:00–21:00, Sun 11:00–20:00. The largest shopping center in
Novgorod settled in the buildings of the former Volna plant, which in
Soviet times was one of the leaders in the city's radio-electronic
industry, which produced radio communication systems, television cameras
and special-purpose industrial television installations that worked both
at the Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City and in many television
centers, including Ostankino. Now you can find branded stores of famous
brands here. On the third floor there are children's entertainment
centers Les and Roller. There are quite a few catering points, there is
a SunDay on the ground floor.
4 Shopping center "Diez", emb.
Alexander Nevsky, 13/2. ☎ +7 (8162) 69-30-83. Mon–Fri 9:00–20:00, Sat
9:00–19:00, Sun 10:00–19:00. Another shopping center in the buildings of
the former plant (part of the Planet plant, which produced semiconductor
electronics).
5 SEC "Marmalade", st. Lomonosov, 29. ☎ +7 (8162)
90-36-90. 10:00 - 21:00. The shopping and entertainment center is
located in the Western district, not far from the bus and railway
stations. There is a Perekrestok supermarket in the mall. In addition to
shops of famous brands, at your service: a multiplex cinema "Mirage
Cinema", a family entertainment center "Square Bird U", a restaurant
"Lucky Star", "Restaurant Yard".
Veliky Novgorod was the center of mass tourism back in Soviet
times, so there are several large hotels of the Intourist type in
the city at once. All of them have undergone partial reconstruction
and offer good mid-range rooms, although some interior details and
such a painful thing for Russia as breakfasts leave much to be
desired and will apparently never reach the declared three-star
level. The private hotel market is underdeveloped, hostels have just
begun to appear. There is some seasonality in Novgorod, in the
summer and on holidays the prices rise slightly, but in general,
price fluctuations here are much lower than in resorts or in the
same Suzdal, and there are usually enough places in hotels for
everyone.
Cheap
Hotel "Voyage" , st.
Timur-Frunze-Olovyanka, 19/1 (Trading side, north of Fedorovskiy
Ruchey street). ☎ +7 (960) 201-41-41. 400 rub/person, double room:
1500 rub. Simple rooms without any frills, breakfast is purely
symbolic.
1 Hotel "Rose of the Winds" , st. Novoluchanskaya,
27A (Sofia side, 10 minutes from the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (8162) 77-20-33.
Double room without amenities: from 1400 rubles, rooms with
amenities: from 1500/2000 rubles for a single/double room. A former
hostel turned into a relatively decent hotel, which guests generally
respond positively to, despite the very scary appearance of the
building from the outside. Rooms for 2-4 people. In cheap rooms,
amenities are on the block, there are kitchens on the floors. WiFi.
2 Hotel Amaks Rossiya, emb. Alexander Nevsky, 19/1 (Trade side,
opposite the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (8162) 63-41-85 (administrator), +7
(8162) 66-46-01 (booking). Triple economy: from 3460 rubles, double
rooms after renovation: from 2900 rubles. The last of the old
Novgorod hotels that has not undergone a complete modernization.
Pretty good location. There are relatively decent double rooms in
the "new" part and cheap triple (economy) in the "old" part. The
breakfast is not bad, reviews of the hotel are mostly unimportant,
in fact two stars. The hotel is popular with car travelers and bus
tours as a cheap overnight stay. There are also complaints about the
quality of Wi-Fi.
3 Sanatorium Akron, st. Zelinsky, 9 (behind the
railway, 2 km from the center). ☎ +7 (8162) 62-30-80. Double room
without amenities / with amenities: from 1300/1900 rubles. It is
intended for treatment and medical procedures, but the rooms are
rented to everyone. The rooms are small, unpretentious and not very
pretty; There are three types: with amenities, with amenities per
block and with a shared shower in the hallway. However, it's
inexpensive.
4 Hostel "Yaroslav" , st. Nikolskaya, 4 (Trade
side, opposite the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (8162) 55-21-09. From 400
rubles/person, double room: 1300 rubles. Modern hostel with bunk
beds. Looks pretty nice, there is Wi-Fi.
✦ Recreation rooms at
the railway station, st. Oktyabrskaya, 5 (second floor). ☎ +7 (8162)
98-18-29. From 350 rubles/person, single/double: from 650/1000
rubles (2014). 13 rooms in the railway station building. Most often
the amenities are on the floor, although there are a couple of more
expensive rooms with private facilities. Daily payment.
Average cost
5 Akron Hotel, st. Predtechenskaya, 24 (Sofia side,
corner of Predtechenskaya street and Lyudogoshcha street). ☎ +7
(8162) 73-69-06, +7 (8162) 73-69-18, +7 (8162) 73-69-12.
Single/double room: 1960/2320 rubles For its location, a 3-minute
walk from the Kremlin, the hotel is frankly inexpensive, which may
be due to some shabby rooms, old TVs and other similar trifles.
Reviews are mostly good. WiFi. Reservations are possible by phone as
well as through their own website.
6 Volkhov Hotel, st.
Predtechenskaya, 24 (Sofia side (next to the previous one)). ☎ +7
(8162) 22-55-00 (booking), +7 (8162) 22-55-05 (administrator).
Single / double room: from 2300/3000 rubles. A three-star hotel in
the city center, formerly an Intourist hotel. Now renovated and
looks quite modern, although not without a touch of provincialism.
It is aimed at tourists coming to the city, for whom a souvenir
trade is arranged right on the floors, and there is also a curious
museum of forgotten things that can be viewed while waiting for a
slow elevator. All rooms are equipped with private facilities, a
good breakfast buffet, but also with a touch of provinciality. WiFi.
7 "Intourist" hotel, st. Velikaya, 16 (Sofia side, 1 km from the
center). ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 77-50-89 (administrator), +7 (8162) 73-88-45
(reservation). Single / double room: 1700/2200 rubles. It seems to
be next to the Kremlin, but in the immediate vicinity of the hotel
you will admire the city drama theater - a masterpiece of Soviet
architecture in need of repair, and even an abandoned brewery. Hotel
rooms look good against this background, although guests complain
about crowding and poor breakfasts (for a fee). WiFi.
8 Hotel
"Novgorodskaya", st. Desyatinnaya, 6a (Sofia side, 5 minutes walk
from the Kremlin). ✉ ☎ +7 (8162) 28-00-80. Single / double room:
2000/2200-2700 rubles. Located on a quiet street next to the Church
of the Twelve Apostles on the Abysses. All rooms are with private
facilities, without modern renovation, but they look quite decent.
The same can be said for the local cafe, where the prices are low,
but the food is adequate: for breakfast you will be offered
something like sausages with pasta. However, the guests are
satisfied. Wi-Fi, free parking.
9 "Sadko" hotel, st. Fedorovsky
Creek, 16 (Trade side, on the outskirts of the city). ✉ ☎ +7 (8162)
66-18-07, +7 (8162) 66-09-20 (booking), +7 (8162) 66-30-04
(administrator). Single / double room: 2100/3000 rubles. Novgorod is
a small city, so on the Trade side from the outskirts to the bridge
over the Volkhov 10 minutes on foot, so the hotel is located almost
in the center. The reviews are contradictory and basically
characterize the hotel as "cheap and cheerful", but generally
acceptable. WiFi.
10 Mini-hotel "Three cats", st. Defense, 3
(Sofia side, 1 km from the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (911) 640-03-33. Double
room: 2600 rub. Private hotel in a three-story building. The rooms
are equipped with a kitchen. Good reviews, Wi-Fi.
Expensive
11 Hotel "Park Inn Veliky Novgorod" (formerly "Beresta Palace"), st.
Studencheskaya, 2 (right bank of the Volkhov, 3 km from the
Kremlin). ☎ 94-09-14, 94-09-02, 66-32-67, 63-47-47 +7 (8162)
94-09-10, 94-09-14, 94-09-02, 66-32 -67, 63-47-47. Double room: from
5500 rubles. Large four-star hotel: by far the best in the city, but
at the same time very expensive and inconvenient for backpackers.
Two restaurants and a wellness center. WiFi.
12 Yuryevskoye
Podvorye Complex, Yuryevskoye Shosse 6A (outside the city, opposite
the Vitoslavitsa Museum). ☎ +7 (8162) 94-60-60. Double room:
3150-3900 rubles. Country tourist complex, designed to accommodate
organized groups. If you do not have your own transport, living here
will not be very convenient, because the city is still far away. The
rooms are new and not bad, but there are complaints about the
quality of the Wi-Fi and the noise from the parties held in the
restaurant.
13 Hotel "Rakhmaninov", st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 10.
☎ +7 (800) 250-08-79.
Novgorod cafes and restaurants are somewhat unevenly distributed
around the city: with rare exceptions, they are located to the north
of the Kremlin. There are relatively few tourist-oriented places, so
you can count on the usual prices for the Russian provinces and the
corresponding level of comfort. There are, however, more expensive
establishments that are not inferior to the capital in terms of
level and approaching them in terms of prices. During the day on
weekdays, almost all cafes, including the upper price category,
offer inexpensive business lunches.
Cheap
1 Bistro
"Ilmen", st. Lawn, 2 (first floor). ☎ +7 (8162) 77-24-96.
10:00–23:00, in winter until 21:00. The establishment on the edge of
the Kremlin park has several guises. The day one, which lives on the
ground floor, is not the cheapest, but quite affordable canteen with
distribution. On the side (entrance through a separate door from
Gazon Street) there is a cookery where they sell delicious pies and
somewhat less successful cakes, and on the second floor there is a
restaurant not without pathos with a huge brazier right in the
middle of the hall. Once the restaurant was called "Holmgard" and
was the only establishment in Novgorod with a medieval touch, but
over time it lost this shade. Since July 1, 2019, the establishment
has been closed due to a change of ownership.
2 McDonald's, st.
Oktyabrskaya, 11 (next to the bus station and railway station).
6:00–23:30. The only place in the city that is open from early
morning, but this is an ordinary McDonald's, where there is no
McCafe and decent coffee, therefore, too. Free WiFi.
3 Snack bar
"Kolobok", st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 28. 8:00–20:00, break
14:00–14:30. Hot dishes: 80-120 rubles. A hybrid of a pie and
railway station eatery. It looks scary, although the food is normal
and served in normal dishes, which is rare these days. Fresh
pastries, locals are very praised.
4 Cafe Vesnyanka, st. Bolshaya
St. Petersburg, 9. 8:00–20:00. A cheap cafe-dining room in a
five-minute walk from the Kremlin park, opposite the church. You
need to order at the checkout, the entire assortment is in sight,
the food is not bad.
5 Dining room "Bavaria", st. St.
Petersburg, 21. 10:00–23:00. Dining room, smoothly turning into a
pub. Located in the basement. Dark, but eatable.
Average cost
6 Bar "Derzhavny" , st. Lawn, 5/2. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-30-23. 🕑
Sun–Thursday 12:00–23:00, Fri–Sat 12:00–2:00. Hot dishes: from 250
rubles. A cramped basement with wooden tables, benches and a large
stuffed bear, setting the tone for the general "bearishness" of this
establishment, which is not without color, but very peculiar. The
menu includes all kinds of Russian cuisine up to wild boar and bear
meat, although visitors express doubts about the quality and
correctness of their preparation. The service is simply disgusting,
and live music does not contribute to a pleasant dinner, and the
contingent here is sometimes not the most pleasant. Several
varieties of local beer, sbiten and mead - if you are afraid to go
inside, you can take it away, although in terms of their taste,
these drinks are not far from the institution itself.
7 Coffee
house "Sudarushka", st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 32. ☎ +7 (8162)
67-92-02. 11:00–23:00. Has nothing to do with a coffee shop. All
visitors agree that the food here is tasty, inexpensive and even
more or less Russian-style, with a wooden spoon for soup and other
cute details.
8 Cafe "Arigato" , st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya,
20/4. 12:00–24:00. Contrary to its name, the cafe offers dishes of a
generalized oriental cuisine, including Uzbek. There is also a
“shawarma” section on the menu, although in this case we are talking
about the same St. Petersburg shawarma, albeit written with an
error. Instead of the usual paper menu, they bring an electronic
menu - on a tablet. WiFi.
9 Tavern "Lenkom", st. Fedorovsky
Creek, 2/13 (next to the automobile bridge across the Volkhov). ☎ +7
(8162) 67-17-67. 12:00–24:00, Fri and Sat until 2:00. Hot dishes:
250-300 rubles. In 2004, when this cafe first opened, the use of
Soviet themes was still a novelty. Now you can hardly surprise
anyone with this, therefore, neither the portraits of Lenin hung
everywhere (even on the ceiling!) nor the red banners, nor the
gramophones standing in the corners, nor even the ironic names of
the dishes make a special impression. The same can be said about the
cuisine worthy of inheriting the tradition of Soviet times: salads
with an abundance of mayonnaise and other food typical of a
provincial restaurant. Customers complain about slow service. The
next door leads to the dining room of the Central Committee (Central
Cooking, 8:00 AM - 8:00 PM), where the atmosphere of the recent past
is recreated without any red banners: plastic tables and aluminum
forks look very poor. The food, however, is cheap. There is a
bar-cafeteria where tolerable coffee is brewed and local cakes are
sold. WiFi.
10 Cafe "Diez", st. Fedorovsky Ruchey, 2/13,
Department Store Sharp. ☎ +7 8162 69-30-82. 10:00–20:00. A cafe in
the shopping center of the same name, inside it resembles a good old
student canteen. A good opportunity to have lunch, and even if
possible, do it while admiring the view of the Sofia side (although
usually these places are busy almost at any time). Salad + first +
second on average 200-250 rubles, which is inexpensive. In
principle, it is possible to have dinner in this cafe, but there is
a risk that already at ~18:00-18:30 there will be no soup, and the
choice of the second one will be very limited (although this is a
good way to refresh yourself for guests from Moscow and take a
half-hour walk to station for the daily train at 21:20)
11 Teahouse "Skazka" , st. B. Vlasevskaya, 1. ☎ ++7 (8162)
28-03-41. 10:00–00:00. Hot dishes from 300 rubles. Good opportunity
to have lunch next to the Kremlin park. Uzbek and Georgian cuisine,
portions are quite large, prices are reasonable.
Expensive
12 Cafe La Chatte, st. Bolshaya Moskovskaya, 86 (Trade side, in the
northern part of the city). ☎ +7 (8162) 99-87-53. 11:00–23:00. Hot
dishes: 400-600 rubles. Cats in all forms - even from syrup on a cup
of cappuccino; very cozy and stylish. Prices are high by Novgorod
standards, but visitors agree that both the food and the atmosphere
are worth it. WiFi.
13 Cafe Le Chocolate, st. Ludogoshcha, 8
(Sofia side, west of the Kremlin). ☎ +7 (8162) 73-90-09. 9:00–23:00.
Hot dishes: from 500 rubles. Stylish cafe in the city center. There
are quite a few of them in Moscow or St. Petersburg, but for
Novgorod this is a rarity, and even more rare is the availability of
breakfasts: the cafe opens from 9 in the morning, and not from 11,
as is customary here. There are smoking (red) and non-smoking
(green) halls, and if you can play tricks a little in red, then in
green you are asked to behave decorously. Large selection of coffee,
hot chocolate, desserts and cakes, and the food was not without
Japanese cuisine.
14 Bar "Charodeyka" , st.
Meretskova-Volosova, 1/1 (Sofia side, opposite the Kremlin). ☎ +7
(8162) 60-14-09. 12:00–23:00. Pleasant atmosphere, good cuisine with
an extensive beer list of the Alkon distillery.
Coffee houses
15 Cafe Brioche, Voskresensky Blvd. 4. ☎ +7 (8162) 78-60-11. Mon–Fri
9:00–21:00, Sat–Sun 10:00–21:00. Bakery-confectionery in European
style. A huge selection of cakes and pastries, which you can eat
with brewed tea or good coffee. There is hot food for lunch. WiFi.
Club "Bunker" , st. Fedorovsky stream, 2/13. Thu 22:00–6:00, Fri–Sat 22:00–7:00. According to the club's website, the hall is designed "in the style of a bomb shelter that can protect everyone from any emergency." Visitors speak about the club without much enthusiasm.
Almost all cafes in the city center offer their visitors free Wi-Fi.
Main post office, st. Dvortsovaya, 2 (next to Yaroslav's courtyard).
Mon–Fri 8:00–20:00, Sat 9:00–18:00, Sun 9:00–14:00. Access to the
Internet.
Veliky Novgorod is a calm and safe city: at least in the part that may be of interest to tourists. You can walk around the Kremlin and Yaroslav's Court at any time of the day. In residential areas, take the usual precautions.
Veliky Novgorod is convenient for those who travel to Russia for the
first time: from here it is a night by train to Moscow and only a few
hours to St. Petersburg. If you are more attracted to small forms and
little-known corners of the Russian provinces, then there are not so
many options. The easiest way is to go to Staraya Russa, which is only 2
hours away by bus. This is an ancient Russian city and a balneological
resort with several curious temples and the house-museum of Dostoevsky.
Another, somewhat less convenient destination is Borovichi, where a
gloomy industrial flavor merges with unusual sights like Russia's oldest
arched bridge over the Msta River. On Msta, you will also see rifts and
ancient villages, but all this is unlikely to fit into the format of a
one-day trip. You can also visit Valdai, a picturesque town on the lake,
famous for the Iversky Monastery and the Museum of Bells. Finally, for
anyone interested in Russian history, it would be perfectly natural to
continue the journey from Novgorod to Pskov.
In the vicinity of
Novgorod, many magnificent architectural monuments have been preserved.
For the most part, these are former or active monastic ensembles or
separate temples left over from ancient monasteries, the date of
foundation of which has been lost for centuries. The most interesting
group of monuments is located on the right bank of the Volkhov. With a
car, you can cover all of it in a few hours, moving from the church on
the Volotovo field to the Rurik settlement (or vice versa). But in order
to get to the Church of St. Nicholas located next to this group on
Lipno, special efforts will be required.
Church of the Assumption of the Virgin on the Volotovo field, the
village of Volotovo. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-42-53. Wed–Sun 10:00–17:30. The
world-famous monument owes its fame to the frescoes attributed almost to
the brush of the student of Theophan the Greek. The church was built in
1352 by order of Archbishop Moses, and the painting was done in 1363.
The frescoes peacefully existed on the walls of the temple for more than
five hundred years, and about 200 compositions survived until the 20th
century, crumbling into fragments during the Great Patriotic War.
Although the restoration of the frescoes is far from over, some of them
can be seen in the church today. The architecture of the temple is no
less remarkable. After the restoration, which restored it from ruins,
and at the same time cleared it of age-old layers, it acquired a
resemblance to the famous, but hard-to-reach Church of St. Nicholas on
Lipna (another reason to go to Volotovo), turning into a single-domed
cubic temple with three-lobed facades practically devoid of decor. Small
vestibules from the north and west protrude noticeably beyond the main
silhouette of the building, reminiscent of the Church of the Savior on
Kovalev from certain angles. In the internal structure of the Volotovo
church, for the first time, a technique was used that later became
common in Pskov and Novgorod architecture: pillars unusually rounded at
the bottom are shifted from the dome to the walls.
How to get there:
From the bus station in Novgorod by any bus following the Moscow
highway. Get off at the bus stop immediately after the blue bridge (in
fact, the bridge has not been used for a long time and has lost its
former color, but retained its name) and keep in the direction of the
silver dome of the church located in the cemetery.
Church of the
Savior on Kovalevo , Kovalevo village, Novgorodsky district (bus number
186 from the bus station in Novgorod). May-September: Sat-Wed
11:00-16:00, October-April: Sat-Wed 11:00-14:00. full / preferential -
50/30 rubles. Built in 1345 by the Novgorod boyar Ontsifor Zhabin, the
church is one of the best examples of the transitional era of Novgorod
architecture. Here, the old pozakomarny covering is used together with
the new cubic form of the main volume, to which one large semicircular
apse is attached instead of three, laid down according to the ancient
canon. The church has two aisles (they appeared immediately or half a
century later - it is not exactly established), and stone Novgorod
crosses are embedded in the wall of the southern aisle. Once it was the
main temple of the Spassky Monastery, abolished in the 18th century, the
church itself was not closed until the 20th century. Its walls and
vaults were painted in 1380, presumably by craftsmen from Serbia, and
therefore the frescoes differed markedly from the canons adopted in Rus'
(from the completely surprising - the image of a tetramorph in the
dome). In the 18th century, the frescoes, which suffered many times from
fires (and the first happened back in 1386), were whitewashed and
cleared only by 1921, which became a real sensation. During the war, the
church was destroyed almost to the ground. The frescoes were saved by a
miracle: painstaking work, which began in 1965 with the participation of
the Grekovs, made it possible to restore about half of the dead murals.
Now most of the restored Kovalyov frescoes are presented in the Church
of St. George in Lubyanitsa at the Market, but inside you can also see
their fragments and climb the choirs along the very steep stone stairs
inside the wall. Locals call the church "drunk", as it is included in
the mandatory wedding tour program for newlyweds. Nearby is a monument
with tanks and other military equipment, erected in memory of those who
died in the Great Patriotic War.
Church of the Savior on
Nereditsa (1198), village of Spas-Nereditsa. ☎ +7 (8162) 77-37-38.
Sat–Wed 11:00–16:00. full / preferential - 80/40 rubles. It was built in
1198 by the Novgorod prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich near his residence in
memory of the prince's sons. Immediately after the construction, the
entire inner surface of the walls was covered with paintings, and there
is a hypothesis that the frescoes were made by Olisey Grechin, who is
also credited with the authorship of the famous Novgorod Savior Not Made
by Hands. These frescoes existed until the 20th century, but in 1941 the
church, whose life had been going on without much upheaval until that
time, ended up at the firing point of the Soviet troops, and was almost
completely destroyed. Only the altar part has been preserved, where even
now you can see the remains of the former painting. In a sense, we were
lucky: the first copies of the frescoes were made in 1862, and then they
were redrawn and photographed during the deep restoration of the 1900s,
when they tried to free the building from later layers. The current
forms - different-sized apses, roofing - the church acquired during the
scientific restoration in the post-war years. But it certainly retained
its essence: as in ancient times, it is a single-domed four-pillared
cubic temple with an internal arrangement typical of churches of the
early 12th century.
Church of St. Nicholas on Lipno. One of the
pearls of the Novgorod style, the church was built on Lipno Island in
1292-1294 by order of Novgorod Archbishop Kliment. Most likely, it was
one of the buildings of the monastery, founded after 1113, shortly after
the discovery of the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, which healed
Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, happened here. The church became the
first local stone church erected after the Mongol-Tatar invasion, and
its structure largely copies the Church of the Nativity of the Peryn
Skete. It is built of limestone and shell rock of different shades, and
the window arches are made using a completely new technology - they are
lined with dark squared bricks. The decorative elements are laconic:
corner blades, "edges" above the windows of the drum and arched belts
along the upper line of the three-bladed facades. In 1930, while
clearing the walls, several well-preserved frescoes from the end of the
13th century were discovered. And although during the war the church was
badly damaged, it, along with the frescoes, was restored in the 1950s,
returning to its original form. Getting to it is not an easy task, but
you can be satisfied with the views from the Perynsky Skete, St.
George's Monastery or from the Rurik settlement.
How to get there:
The church is located on an island in the delta of the Msta River, and
you can get to it only by water: in summer - by boat or boat, in winter
- on ice.
Museum "Bronnitskaya Land". ☎ +7 (8162) 76-35-40.
Tue–Sat 10:00–17:00. 50 rub. The Moskovsky tract passed through the
village, and Bronnitsa was one of the pits (post stations) of the main
state road. The expositions of the museum tell about the rich historical
past of the village and acquaint with its main sights. Of particular
interest is the hall of the Vozrozhdeniye factory, which keeps the
chronicle of the “blue miracle of Bronnitsa” - the famous cobalt dishes.
The museum offers a variety of thematic tours, workshops on weaving and
doll making.
Khutynsky monastery (On the northern outskirts of the village of
Khutyn, 7 km from Veliky Novgorod and 3 km (in a straight line) from
Krechevitsy). ☎ Pilgrimage Center +7 (8162) 74-96-02; hotel +7 (921)
201-56-41. Mon–Sun 9:00–20:00. Free admission. The monastery was founded
by the Novgorod hermit of the 12th century, Varlaam Khutynsky, who
settled near Novgorod, in Khutyn, a place that in those days had a bad
reputation due to the machinations of evil spirits. By the way, this
charter of Varlaam Khutynsky (a special act on the transfer of land to
the monastery) is the first Russian act that has come down to us in the
original. The first stone monastery church was consecrated in 1190, but
four centuries later it was dismantled and replaced with the five-domed
Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior (1515), which at first
resembled the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. In the 17th
century, the cathedral was rebuilt, adding side chapels, galleries and
an eye-catching western porch, at the same time they changed the shape
of the cover. The cathedral serves as the tomb of the Monk Varlaam
Khutynsky and the poet G.R. Derzhavin (1743-1816). Other significant
monastery buildings are the refectory with the single-domed church of
Varlaam Khutynsky (1552) and the baroque gate bell tower (1770s), which
is distinguished by the rare use of columns as decoration for the
province. During the war years, the monastery was destroyed to ruins and
restored only at the end of the 20th century. Now it is a functioning
Orthodox convent and one of the popular places of pilgrimage.
How to
get there: From the bus station of Novgorod by bus number 121.
Church of Nikita Novgorodsky (1914-1915), pos. Volkhovsky, st.
Lesnaya, 23. (city bus number 9). A small church of the beginning of the
20th century with a stylization of ancient Novgorod temples. In Soviet
times, it was used for other purposes, but has now been restored.
Nikolo-Vyazhishchi Monastery Wikidata item, Vyazhishchi village. ☎ +7
(8162) 74-20-47. Mon–Sun 7:00–19:00. Free admission. The unique ensemble
of the Vyazhishchi Monastery is located 12 kilometers northwest of
Veliky Novgorod. The monastery does not have temples that are ancient by
Novgorod standards - its oldest buildings date back only to the second
half of the 17th century (although for most of Russia this is a very
respectable age), but the churches of the monastery have retained an
unusually rich decor from tiles of the 17th century of various designs,
which is definitely worth seeing with your own eyes. The monastery
already existed at the beginning of the 15th century, but was then made
of wood. In the 17th century, he was patronized by the first kings of
the Romanov family, and this affected his well-being. In the last
quarter of the 17th century, the monastery acquired two stone churches -
the Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and Euthymius
Vyazhishchsky (1685) and the Church of St. John the Theologian with the
refectory Church of the Ascension of the Lord (1694-1698). Now, after
the restoration, all the churches are five-domed, but for most of its
history, the Church of St. John the Theologian lived with one dome: its
unfinished roof was blown away during the storm of 1698, after which the
church was restored in a simplified form. Temples were built by Moscow
masters, taking into account local traditions. At the turn of the
17th-18th centuries, a gallery with two porches, two-story cells and an
economic building were also built. A low stone fence with decorative
turrets replaced the wooden one in the 19th century. The place of
production of the colored tiles used in the ribbon friezes and
architraves has not been precisely established: they could have been
made in Novgorod or the Valdai Monastery, but they could well have been
delivered from Moscow or Yaroslavl. The tiles have three different
sizes, and the most interesting of all are the largest, placed in the
upper part of the buildings: in their design there are almost
indistinguishable lion and unicorn, as well as a horse, a cross and a
double-headed eagle.
How to get there: suburban bus number 123 goes
directly to the monastery (3 times a day, the schedule is in the
Transport section). From Novgorod on city buses No. 5, 10, 14, 15 to the
stop at the Akron plant, then about 4 kilometers on foot. By rail (3
times a day) to the Vyazhishi station, then the same 4 kilometers on
foot.
Museum of the Tyosovskaya narrow-gauge railway Wikidata
element, pos. Tesovo-Netylsky (60 km from Novgorod). ☎ +7 (921)
939-13-94. If your eyes are already dazzling from ancient temples, you
can look for sights of a completely different kind in the vicinity of
Novgorod. Lost somewhere on the border of the Novgorod and Leningrad
regions, the village of Tesovo-Netylsky grew up around peat extraction,
which, like any peat extraction, needed a narrow gauge railway. By some
miracle, she survived until 2014, when local enthusiasts bought the old
rolling stock and a small piece of canvas to create a museum. This
museum works only on preliminary requests, mass events are held several
times a year when narrow-gauge railway enthusiasts come to
Tyosovo-Netylsky. You can get to the village by minibus from Novgorod or
by commuter train running twice a day to Novolisino. The train itself is
the same outgoing nature as narrow-gauge railways.
Trinity Mikhailo-Klopsky Monastery, village of Seltso. ☎ +7 (8162)
63-54-13. Mon–Sun 7:00–19:00. Free admission. Located 20 km south of
Veliky Novgorod on the Veryazh River at its confluence with the Ilmen,
it has been known since 1408. Its main attraction is the three-domed
Trinity Cathedral (1569) with later aisles and galleries. The
dilapidated St. Nicholas Church (1581), the bell tower and cells of the
early 19th century have also been preserved. Now the monastery is under
restoration.
How to get there: from the bus station of Novgorod by
bus to Seltso (2 times a day).
Veliky Novgorod is located on the Priilmenskaya lowland, on the Volkhov River, 6 km from Lake Ilmen, 552 km northwest of Moscow and 145 km southeast of St. Petersburg. Since 1999, the southern border of the urban district of Veliky Novgorod has been passing by the Rurik settlement and the Yuriev monastery, skirting the village of Pankovka, and including the Pletyokha land massif (since March 15, 2013). The northern border of the urban district is the Krechevitsy microdistrict (since 2004).
Veliky Novgorod is in the MSK (Moscow time) time zone. The offset of the applicable time from UTC is +3:00. In accordance with the applied time and geographic longitude, the average solar noon in Veliky Novgorod occurs at 12:55.
The climate of Veliky Novgorod is temperate continental, with cold snowy winters and moderately warm summers. Winter lasts from mid-November to early April, its average temperature is -4 ° C, the temperature often drops below -15 ° C, usually in late January - early February. Spring comes around the first week of April, when the snow cover melts and a stable positive temperature sets in, the average April temperature is about +3.5 °C. Summers are moderately warm, although June and August are rather cool months, with an average July temperature of +17.5 °C. Autumn is relatively mild and long, winter comes only by mid-November.
The main contribution (in 1989, about 55%) to environmental pollution
in the recent past was made by industrial enterprises of the city (in
particular, the Akron chemical plant), but in recent years, the main
share of pollution (up to 70%) is motor vehicle emissions. Gross
emissions into the atmosphere of Veliky Novgorod in 2010 amounted to
44.6 thousand tons, in 2011 - 40.7 thousand tons. The state of the
environment in the city is monitored by the Novgorod Regional Center for
Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (NTsGMS). Every day, 3
times a day, air samples are taken at three posts in the city (Krasilova
St., Belova St., B. St. Petersburgskaya St.). On average, the content of
nitrogen dioxide in samples is no more than 2 MPC, carbon monoxide is
not more than 2.2 MPC, phenol - up to 7 MPC, dust - up to 6 MPC (the
number of samples with an excess of harmful substances is not more than
3% of the total volume of samples ). The air pollution index of Veliky
Novgorod is currently 4.0–4.2 (low).
Regular analysis of water
samples from Volkhov is carried out. The quality of the waters in the
river has not changed in recent years, and according to the values of
the UKWIS (specific combinatorial index of water pollution), the waters
are still characterized as “polluted”. The waters of the river near the
city have been polluted with copper, manganese, and iron for several
years. The values of bichromate oxidizability (COD) are still above the
norm, which indicates water pollution with organic substances.
Radiometric observation is carried out at the meteorological station in
Yuryevo. According to the results of observations during the year, the
average maximum value of the exposure dose rate (EDR) and the study of
radioactive fallout do not exceed the allowable values (observations in
2006-2012).
To improve the state of the environment in Veliky
Novgorod, a special municipal target program "Ecology of Veliky
Novgorod" was adopted.
Ways of archaeological study of Novgorod outlined in 1807 by E. A.
Bolkhovitinov, later Metropolitan Eugene. He arrived in Novgorod in 1804
as a vicar bishop, and began to study old manuscripts. The bishop also
conducted archaeological observations, while he assessed the
significance of the cultural layer: “I examined the local surroundings,
tested the ground, and I know that where for decades people lived in
courtyards, there is usually an alluvial black earth ground. In the city
itself, it is obviously noticeable, and on the Trade side, along the
embankments, inde arshin 8 or 9 should be dug to the mainland.
In
1910, N. K. Roerich, who was fond of archeology, carried out excavations
in Detinets at the expense of the Museum of Pre-Petrine Art. No official
report, no drawings, no photographs have survived from these
excavations. There were no scientific publications either, and the
extracted artifacts disappeared. The XV All-Russian Archaeological
Congress of 1911 was held in Novgorod, but no serious excavations were
carried out then.
A. V. Artsikhovsky began excavations in
Novgorod in 1929 - they were kindling reconnaissance at Gorodische.
Reconnaissance found that the cultural layer was spoiled by "treasure"
pits, and that real excavations were almost impossible. Then the
excavations were transferred to mounds, and in the same year mounds were
excavated in the village of Khreple, Novgorod Region, which yielded
valuable finds.
On October 16, 2018, archaeologists discovered a
wooden pavement from the second half of the 14th century in the center
of Veliky Novgorod. The wooden pavement of Kozmodemyanskaya Street goes
from the rampart to Volkhov for almost a kilometer.
In 2018, an
underwater expedition of the Institute of Archeology of the Russian
Academy of Sciences discovered the remains of the ancient Great Bridge
at the bottom of the Volkhov River. According to radiocarbon analysis,
the age of this bridge, which crossed the Volkhov riverbed between St.
Nicholas Cathedral on Yaroslav's Courtyard and the lost Cathedral of
Boris and Gleb in the Novgorod citadel, can be about 1068 ± 25 years,
that is, it was built in the 10th century.
In 2020, during the
reconstruction of the Sofiyskaya embankment, archaeologists found a
treasure trove of coins from the 16th-17th centuries. In total, more
than 1500 coins were found.