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Staraya Russa is a small and very cozy city in the
north-west of Russia, one of the oldest in the Novgorod region. It
is interesting for its ancient temples, the summer house of F.M.
Dostoevsky and an unusual balneological resort in the European part
of Russia, which arose here long before the revolution. Staraya
Russa is located in the South Priilmenye, 96 km from Novgorod if you
go by road and only 60 km if you go straight. The city stands at the
confluence of the Porusya River, also known as Pererytitsa, into the
Polist, which, in turn, is a tributary of the larger Lovat, which
flows 15 km to the east. The inhabitants of the city are called
Rushans.
The emergence of Staraya Russa is covered with
legends. According to one of them, the princes Sloven and Rus
founded the cities of Slovensk (future Novgorod) and Rus in the
vicinity of Lake Ilmen. According to another legend, there was no
Slovene, and instead of him, Rusu was accompanied by Lech and Czech,
the founders of Poland and the Czech Republic. Scientific versions
of the legends associate the name "Staraya Russa" (until the 16th
century - simply "Rusa") with the tribe of Rus, which either lived
in Priilmenye before the arrival of the Varangians, or was itself
the Varangians who came to the still non-existent and nameless "Rus"
- the retinue Rurik. However, not only buildings, but even
archaeological objects of the 9th century were not found on the
territory of Staraya Russa, therefore the official date of the
foundation of the city is considered to be 1167 - the first mention
in the annals, although the oldest finds date back to the middle of
the 10th century, i.e. semi-legendary pre-Christian period in the
history of Ancient Rus'. Later, Staraya Russa became one of the most
important northwestern cities and a center of salt production, and
the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” ran along the
Lovat River.
From the moment of its foundation, Staraya Russa
was under the influence of Novgorod, as evidenced by birch-bark
letters, of which more than forty were found here. From the end of
the 15th century, the city fell under the rule of Moscow, without
losing its commercial and salt significance. At the turn of the XVI
and XVII centuries. Staraya Russa was badly damaged during the
Livonian War, and then during the Time of Troubles, when the Swedes
ruled here for ten years. A fire in 1763 destroyed all wooden
buildings, after which Staraya Russa was built up with stone houses
according to a regular rectangular plan. The extraction of salt
gradually came to naught, but the salt itself remained in demand in
the form of mineral waters and associated mud, which began to be
used for medicinal purposes. In 1828, almost the first balneo-mud
resort in Russia was opened in Staraya Russa. Over the next 90
years, Dobrolyubov, Gorky, the sons of Alexander II and, of course,
F.M. managed to visit him. Dostoevsky, who, however, was not treated
here, but escaped from gambling addiction and St. Petersburg
creditors. Staraya Russa suited him: there was some kind of cultural
life going on around the resort, but there was especially nowhere to
go on a spree. In Staraya Russa, the writer completed The Possessed,
completely wrote The Teenager and The Brothers Karamazov, but one
should not look for enthusiastic descriptions of Staraya Russa in
Dostoevsky’s books (as well as anything else), because under the
name of Skotoprigonievsk, where the action of the novel unfolds,
Staraya Russa herself is hiding. Cattle were really driven here, but
otherwise there was no smell of Dostoevism: Petersburg society
gathered in the summer, already in 1878 a railway passed through the
city, and after the revolution a tram was even launched, which
disappeared with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War and was
not restored later.
The war years brought severe destruction
to Staraya Russa: the front line passed nearby, and unsuccessful
counter-offensive operations were going on in the local swamps for
two years in a row. Russa suffered no less than Novgorod, but
restorers did a good job in both cities. After the war, Staraya
Russa becomes an exemplary backwater, although by the standards of
the North-West there is a lot of industry here: a chemical
engineering plant and a well-behaved aircraft repair plant. In
comparison with the 19th century, the balneological resort is
incomparably less popular, since the swampy Staraya Russa cannot
compete with the sunny Caucasus, not to mention abroad. The city
sluggishly develops tourism, from time to time even foreigners
interested in Dostoevsky's legacy appear in it. Coming to Staraya
Russa is worth it for several ancient temples, a cozy patriarchal
setting, and an old-fashioned local resort. All the main things can
be seen in half a day; staying in the city longer than a day is only
for those who are going to heal. For those traveling by car, this is
a convenient stop on the way from Pskov to Novgorod, but by public
transport you will most likely arrive from Novgorod and then leave
there.
Tourist Information Center, st. Voskresenskaya, 6.
Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00, Sat 10:00–16:00. The city tourism center is
designed mainly to work with travel agencies and for those
independent travelers who need excursions. Souvenirs are also sold
here, and booklets are completely distributed free of charge.
1 Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery, st. Volodarsky. The southernmost
corner of the old Novgorod architecture. The monastery was founded in
1192 and before the revolution it was a real monastery with numerous
buildings behind a high brick wall. A complex of three temples
comfortably located on the grass with a bell tower and a refectory has
survived to this day, the rest of the buildings have been destroyed or
rebuilt beyond recognition: for example, a sports school on the street.
Volodarsky was in a past life a large cathedral of the middle of the XIX
century. A characteristic feature of the entire complex is wooden domes
covered with plowshares and charming crenellated roofs made in the
Novgorod tradition, the comfort of which is complemented by wooden
porches and modest stone carvings. The oldest in the monastery, the
Transfiguration Cathedral, was first built in stone in 1198 and heavily
rebuilt in 1442. After the destruction of the Time of Troubles, a bell
tower, a small Nativity Church and a larger Sretenskaya Church with a
refectory were added to the cathedral during the next reconstruction.
Then the whole complex was rebuilt in the spirit of classicism, but the
post-war restoration returned the original medieval appearance, which,
along with the Dostoevsky house and the Muravyov fountain, became the
hallmark of Staraya Russa. Now in the monastery buildings there is a
museum of local lore.
2 "Eagle" monument, corner of Mineralnaya and
Aleksandrovskaya streets. A pre-revolutionary monument is a rare thing
in the Russian provinces. It is dedicated to the soldiers of the
Vilmanstrand regiment who died on the fronts of the Russo-Japanese War,
and was installed in 1913 in Staraya Russa, where the regiment was
stationed at that time, although Vilmanstrand is not Russa, but Finnish
Lappeenranta. The monument is designed in Prussian aesthetics: a pink
granite stela is crowned with a martial eagle on a bronze ball. Marks
from bullets and shells are traces of the battles for the liberation of
Staraya Russa during the Great Patriotic War.
3 Trinity Church , st.
Frunze, 12a. It was built in 1680 and, along with other churches of
Staraya Russa, did not escape later reconstructions, although they were
not significant. This is a characteristic example of a monumental
17th-century townsman church with poor stone carvings and bare brick
stumps. Next to it is Victory Park with a touching military monument.
4 Water tower, Cathedral Square. The central square of Staraya Russa is
easy to recognize by the red-brick water tower (1908-09), which was
restored by 2020, returning to it the wooden top lost during the Nazi
occupation. There are several large pre-revolutionary buildings around
the square, including one built in 1911-14. a three-storey real school
(Krestetskaya st., 4).
5 Resurrection Cathedral, st. Vozrozhdeniye,
1. The five-domed temple on the spit of Polisti and Porusya marks the
historical center of the city. Founded at the end of the 17th century
and heavily altered in the first half of the 19th, it is a
characteristic Ton building, surrounded by low galleries-chapels with
numerous kokoshniks and complemented by a typical classicist bell tower.
For a long time, the cathedral was reservedly yellow, then it was
repainted in dark red, which emphasizes the full power of architectural
eclecticism, but falls out of the palette of soft tones and shades
inherent in Staraya Russa. However, the excellent location at the
confluence of two calm rivers fully compensates for this small drawback.
6 Living bridge, connects Alexandrovskaya and St. Petersburg streets.
The old bridge across the Polist River still has a wooden covering,
although it is installed on stone pillars. The name is due to the fact
that once upon a time the bridge was a pontoon and swayed while driving.
There are not many old buildings in the center of Staraya Russa (see
the list). As in Novgorod, pre-revolutionary buildings are characterized
by minimalistic architecture, reflecting the costs of post-war
reconstruction and the uncomplicated provincial style of the mid-19th
century. The oldest civil building is Popov’s house of the end of the
18th century 7 (now school No. 3 on Shtykov embankment, 1), and besides
it you can see the merchant’s house with a weather vane and a
wrought-iron balcony 8 (St. brick style 9 (st. Krestetskaya, 4), a fire
station with a tower 10 (st. Krestetskaya, 2) and a huge building of the
synagogue turned into a hostel 11 (Georgievskaya street 12/7).
A resort among the swamps is not the most common thing. The idea of
using the local waters for medicinal purposes was first proposed in 1815
by Dr. Gaaz, who shortly before that opened Kislovodsk and other
Caucasian health resorts to the capital's public, but the construction
of the old Russian resort began 15 years later. Until 1854, it belonged
to the military department, since it was intended for the treatment of
wounded soldiers, although the civilian public also actively traveled
here. Gradually, a curious architectural ensemble took shape in the
resort, which did not survive the war and was restored in an angular,
rather utilitarian style, although - we must pay tribute to the
restorers - the resort buildings did not turn into concrete boxes and in
places even resemble something from the 19th century.
The main
part of the resort is its park. There are turnstiles at the entrance,
they let “guests” and privileged categories of citizens free of charge,
they charge a small fee from the rest - 50 rubles on weekends and 100
rubles. weekday evenings from 20:00. However, getting into the territory
without a ticket and at other times is not particularly difficult. In
addition to very ordinary buildings, small details are of interest here:
for example, wooden sculptures depicting mythological characters
scattered around the park, and a flower calendar next to the entrance
gate, where a new date is laid out every day using pre-prepared flower
beds.
12 Muravyov Fountain. The fountain in the center of the
resort beat at the beginning of the 20th century to a height of 8
meters, and around it was a luxurious glass pavilion, destroyed during
the war years, but still flickering on advertising posters. After the
war, the restoration of the pavilion turned out to be impractical, since
the iron instantly rusted in salt water, and the fountain itself was
weakened to two meters so as not to salt the soil. Now the fountain,
which has become a monument to itself, is only interesting as a source
of mineral water, although doctors recommend drinking water in a special
pavilion.
Dostoevsky lived in the southern part of Staraya Russa, where there
is now a house-museum and several objects reminiscent of the writer and
his work have been preserved.
13 Church of the Great Martyr Mina,
st. Georgievskaya, 44. One of the oldest buildings in Staraya Russa,
tentatively dating from the beginning of the 15th century. In the walls
you can see fragments of ancient masonry and embedded stone crosses,
typical for Western Rus'. However, the church was not lucky with the
restoration: the slender building was damaged by a disproportionately
small dome on a thin drum and a huge wooden porch with a tin roof.
Perhaps, over time, the church will be put in order, but so far it does
not work and is increasingly overgrown with grass.
14 St. George's
Church, st. Georgievskaya, 26. Like the Church of the Great Martyr Mina,
it dates back to the 15th century (1410), but the restructuring of the
18th century greatly changed the appearance of the building, which now
resembles the neo-Russian stylizations of Ton rather than ancient
Russian architecture. St. George's Church was regularly visited by
Dostoevsky, which is reminiscent of a monument located nearby. It is
interesting that the writer preferred this church to the small and much
prettier church of the Great Martyr Mina, which was also located next to
his house: perhaps Dostoevsky was interested in the icon of the Old
Russian Mother of God, one of the largest portable images of the Virgin,
with which a long and scandalous story is connected, worthy of a pen
classic of Russian literature. The original image was either brought
from Byzantium, or was written in Novgorod in the 13th century. In the
16th century, the icon was taken to Tikhvin for a while to save the
local inhabitants from pestilence. The residents of Tikhvin were so
impressed by the miraculous effect of the icon that they did not return
it, and at the end of the 18th century, after lengthy persuasion, they
allowed the Rushans to make at least a copy. However, the copy turned
out to be quite strange - the faces are on the verge of a caricature,
and for some reason Christ turned away from the Mother of God - which,
probably, influenced the miraculous properties: having continued the
struggle, by the end of the 19th century, the Russians still took
possession of the original icon, which was then lost during the war
years. The “wrong” copy with the turned away Christ is now exhibited in
St. George's Church, and a more accurate list is in the Russian Museum
in St. Petersburg.
16 Church of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, st.
Red Commanders, 8. Built in 1371 and redone in the 18th century, when
four small domes were added to the one-domed Novgorod church with an
elegant crenellated roof, and later a bell tower in the classicist
style, completely out of place here. The church operates and belongs to
the Old Believers.
17 Grushenka's house (Menshovs' house), emb.
Glebova, 25. A two-story stone house of the middle of the 19th century,
typical for the Novgorod region, stands on the banks of the Pererytitsa
not far from Dostoevsky's house. Agrippina Menshova, who lived here, is
considered the prototype of Grushenka from The Brothers Karamazov.
18
Katerina Ivanovna's house (Belyaev's house), st. Krestetskaya, 5.
Another heroine of The Brothers Karamazov lived in the very center of
Staraya Russa. In architectural terms, this house is even more
interesting than the previous one, thanks to a pretty attic and a
provincial variety of classicism.
On the opposite side of the
Cathedral Square (behind the water tower) there is still a
pre-revolutionary house, which housed Plotnikov's grocery store,
mentioned in the novel under the same name. Somewhere on the Torgovaya
Square there was also the Capital City tavern (in reality, the Hermitage
tavern). In addition to the center, the novel regularly mentions
"backyards" in the area of \u200b\u200bmodern Komsomolsky and Pionersky
lanes. According to Dostoevsky, there was solid mud here (it is still
there because of the partially buried Malashka River, recognizable by
the characteristic swamp behind the monument to Dostoevsky), and
somewhere in these parts Dmitry Karamazov secretly made his way to his
father's house, and Alyosha watched fighting schoolchildren. It is
difficult to say how much the atmosphere of the novel is felt here, but
the village backyards have definitely not gone away.
The house of
the Karamazovs does not have such a clear prototype, although many signs
and, first of all, the location point to the house of the writer
himself. In general, Staraya Russa is depicted in The Brothers Karamazov
with almost topographical accuracy, and the name Skotoprigonievsk is not
accidental: before the revolution, cattle were regularly driven through
Staraya Russa, so the city market was popularly called the Cattle
Market. Despite the destruction and post-war reconstruction, the layout
of city streets has not changed much since the time of Dostoevsky, so
the plot of the novel can be traced on the ground. In some places,
massive black stone tablets have even been installed, although there is
still no public literary route - all that remains is to take a special
tour in the museum.
1 Dostoevsky House-Museum , emb. Dostoevsky, 42/2. ☎ +7 (81652)
5-14-77. 10:00–18:00 except Mon. 120 rub. A discreet two-story house,
painted green. It was here that the writer lived during his visits to
Staraya Russa. Dostoevsky buys this house in 1874 and makes it his
permanent summer residence, and once even spends the winter in Staraya
Russa. Contrary to the bleak image of the city in The Brothers
Karamazov, the writer highly valued comfort, peace, and - not least! -
the cheapness of Staraya Russa. The house was rebuilt twice: at the end
of the 19th century due to flooding of the foundation, and later, in the
early 1960s, due to wartime destruction. The furniture and personal
belongings of the writer have been lost, so the current interiors were
recreated from pre-war photographs, which, however, does not interfere
with getting an idea of the writer’s rather modest lifestyle, as well as
the active role of his wife, Anna Dostoevskaya, in organizing the
writing and publishing process. The entire exposition is located on the
second floor, where the Dostoevsky rooms were. The first floor is given
over to the living room for literary evenings. The house is surrounded
by a pleasant garden and overlooks the river with a cozy, cobbled
promenade.
2 Local Lore Museum, Monastyrskaya Sq. 1 (Savior
Transfiguration Monastery). ☎ +7 (81652) 3-58-66 (museum), +7 (81652)
3-59-89 (gallery). Mon–Fri 10:00–18:00, Sat–Sun 9:00–17:00. 100 rub. The
ancient buildings of the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery are almost more
interesting than the museum itself, which contains boring archaeological
finds and brief expositions on the history of the city after the 16th
century. Of greatest interest are copies of birch bark letters (the
originals are presented in Novgorod), a wooden water pipe, as well as a
special map of the city with colorful images of sights and the most
famous heroes, including, of course, F.M. Dostoevsky. The frescoes of
the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral have practically not been preserved.
For a fee, you can climb the bell tower (from which, however, little is
visible), as well as visit an art gallery filled with socialist realist
works by Vasily Korochkin, a native of Staraya Russa, who worked under
the pseudonym Svarog.
3 Museum of the North-Western Front
Aleksandrovskaya st. 23. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-52-85. 10:00–18:00 except Mon
and Wed. The only museum in Russia dedicated to a specific front, and
not to the Great Patriotic War as a whole. It differs little from other
provincial museums of military subjects: weapons, uniforms, the horrors
of the German occupation and sad reports of losses during the
unsuccessful counter-offensive operations of 1942-43. near Demyansk and
Staraya Russa. An interesting detail is the T-26 tank, recovered from
the Lovat River after the war and installed as a monument in front of
the museum.
4 Museum of the novel "The Brothers Karamazov", emb.
Dostoevsky, 8. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-72-85. 10:00–18:00 except Tue. The new
museum, which is more correct to call the museum of urban life of the
middle of the XIX century. The exposition practically does not tell
about the book itself and its author, but rather recreates the
environment in which the characters of the novel lived. All this is
located in the house of the merchant Beklemishevsky - one of the
prettiest buildings in Staraya Russa, deserving at least an external
inspection.
5 Museum of the aircraft repair plant, microdistrict.
Town. The plant in Staraya Russa is engaged in the repair of military
transport aircraft Il-76 and Czech L-410. The museum here is
departmental, and therefore works only on preliminary requests, but
those who still manage to get into it, along with the usual exhibition
on the history of the enterprise, are shown aircraft and told how they
are being repaired. The Gorodok microdistrict that has grown up around
the plant is of independent interest and is not at all like the rest of
Staraya Russa: here you can find multi-storey buildings, canonical and
non-canonical Soviet memorials (for example, a monument in the shape of
an airplane propeller) and other colorful things.
6 Kinotsentr (former cinema "Rossiya") , st. "Tribune", 2 (near the
Living Bridge). ☎ +7 (81652) 5-23-08, +7 (81652) 5-29-08. The original
building of the Soviet era, there is 3D.
7 Resort Staraya Russa, st.
Mineralnaya, 62. For those who do not plan to be treated, but just come
for a walk, only two types of mineral water are available at the resort,
No. 11 and 12. Other rooms, due to a very specific composition, are
intended for external use and, accordingly, are not issued from drinking
taps . Everyone can try drinking water in the drinking gallery in cold
or hot form and even take it with them, although the water does not
taste very pleasant, especially when it is hot. In the same gallery
there is a makeshift museum worth a look for old photographs showing the
resort in its best years. In addition to drinking mineral water at the
resort, you can swim in the salt lake and immerse yourself in
therapeutic mud. For patients, these procedures are free, and the rest
are allowed for an additional fee. The lake and the mud have free
showers and are popular among the locals in hot weather. They say that
resting at the salty Muravyovsky fountain is also good for health, but
this medical procedure has not yet received official recognition. The
resort also has a library, a cinema hall and a late-night bar, where
discos are sometimes arranged. Finally, you can just walk deep into the
territory, where the largest and quietest salt lake is located, and
along the way there will be sculptural images of fairy-tale characters.
8 Center of Culture "Rusich" (DK "Priborostroitel") , Aleksandrovskaya
st. 22. City House of Culture, where concerts and other entertainment
events are often held.
9 Center of folk crafts and crafts
"Bereginya" , st. Kirillova, 3. Tue–Sun 10:00–17:30. Workshops for
pottery, embroidery, clay toys and even weaving from birch bark. There
is a gift shop.
By train
Staraya Russa is located on the Bologoe-Valdai-Dno line.
Suburban communication on it was transferred almost completely, only
twice a week there are a couple of trains to Bologoye via Valdai. There
is also a daily long-distance train Moscow-Pskov, which passes through
Staraya Russa late in the evening towards Moscow and very early in the
morning towards Pskov. From Moscow 8 hours, from Pskov 3.5 hours.
Train Station. ☎ +7 (81652) 2-18-82. Located a kilometer from the
city center, go straight along St. Petersburg street or Vosstaniya
street. The bright blue post-war building belongs to the monuments of
Stalinist architecture and will delight travelers with magnificent
interiors. The station is open around the clock, despite the almost
complete absence of trains. The service for passengers is complemented
by a chapel located on the forecourt.
By bus
Buses from
Novgorod leave from 7:45 in the morning about once an hour, the journey
takes two hours. There are also at least six buses from St. Petersburg
(journey time - 6 hours), but many of them are passing ones, so it is
not easy to calculate them in the schedule: flights to Kholm, Parfino,
Volot are suitable for you. There are also private minibuses to St.
Petersburg: ask at the bus station. There is no bus service in the
direction of Valdai, Pskov and Tver regions.
Bus station. ☎ +7
(81652) 2-24-01. 5:00–22:00. Located next to the train station in a new
and rather dull brick building. Nearby you can see the old - now
abandoned - building, built in the Stalinist style, which is not common
for bus stations.
By car
From Novgorod via Shimsk, 96 km. From
St. Petersburg, you can go along the Moscow highway through Novgorod, or
you can go along the Pskov highway through Luga: the distance is almost
the same (290 km). The most obvious way from Moscow is along the M10
highway to the village of Yazhelbitsy (beyond Valdai) and further
through Demyansk. An alternative way is along the M9 to Rzhev, then
along the P87 to Selizharovo and Ostashkov, and from there through
Svapusche-Rvenitsy-Gornoe-Molvotitsy (dirt road) to Demyansk. Both
routes are equivalent in distance (600 km) and are unpredictable in
terms of the condition of roads in the Novgorod region at the entrance
to Staraya Russa. The first option is probably more reliable.
In
the direction of Pskov, you need to go through Soltsy (200 km). The road
to Ostashkov (200 km), in principle, passing, but may be in a dead
state, especially on the border of the regions.
City buses serve a dozen routes (schedule). More often, only buses
No. 7 and 8 run 1-2 times per hour, which actually run along the same
route across the New Bridge along Mineralnaya Street and further past
the resort. In practice, they are not very necessary, since everything
can be walked around.
Getting around in Staraya Russa is not
difficult: the center (Revolution Square) is located approximately in
the middle between the station and the resort, Dostoevsky's house stands
on the embankment south of the center, and the Spaso-Preobrazhensky
Monastery is located relatively to the east and slightly north of the
center. It is interesting that all small bridges across the old Russian
rivers have their own names: the Cathedral Bridge next to the
Resurrection Cathedral, the Living Bridge at the beginning of the street
leading to the station. Karl Liebknecht and the New Bridge on the
street. Uprising, next to the Spaso-Preobrazhensky Monastery. In
addition to the Polisti and Porusya (Pererytitsa) rivers, the city has a
Malashka stream-ditch - the old channel of Porusya, presumably filled up
in the Middle Ages during one of the sieges of the city.
1 Supermarket “Magnit”, emb. Rybakov, 3. 9:30–22:00. Grocery store
in the central square.
2 Old Russian bakeries and confectioneries.
Mon–Fri 8:00–17:00. Local bakery shop, fresh pastries.
3 Bookstore
"Write, read", Gostinodvorskaya st. 3. ☎ +7 (81652) 5-77-15. 9:30–18:30,
lunch 14:00–15:00.
There are the most souvenirs in the resort: in a
shop inside the pump room, as well as in the Korobeinik store opposite
the entrance to the resort (Mineralnaya St., 61). The goods are mainly
intended for the organization of resort life: washcloths, herbal
preparations, special mugs for mineral water with the symbols of the
Starorussky resort. Handicraft products can be purchased at the
Bereginya center.
It is easy to guess that mineral water should be the main local
product in Staraya Russa. "Rushanochka" is sold throughout the Novgorod
region and tastes much more pleasant than the "correct" medicinal water
from the resort pump room. Beer is not produced in the city - probably
just because of the strong mineralization of groundwater.
There
are quite a lot of catering establishments: the presence of the resort
affects, although on weekends all more or less decent cafes can be
closed for special services or filled with drunken companies and loud
music. In summer, spontaneous cafes open right at the resort.
Cheap
1 Cafe "Grill", st. Krasnykh Partizan, 8. Mon–Fri 9:00–18:00,
Sat 10:00–15:00. Lunch cafe. Good feedback..
2 Cafe Rushane, st.
Kirillova, 14. 9:00–17:00. Inexpensive diner. According to the locals,
the best place in town to have lunch. Mar 2019 edit
3 Cafe "Sadko",
Voskresenskaya st. 7 (on the central square). ☎ +7 (81652) 3-15-38.
9:00–21:00. An ordinary provincial cafe with service and a relatively
small menu.
4 Cafe "Tortuga" , Krestetskaya st. 27. ☎ +7 (81652)
3-22-90. 12:00–23:00. Simple and relatively inexpensive food: soup,
dumplings, barbecue. Visitors do not really recommend coming here in the
evening, but you can have lunch.
5 Culinary, st. Tribunes, 3.
9:00–18:00, break 14:00–14:30. A wide range of cakes and pastries, as
well as hot food in plastic dishes. Uncomfortable, but the food,
according to the reviews, is good.
Average cost
6 Cafe
"Tower" , st. Gostinodvorskaya, 2. ☎ +7 (921) 606-19-99, +7 (911)
615-49-99. 11:00–23:00, Fri and Sat: until 24:00. Hot: 200-350 rubles.
It is located not in the water tower itself, but in the house next to
it, from the windows of which there is a good view of the central
(Cathedral) square. The only place in the city that can boast of its own
style in the interior and original cooking. Good feedback. WiFi.
7
Cafe "Ilmen" , st. Mineralnaya, 45a. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-19-68. 11:00–2:00.
Hot dishes: about 300 rubles. It pretends to be a restaurant, but in
fact it is an ordinary cafe in an ordinary Russian regional center. The
prices are moderate, the service is acceptable, but in the evenings
there can be a disco, and then this cafe is better to bypass.
Expensive
8 "Polist" restaurant, Gostinodvorskaya st. 20. ☎ +7
(81652) 3-12-84. Hot dishes: 300-500 rubles. The hotel restaurant is
distinguished by slow service and old Russian words on the menu,
although all this has nothing to do with Russian cuisine. Moderately
good reviews, there may be live music in the evening. If you're just
walking by, don't miss the large "Polist" sign on the façade, a fun
artifact from the Soviet era.
In Staraya Russa, various nightclubs appear and disappear, where parties and discos are held on weekends. For a more relaxing pastime, the central square and the surrounding embankments are more suitable, and in the cold season you can sit in the bar of the Polist hotel or in the Ilmen cafe. The resort also has a rather active and wild nightlife, since not everyone comes there to be treated, and even those who come to be treated are not averse to relaxing.
1 Polist Hotel , st. Gostinodvorskaya, 20. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-75-47.
Single / double: about 2000 rubles. The hotel has been recently
renovated and in general makes a good impression: modern furniture, new
plumbing, Wi-Fi. There are single and double rooms, as well as four
junior suites. However, the double rooms are cramped, and the claimed
breakfast buffet is far from ideal and requires a fair amount of skill
to get at least some food. Paid secure parking.
2 Resort "Staraya
Russa", st. Mineralnaya, 62. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-16-76, +7 (81652) 3-16-25.
Accommodation without food and treatment: about 2000 rubles per room.
The resort has as many as seven residential buildings, which accommodate
not only patients, but also ordinary vacationers. There are single and
double rooms with and without amenities, suites and even entire
apartments, and everything can be viewed and booked online. The
conditions are not bad, and the condition of the rooms varies, depending
on the building, from decent to good: for example, the "standard" rooms
are better than those in Polisti. Tours are sold on the resort's
website, and a room can only be booked with meals. If you just need to
spend the night, use international booking systems - it will be much
cheaper. All residential buildings have Wi-Fi, although the signal in
the rooms may be weak: in this case, you will have to use the Internet
in the lobby or visit the library.
3 Visavi Hotel, st. Mineralnaya,
59a (opposite the resort). ☎ +7 (81652) 3-27-77, +7 (911) 609-71-04.
Double room: 2000-2400 rubles. Neat modern hotel with rooms for 1-2
people and Wi-Fi. Good feedback.
4 Hostel Staraya Russa, emb.
Shtykova, 3 and Aleksandrovskaya st. 30. 700 rub/person, double room:
1200 rub. Rooms without amenities for 2-3 people and quadruple rooms
with shared accommodation. There is a shared kitchen and washing
machine. Good feedback. WiFi.
5 Aviator Hotel, microdistrict.
Gorodok, 9. ☎ +7 (81652) 3-65-26, +7 (81652) 2-54-79. Single room: 900
rub. The aircraft factory hotel is somewhat reminiscent of the
old-fashioned hotel of a small provincial airport, with the only
difference being that the buffet in it does not work around the clock,
and the crews are in no hurry to take off. The rooms are comfortable and
recently refurbished. WiFi.
The city is located at the confluence of the Porusya River with the Polist River (Lake Ilmen basin), 99 km from Veliky Novgorod (along the bypass road), 48 km east of Shimsk, 20 km west of Parfino and 64 km north of Poddorye.
The modern name of the city (Staraya Russa) has been recorded in
written sources since the 16th century and firmly established in the
19th century due to the appearance of settlements (also associated with
salt production), called "Novaya Russa" (New Rus' in the Shelon Pyatina,
known since the 16th century ). Until the 16th century, Staraya Russa
was called other Russian. Rusa (Rusa). This name was given to the entire
region south of Lake Ilmen between Pola and Polista.
According to
the linguist A. I. Sobolevsky, the name is associated with the Rusa salt
spring, which goes back to the channel (Rusa is also a river in the
former Kursk province). Sobolevsky brought the name closer to the name
of the left tributary of the Desna Nerusa (from not and channel), Oryol
and Bryansk regions. Linguist Max Vasmer expressed doubts about this
etymology of the name Rusa.
It may be etymologically identical to
the name Rus (derived from the same word).
According to linguists
R. A. Ageeva, V. L. Vasiliev, M. V. Gorbanevsky, the original name of
the city (Rusa) comes from the hydronym - the river Porusya (in ancient
times it was called Rusa). The name of the river, in turn, remained from
the Baltic tribes that lived here earlier.
The same researchers
point out that according to the "Legend of Slovenia and Rus" of the 17th
century, the city was named after the legendary hero named Rus, who
settled in this place. According to experts, this story is a late
medieval book toponymic legend.
In the Resurrection Chronicle of
the middle of the 16th century, the following version of the origin of
the name Rus is given: “And Slovene came from the Danube and sat down at
Lake Ladoga, and from there came and sat around Lake Ilmenya, and was
called by a different name, and Rus was called the river for the sake of
Russa, and even fell into the lake Ilmen. The mention of the river Russa
(now Porus) was an insertion by the chronicler, as evidenced by a
comparison with the text of the earlier Sofia First Chronicle of the
beginning of the 15th century.
At the beginning of the 16th
century, the German diplomat Sigismund von Herberstein was the first to
record a folk etymology, according to which the name "Russiya" came from
"a very ancient city named Russ, not far from Novgorod the Great."
Elsewhere, Herberstein writes: “Rusa, once called Old Russia (that is,
ancient or ancient Russia), an ancient town under the rule of Novgorod
...”. The 18th-century historian V.N. Tatishchev considered Staraya Rusa
to be the place where the name "Rus" appeared: "at first, the Novgorod
region, or rather the possession of Staraya Rusa (Old Rus'), was called
like that."
In the 2000s, the Russian anti-Normanists A. N.
Sakharov and V. V. Fomin attempted to re-propose a connection between
the names Rus and Rus, based on Herberstein's message. According to
Fomin, "Old Russian Rus", which existed even before Rurik's calling, was
located on the territory of the entire Southern Priilmenye, "where
powerful salt springs are found, giving salt in abundance, without which
life itself is impossible."
According to the historian and
philologist E. A. Melnikova, Fomin, following A. G. Kuzmin, revived the
anti-Normanism of the middle of the 19th century, in the form that was
put forward by M. V. Lomonosov, developed by S. A. Gedeonov and relies
on folk etymology . The historian V. Ya. Petrukhin evaluates the methods
of reconstruction used by Fomin on the basis of medieval genealogies,
the constructions of Synopsis, Lomonosov, and others, as adjoining the
methods of A. T. Fomenko. The assumption of the existence of Staraya
Russa in the 9th century is not supported by archaeological data. In
addition, the name of this settlement (Rusa) is known only from the
middle of the 11th century, which dates back to birch bark No. 526: the
truth..." Nothing is known about the earlier name of the settlement.
Until now, the question of the time of the emergence of the city of
Staraya Russa remains open.
For the first time Rusa is mentioned
in the Novgorod First Chronicle under 1167, but the city at the
confluence of the Polist and Porusya rivers in the Southern Priilmenie
appeared earlier. Birch bark No. 526, found in Novgorod in 1975,
confirms the existence of Rusa in the middle of the 11th century: “On
Boyan in Rous, gr (i) vna, on Zhitob (o) ud in Rous 13 koun and gr (i)
vna truth ...”. Not much younger - the last quarter of the 11th century
- and the oldest birch bark found in Ruse itself (fragment of the debt
list, No. 13).
According to the studied monuments, archaeologist
G.S. Lebedev dated the emergence of Staraya Russa at the turn of the
10th-11th centuries[24]. At present, well-known archaeological sources
make it possible to date the time of the emergence of Staraya Russa to
the end of the 10th - beginning of the 11th century. At the present
stage of the archaeological study of the ancient center of the Southern
Priilmenye, not only the question of the time of the emergence of
Staraya Russa remains unresolved, but also regarding the localization of
the ancient settlement, the nature of the fortifications and the
topography of the city. Archaeological excavations at the Pyatnitsky-I
excavation testify to the settlement of this site in the 11th century.
In the 11th century, the center of Staraya Russa was located near the
main gates of the resort, close to open mineral springs, at the
intersection of modern Mineralnaya and Svarog streets. Artifacts from
the 11th century were also found on Cathedral Square.
Participants of the III All-Russian Archaeological Congress (Staraya
Russa, October 24-29, 2011) within the framework of the "round table"
supported the petition of the administration of the Staraya Russa
municipal district and the city of Staraya Russa to the administration
of the Novgorod region and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian
Federation on the celebration of the 1000th anniversary of the history
of Staraya Russa in 2015. On May 31, 2012, the Governor of the Novgorod
Region, S. G. Mitin, addressed the President of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, Academician Yu.
Until the first mention in the annals in 1167, the history of the
city can only be judged by archaeological data. According to the
materials of the excavations, Rusa in the 11th-12th centuries had
regularly updated wooden pavements and a developed urban culture. The
townspeople were actively engaged in salt production, trade and crafts.
From the end of the 12th century, chronicles began to regularly
report on events related to the city. In 1192, the future Archbishop of
Novgorod, hegumen Martiry, founded the Transfiguration Monastery. In
1194 the city experienced a great fire. In 1198, the first stone church,
the Transfiguration Cathedral, was laid.
In 1199-1201 city
fortifications were built in Ruse. In 1234, during a raid, the
Lithuanian army penetrated the city, but the combined forces of the
townspeople, merchants, gridi and firemen repulsed the attack.
In
1456, Moscow troops during the Moscow-Novgorod war captured the city and
defeated the Novgorod army, which was trying to liberate Rusa (the
battle near Rusa), after which Novgorod made concessions and the
Yazhelbitsky peace was concluded.
In March 1471, the city was
sacked by the Slutsk prince Mikhail Olelkovich. In the same year, during
the campaign of Dmitry Kholmsky and Fyodor the Khromy, Rusa was captured
and burned by Moscow troops.
1478 - Rusa, together with all the Novgorod lands, is part of the
Moscow principality after the campaigns of the great Moscow prince Ivan
III.
In 1565, Ivan the Terrible singled out Staraya Rusa as part
of the oprichnina lands, which saved her from the oprichnina terror. The
rich salt mines remained the basis of the city's economy.
In the
last quarter of the 16th century, the city entered a long period of
decline. In February 1581, during the Livonian War, it was captured and
almost completely burned by the Polish-Lithuanian troops, who also
ravaged its surroundings.
In the autumn of 1608, Staraya Russa
was captured by the detachments of False Dmitry II, but in the spring of
1609, during a campaign against Moscow, a Russian-Swedish detachment
under the command of Fyodor Chulkov and Evert Gorn recaptured Rusa from
the Tushins.
In 1611, the city, together with Novgorod and the
adjacent territory, fell into the zone of Swedish occupation. By the
time of the return of Staraya Russa, among other lands, under the
Stolbovsky peace treaty in 1617, the city was completely ruined and
there were only 38 inhabitants in it.
In 1693, 21-year-old Peter I, with the permission of his mother, went
to Arkhangelsk and on the way stopped in Staraya Rusa. He ordered to
find ways to develop Starorussky salt-making. The second time he visited
the city was already the emperor in 1724.
When the Russian Empire
was divided into provinces in 1708, the city became part of the
Ingermanland (from 1710 - St. Petersburg) province. Since 1719 - as part
of the Novgorod province, since 1727 - as part of the province of the
same name in the Novgorod province.
In 1763, a fire broke out in
Staraya Rusa, which destroyed all wooden buildings, after which the city
was built up according to a regular plan on the right bank of the Polist
River.
On February 15, 1776, Staraya Russa was granted a coat of
arms, and it was declared a county town.
In 1785, a balneo-mud
resort was founded in the city.
In the first third of the 19th
century, "Red Barracks" were built in Staraya Rusa to accommodate
troops. Since 1864, the Wilmanstrand 86th Infantry Regiment was
quartered in them. In the second half of the 20th century, the former
barracks were occupied by an instrument-making plant, which is now
called Staroruspribor.
In 1831, a bloody cholera riot took place
in Staraya Rusa.
In 1878, a railway connection was opened with
the city.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the city began to
be called Staraya Russa (with a double "s").
After the October events of 1917 in Petrograd in Staraya Russa,
Soviet power was established on November 3–5, 1917.
During the
Civil War, from February 24 to July 1919, the headquarters of the
Western Front of the Red Army was located in Staraya Russa at the
resort.
On August 1, 1927, Staraya Russa became part of the
Novgorod District of the Leningrad Region, becoming the administrative
center of the newly formed Starorussky District (July 23, 1930, the
division into districts in the USSR was abolished).
By the decree
of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of September 19,
1939, Staraya Russa became a city of regional subordination
During the Great Patriotic War from August 9, 1941 to February 18,
1944, Staraya Russa was occupied by German troops. The city was not far
from the front line and was heavily damaged. Soviet troops repeatedly
tried unsuccessfully to capture Staraya Russa by February 23, 1942.
Later there was also an unsuccessful Starorusskaya operation in March
and August 1943.
On February 18, 1944, Staraya Russa was
liberated by the troops of the 1st Shock Army of the 2nd Baltic Front
during the Staraya Russian-Novorzhevskaya offensive operation. By the
time of liberation, not a single inhabitant remained in the destroyed
city; by the end of 1944 there were 5,000 of them.
By Decree of
the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated July 5, 1944, the
city of Staraya Russa and the entire Starorussky district were included
in the newly formed Novgorod region.
February 16, 1984 the city
of Staraya Russa was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, I degree.
On April 6, 2015, by decree of the President of Russia, Staraya Russa
was awarded the honorary title - City of Military Glory. In the same
year, solemn events were held to coincide with the celebration of the
1000th anniversary of the city. Among the participants in the festive
ceremonies is the "Head of the Russian Imperial House" Grand Duchess
Maria Vladimirovna, who visited Staraya Russa on June 9-10, 2015.
In January 2019, the city of Staraya Russa applied to be included in
the Hanseatic League of Modern Times.