Location: 8 km (5 mi) North of Volkhov, Leningrad oblast Map
Constructed: 753
Alternative names: Norse- Aldeigjuborg, Finnish- Vanha Laatokka
Staraya Ladoga is located 8 km (5 mi) North of Volkhov in Leningrad Oblast in Russia. The castle was found in 753. This multiethnic settlement was a major trading post between North Europe with the Caspian basin via Volga river and Byzantium. The latter route became known as Track Route from the Varangians to the Greeks. It is not surprising that coins from different regions were found including oldest Arab coin in Europe.
1 Old Ladoga Fortress. in summer Mon–Sun
10:00–18:00, in winter one hour shorter, check the website for
details. a single ticket for all expositions 200 rubles. The
fortress is located on a cape at the confluence of the Elena
(Ladozhka) river into the Volkhov.
2 Church of St.
George Wikidata element, on the territory of the fortress. Church
of the 12th century. The main attraction of St. George's Church is
the frescoes of the 12th century preserved inside, with a total area
of up to 100 sq.m. To be able to see them, you should come in warm,
dry, clear weather. The preservation of frescoes requires
maintaining a strict regime of temperature and humidity in the room;
even in the event of a short rain, the church can be closed for
inspection and you will have to wait for the opening for several
hours, sometimes unsuccessfully. If you are lucky, you can see on
the altar wall of the temple a unique example of the ancient
Byzantine version of the Miracle of George. St. George is depicted
without a spear, calm and beautiful, and the snake tamed by the
power of prayer obediently walks on a leash after the saved daughter
of the king. In later versions, a spear aimed at a snake appears in
the hands of George, and the calm face of the saint and the
pointedly thin shaft of the spear reflect the spiritual aspect of
victory over evil.
3 Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica, on the
territory of the fortress. Wooden church of the 17th century
4 Earth settlement.
5 Monument to Oleg and Rurik, st.
Varangian.
6 Assumption Monastery, Uspensky Lane, 1-17. Free
admission.
7 Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God, on
the territory of the Assumption Monastery.
8 Nikolsky Monastery,
Nikolskaya street, 16.
9 Church of the Nativity of John the
Baptist on Malysheva Hill , Pozemskaya Street, 37.
12 Church of
Alexy the Man of God, in the city cemetery (Mebelny Lane).
North of the village
10 Tomb of Prophetic Oleg.
11
Tanechkinka cave.
The Neolithic site on the territory of the village
dates back to the 3rd millennium BC.
After drilling in Zemlyanoy
gorodishche, under a four-meter-thick cultural layer, a thin peat bog
and deposits of the Ladoga transgression were revealed. About 2000 years
ago, the water level in Volkhov dropped below ten meters of absolute
height. The territory of the future Staraya Ladoga became suitable for
settlement after a further decrease in the water level no earlier than
the middle of the 1st millennium.
Under the Zemlyanoy settlement,
the surface was plowed at excavation 4 no later than or somewhat earlier
than the 6th century, and at excavation 3 - starting from the second
half of the 7th century - the first half of the 8th century. The
agriculture of the first Ladoga residents is confirmed by the finds of
grains of wheat, rye, barley, millet and hemp. Presumably, the crest of
the Merovingian era, found in Staraya Ladoga in 2013, dates back to the
7th century. A rudimentary Slavic settlement could have arisen at
Zemlyanoy settlement around the year 700 or even earlier. Stucco
profiled ceramics of the “Ladoga type” with a clearly defined fracture,
often a rib in the upper third of the vessel, initially appeared from
the middle of the 8th century.
In the first half of the 750s, in
the lower reaches of the Volkhov, 2 km south of the Lyubsha fortress,
founded by representatives of the original West Slavic culture of
Central European origin, a Scandinavian (according to E. A. Ryabinin -
Gotlandic) settlement appeared. At Zemlyanoy Gorodishte, three dwellings
of a frame-and-pillar structure (the so-called “big houses”) with a
hearth in the center have analogies in Northern Europe. The oldest
dendrodata is 753 (tier I).
In the 760s (II tier), the life of
the Scandinavian colony ends. The settlement is occupied by those who
came from the more southern regions of Eastern Europe (the Dnieper Left
Bank or the Dniester region, the Danube region, the upper reaches of the
Dnieper, the Western Dvina or the Volga) representatives of the early
Slavic culture, similar to the Prague, Penkovsky or Kolochinsky
cultures. The lack of continuity between the first inhabitants of Ladoga
and the subsequent population, which had other cultural traditions, was
noted - the settlement of the Slavs was built up with log houses. In
Ladoga, as well as in other places in the north-west of Rus' (Izborsk,
Kamno, Ryug, Pskov), in the 8th-9th centuries, limestone casting molds
became widespread as a result of the revival of fashion for such
decorations, developed in the Prague culture of the early Slavs at the
turn of the 6th —VII centuries. The first archaic early city settlement
was located around the harbor formed by several river branches of
Ladozhka-Helena (now disappeared) and had no fortifications from the
middle of the 8th century to the middle of the 9th century.
Characteristics of the materials of the lower tiers of the Earthen
settlement shows that Ladoga in the first decades of its existence was
not and could not be a large specialized trade and craft center. The
area of the Staraya Ladoga settlement at that time did not exceed 2-4
hectares. Judging by the data obtained during the excavations of the
Zemlyanoy settlement (I and II tiers), the emergence of the tradition of
making jewelry from tin alloys is associated with the Slavic
colonization of the north of the forest zone of Eastern Europe in the
middle - third quarter of the 8th century. During excavations, a whole
industrial complex was discovered in the layers of the 8th century.
During this period, the settlement is already trading with local tribes.
Wheat grains were found in a burnt-out barn from the layers of the 8th
century: 80% is two-grain wheat (spelt), 20% is soft wheat. Spelled was
never grown in Scandinavia, besides, the Old Ladoga spelled differs
sharply from the European one, but is morphologically close to the Volga
spelled.
Since the 780s, beads have been brewed in Ladoga using
Arab low-temperature technology. "Eyes", that is, eye beads. For them,
the Varangians bought furs, which they then exported along the Volga
route to Baghdad [a] and sold for silver dirhams. The oldest hoard of
dirhams found in Ladoga dates back to 786, and some coins were minted in
738-739. An Arab traveler of the 10th century claimed that one glass
"peephole" could buy a slave or a slave. In the second half of the 8th -
early 9th centuries, the population of Ladoga ranged from a few dozen to
100 people. The population, who in the 8th-9th centuries built small
buildings with a stove-heater on U-shaped furnaces in the corner, was
related to the bearers of the culture of the Smolensk-Polotsk long
barrows. The glass workshop, which operated from the 780s to the end of
the 830s, is associated with a “small” log house with a stove-heater in
the corner.
Judging by the available data on the diversity and
scope of ties, Ladoga was on a par with such trade and craft centers in
Scandinavia and the Baltic as Hedeby and Ribe in Jutland, Kaupang in
southern Norway, Paviken in Gotland, Birka in Sweden, Ralsvik on the
island of Rügen ( Germany), Wolin in Poland and others in the south of
the Baltic.
As archaeological evidence shows, the majority of
Ladoga residents were engaged not in trade, but in agriculture and
crafts.
The lower part of the XI tier is assigned in the summary
chronological table of S. L. Kuzmin to the E3 / 1 horizon (about 810 -
about 840). In Ladoga, in the horizon of 810–840, rounded plate pendants
with a stamped decoration were found, the parallels of which are known
in the burial ground of the Smolensk long barrows culture in Elenovo, in
the Upper and Middle Dnieper region, in the Pastyrsky settlement and in
the burial ground of the Merovingian time in Straubing (Bavaria). This
settlement existed until the end of the 830s and was captured by the
Vikings.
From horizon E2 (ca. 840-ca. 865[30]) a casting mold of
a two-horned pendant in the form of a pelt (840-855) is known. Similar
ornaments originate from Great Moravia and have also been found in
Chernigov, on the Prince's Hill near Kiev, in Galicia, in Slovakia and
Bulgaria. In horizon E2 (second quarter of the 9th century), a lunar
temporal ring of the Arefin type was discovered. In Staraya Ladoga, a
mold for casting lead-tin jewelry with negatives of early trapeziums
with a wide base from the collection of random finds (no. KP
7834/A-5989), rosettes, a round convex plaque, a strokes along the edge.
From horizon E2 (No. L-1843) there is a mold with images of a
three-horned lunar with imitation of clusters of granules at the ends,
found in the construction tier V (840s-860s).
Around 840, the
settlement suffered a catastrophe as a result of an enemy invasion, it
perishes in a fire. In the period around 840 - around 865, a significant
part of the settlement turns into a wasteland. The other part is rebuilt
in the Scandinavian traditions of the northern European halle. The
Norman population brings their own traditions (Thor's hammers, etc.).
Glass production is not being restored. In the northern part of the
excavation by V. I. Ravdonikas, a “large” house of a frame-pillar
structure with a hearth on the central axis appears, with which the find
of a stick with a runic text is associated. Two large houses are also
being built, combining Northern and Eastern European traditions in their
design and interior. These houses are associated with "small" log houses
with a stove-heater in the corner. Buildings on the fifth tier are
characterized by finds of objects of the male subculture: checkers,
fragments of the lining of a playing board, cult objects, and a large
number of wooden toy swords.
After a total fire recorded at the
junction of the Ladoga horizons E2-E1, which occurred around 860, for
about a decade, the flow of silver to the island of Gotland and Sweden
was interrupted. Stages VII–X were attributed by S.L. Kuzmin to horizon
E1 (circa 865–920s). Between 863 and 871 years (about 865) the
settlement is completely destroyed. Among the finds of this period
(865-890) there are both things from the northern European circle of
antiquities of the Viking Age, and objects from the circle of
antiquities of the forest zone of Eastern Europe. It can be confidently
stated that at that time different ethno-cultural groups lived in
Ladoga, among which the Scandinavians clearly stand out.
Approximately in the 870s, in Staraya Ladoga, at the confluence of the
Ladoga River with the Volkhov, according to the assumption of A. N.
Kirpichnikov, the first wooden fortress was built. The remains of a
bronze casting workshop were found in the layers of the last quarter of
the 9th century. According to dendrochronology, in 881 the so-called
“big house” (merchant’s hotel) was built, this house (like a number of
other similar houses) is not a “big house” in the northern European and
Scandinavian sense, it’s just a manor larger than all the others, which
is one one of the first such buildings, typical of the entire ancient
Novgorod land.
From the beginning of the 870s, the flow of silver
from Eastern Europe to Scandinavia was steady and uniform, while until
the end of the 10th century there was no information about Scandinavian
attacks on Ladoga.
The building density of the Earthen settlement
at the level of the VIth tier (about 865–890) and the VIIth (890–920)
tier is significantly lower than in previous decades.
Cast belt
plaques, temporal rings, and trapezoid pendants carved from a thin sheet
of metal were found in the layers of the Zemlyanoy settlement of the
early 870s - late 890s, which suggests a long-term presence in Ladoga in
the second half of the 1st millennium of Slavs from the forest and
forest-steppe zones of Eastern Europe. Around the year 894, a
large-sized, possibly two-story structure was erected on the site of E.
A. Ryabinin's raspop. The “house of 894” was replaced by a mansion
complex, located at an angle to ordinary buildings, grouped into “nests”
of 3-4 “small” dwellings and two or three outbuildings-cages.
The
cultural layer of the site, which is located on the western outskirts of
the settlement, opposite the Zemlyanoy Gorodishche, dates back to the
end of the 9th - beginning of the 10th century.
At the turn of
the 9th-10th centuries, when the Lyubsha fortress was no longer
functioning, a stone fortress was erected in Ladoga instead of wooden
fortifications, similar to the Western European defensive structures of
that time. The walls of the fortress were built without the use of lime
mortar. The entrance to the original fortress was from the side of the
river near the Rolling Tower. In the first half of the 10th century, a
limestone defensive wall with vertical wooden supports was built along
the edge of the cape. The entrance to the fortress was located from the
side of the river in the XII century. The total size of the Old Russian
settlement in the 10th century was no more than 6-8 hectares.
The
calling of the Varangians
In some lists of The Tale of Bygone Years
(in particular, in the Ipatiev of the 15th century), it is Ladoga, and
not Novgorod, that is named the place where the Varangian Rurik was
called to reign in 862:
... and having come to the first word · and
cut down the city of Ladoga and the elder Rurik in Ladoz ...
Although in other versions of the story it is said that he sat down to
reign in Novgorod. From here came the version that Ladoga was the first
capital of Rus' (more precisely, the place of Rurik's reign from 862 to
864). Archaeological research conducted in Staraya Ladoga (headed by A.
N. Kirpichnikov) proves close contacts between the Ilmen Slovenes,
Finno-Ugric tribes and Normans (Urmans) in this area in the 9th-10th
centuries.
On Varyazhskaya Street, in the layers of the first
quarter of the 10th century, fragments of ceramics with chandelier
painting were found, belonging to the earliest (Mesopotamian (Samarr))
stage of the production of this Middle Eastern dishware.
In the
layers of the 10th century, a birch bark scroll depicting a boat was
discovered.
Pottery appeared in Ladoga in the second quarter of
the 10th century. In the 920s, the entire site of Zemlyanoy Gorodishche
(VIII tier) was quickly built up, the buildings on Varyazhskaya Street
became denser, ceramics made on the potter's wheel appeared and rapidly
spread. The decisive stage in the formation of Old Russian culture in
Ladoga was reflected in the materials of the VIII-XI tiers (horizon D)
of the Earthen settlement and in the synchronous layers of Varyazhskaya
Street (920-990). Around the year 950, a fire broke out in Ladoga, which
destroyed the buildings of the VIII tier. It covered both a section of
Zemlyanoy Gorodishche and part of Varyazhskaya Street. Perhaps the fire
is connected with the campaign of Princess Olga. There are no cardinal
changes in the building after the fire.
According to the Novgorod
Chronicle, the tomb of the Prophetic Oleg is located in Ladoga
(according to the Kievan version, his grave is located in Kyiv on Mount
Schekavitse).
In 997, Eirik, the future Norwegian ruler, attacked
Ladoga. The first Ladoga stone fortress, which had existed for over 100
years, was destroyed.
Ladoga was an important point on the
so-called route "from the Varangians to the Greeks."
There is a
mention in the sagas that when the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf
Schötkonung, Princess Ingigerda, married the Novgorod prince Yaroslav
the Wise in 1019, she received the city of Aldeygyuborg (Staraya Ladoga)
with the adjacent lands, which have since received the name
Ingermanlandia, as a dowry (veno). (the lands of Ingegerda), and
Rögnvald Ulvsson, the jarl of Västergötland (Ingegerda's relative on the
maternal side) was appointed posadnik (jarl) of Ladoga (The Saga of
Eymund). Ulf (Uleb) and Eiliv are the sons of Rognvald. According to
Scandinavian sources, Eiliv became a jarl (posadnik) in Ladoga after the
death of his father, and Uleb is mentioned in the annals under 1032 as a
Novgorod governor.
Early burials of the 9th-10th centuries in the Plakun tract, located on the opposite bank of the Volkhov, opposite the Ladoga settlement, consist only of cremations. Only one craniological series from Plakun from the 11th century cemetery is known, which can be attributed to the Germans. In Ladoga, the only collection of skeletons of the early Middle Ages available for morphological and genetic research was excavated in 1938-1939 by V. I. Ravdonikas and G. P. Grozdilov at the Zemlyanoy settlement. All burials in the cemetery were made in graves without burial mounds in accordance with Christian tradition. The skeletons lay on their backs with their heads to the west. According to the stratigraphy, Ravdonikas proposed two periods of the cemetery functioning - XI-XII and XVII-XVIII centuries. Several burials from the lower horizon have been radiocarbon dated to 880-1188. According to the analysis for the content of strontium, the burials differ from the local fauna. The collection of skeletons from the early graves of Staraya Ladoga, stored in the Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography named after Peter I (Kunstkamera), has 65 people. Craniometric studies show that the skulls of people from the southern part of the cemetery are morphologically close to the Viking Age series from Scandinavia, while the northern part of the cemetery possibly belongs to a mixed Slavic, Finnish and Scandinavian population. According to craniometric features, anthropologists have revealed a morphological similarity of the Ladoga residents with material from 5 Liv burial grounds located in the basins of the Gauja and Daugava rivers and from the Siksali burial ground in southeastern Estonia. The supposed similarity of those buried at the Zemlyanoy settlement and in the Shestovits mounds is not confirmed by the Student's t-test. The ethnic affiliation of medieval population groups cannot be determined by anthropological methods. The craniological series of the 11th-12th centuries, including 47 skulls, was called "Staraya Ladoga". It was studied by V. V. Sedov in the 1950s. T. I. Alekseeva (1969, 1973) found analogies in this group in the Iron Age series from the Scandinavian countries, which distinguishes it from all East Slavic series. Among the inhabitants of Staraya Ladoga of the 10th-12th centuries, paleogeneticists identified Y-chromosome haplogroups I (n=1), I1 (n=4), I1a1 (n=1), I1a1b1 (n=2), T1a1a-L208/Page2 (n= 1), R1a1a1b1a3a-Z284>R1a-YP1370>R1a-Y69949 (n=1, sample VK18, coverage 0.773×, mito: H1b1), R1b1a1b1a1a2c (n=1) and mitochondrial haplogroups H1b1, H5, H5a1, H6c, J1c, J1c1a, J1b1a1, J2b1a, K1d, T2b, T2b6a, U4a1a, U5a2a1b, X2b4. Analysis of the values of strontium isotopes in tooth enamel showed that at least five of the buried were not local. A similar isotopic composition was recorded in the region of Lake Mälaren on the east coast of Sweden.
In 1116, the Ladoga posadnik Pavel laid a stone
fortress:
In summer 6624
[…]
The same summer, Pavel, the mayor
of Ladosky, lay the city of stone in Ladoga
The Staraya Ladoga
Fortress, which has become the "heart" of today's Staraya Ladoga, stands
at the confluence of the Elena (Ladozhka) River into the Volkhov. It was
a strategically important place, because it was the only possible harbor
where sea vessels could stop, unable to sail along the rapids of the
Volkhov.
In 1142, "the prince of Svea and Biskup came in 60
augers" - the Swedes attacked Ladoga. In 1164, there was a new attack by
the Swedes on Ladoga. After an unsuccessful siege that lasted several
days, the Swedes retreated and were utterly defeated by the Novgorodians
in the battle on the Voronezhka River.
As a result of a change in
the system of urban land use, planning work and the construction of the
stone Cathedral of St. Clement in 1153, in the 11th-12th centuries, the
frequency of fires in Ladoga significantly decreased and the area of
ruderal habitats (weeds) decreased.
From the 13th century
In
1228, the Finnish tribe Em attacked Ladoga, but was defeated by the
Novgorodians, Izhors and Korels.
In 1283, the Swedes besiege
Ladoga, exterminate Novgorod merchants who are heading to Obonezhie.
In 1499, Ladoga, according to the scribe book of the Vodskaya
Pyatina, consisted of a fortress and a settlement, which, like Novgorod,
was divided into ends: Nikolsky, Bogoroditsky, Semyonovsky, Klimyatsky
and Spassky.
In 1568, according to the Vodskaya Pyatina scribe
book of 1568/1569, three ends were recorded: Bogoroditsky, Voskresensky
and Nikolsky (Scribal book. Separate settlements appear: Yamskaya,
Streletskaya, Pushkarskaya, Cossack, Podmonastyrskaya and Nikolskaya.
The total urban area could reach 16-18 ha.
After the end of the
Russian-Swedish war of 1590-1595, according to the Tyavzinsky peace,
Ladoga was recognized as belonging to Russia.
In 1610, Ladoga was
captured by the French mercenaries of Pierre Delaville, who were in
Swedish service, but a year later was released by the governor I. M.
Saltykov. According to the Stolbovsky peace, which ended the
Russian-Swedish war of 1613-1617, the Swedish Empire renounced its
claims to Ladoga.
New and modern times
In 1704, Peter I
founded Novaya Ladoga at the mouth of the Volkhov and renamed Ladoga
into "Staraya Ladoga", depriving it of the status of a city and the
right to have its own coat of arms, and ordered many Ladoga residents to
move to Novaya Ladoga to live. Prior to this event, Ladoga was the
center of the Ladoga district of the Vodskaya Pyatina of the Novgorod
Land.
In 1718, the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Lopukhina, was
transferred from Suzdal to the Staraya Ladoga Dormition Monastery.
In 1719, Staraya Ladoga became part of the Novgorod province (it was
formed as part of the St. Petersburg province).
In 1727, the
Staraya Ladoga district of the Novgorod province was included in the new
Novgorod province.
In 1770, the Staraya Ladoga district was
abolished.
In the 19th century, the village administratively
belonged to the Mikhailovskaya volost of the 1st camp of the
Novoladozhsky district of the St. Petersburg province, at the beginning
of the 20th century - the 2nd camp.
From 1917 to 1919, the
village of Staraya Ladoga was part of the Staroladoga village council of
the Mikhailovskaya volost of the Novoladozhsky district.
Since
April 1919, part of the Oktyabrskaya volost of the Volkhov district.
Since November 1919, the village of Staraya Ladoga was taken into
account by the regional administrative data as the village of Staraya
Ladoga.
Since 1927 - in the Volkhov region.
According to
the data of 1933, the village of Staraya Ladoga was the administrative
center of the Staraya Ladoga village council of the Volkhov district,
which included 17 settlements, the villages: Akhmatova Gora, Valeshi,
Zelenaya Dolina, Ivanovka, Kamenka, Kinderevo, Knyashchina, Lytkino,
Mestovka, Makinkina, Mezhumoshie, Nevazhi, Okulovo, Podol,
Podmonastyrskaya Sloboda, Staraya Ladoga, Trusovo, with a total
population of 2312 people.
According to the data of 1936, the
Staraya Ladoga village council with the center in the village of Staraya
Ladoga included 15 settlements, 410 farms and 13 collective farms.
In 1961, the population of Staraya Ladoga was 1059 people.
According to the administrative data of 1973, the central estate of the
Volkhovsky state farm was located in the village.
According to
1990 data, 2155 people lived in the village, the village was the
administrative center of the Staraya Ladoga village council, which
included 27 settlements, with a total population of 3891 people.
In 1997, 2457 people lived in the village, in 2002 - 2182 people
(Russians - 95%).
In 2003, the celebration of the 1250th
anniversary of Staraya Ladoga as the "ancient capital of Northern Rus'"
was widely held, which was covered by the press and attracted the
attention of the authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a
decree on the preparation and holding of the anniversary and visited
Staraya Ladoga twice.
By train
The closest station is in Volkhov
(Volkhovstroy-1). From Saint Petersburg, you can get there by train,
express train or by elektrichka (suburban train) from Ladogsky
Station. Some elektrichkas (not express ones) also start for
Volkhovstroy from Moskovsky station.
Sitting or obshchiy
seats in passazhirskiy train class will be best by price/comfort
combination, however you may not have such luck, because there just
may not be trains with such seats. As of 2011, there were no trains
with sitting/obshchiy seats to Volkhov at all. Platzkart seats,
while comfortable, are above 400 rubles in passazhirskiy trains and
above 600 rubles in firmenniy trains while suburban train will cost
you only 200 rubles. Be aware however of possible discounts for some
trains when kupe may be cheaper than platzkart, even on firmenniy
trains. Both Ladogsky station and Volkhovstroy-1 station have
computer terminals with extensive information on timetables,
available seats and prices, however probably in Russian only.
Volkovstroy-1 station have two different terminals for long distance
and suburban trains, each in the corresponding booking office hall.
Consult timetable online as well. Trains reach Volkhovstroy-1 in 2
hours.
Timetable is also tricky: there's only 5 daily trains,
the only morning train being firmenniy "Arktika" Moskva - Murmansk
train (one of cosiest econom-class firmenniy trains in Russia),
start 08:59, arrive 11:18. Other trains are either summer, or run on
days only. In general, train is more convenient, if you plan to stay
overnight in Volkhov or Staraya Ladoga.
Trip by elektrichka
will take about 2.5 hours. Express trains are a bit confusing: they
are simple elektrichkas, reaching Volkhovstroy-1 making no
(Sankt-Peterburg - Babaevo, start 14:33, arrive 16:49, Fridays and
Sundays only) or 1 stop (Sankt-Peterburg - Svir', start 18:42,
arrive 20:42, daily, not marked as express). There's same somewhat
unsightly plastic seats as in other suburban trains in
Sankt-Peterburg region. However, express trains are good variant, if
you want to take a look at the Volkhov GES - first GES of the GOELRO
plan - from the train bridge across Volkhov river. Just took the
trains off on Volkhovstroy-2 station (next after Volkhovstroy-1),
and look right when crossing the river.
You can also reach
Volkhovstroy-1 station directly from Moscow by either "Arktika" or
"Kareliya" Moskva-Petrozavodsk (also cosy econom-class firmenniy
train), and unlike Moscow - Sankt-Petersburg overnights, you may
even get a nice sleep. "Kareliya", however, arrives to Volkhov early
at 4:49AM, you may find #23 bus soon after and enjoy dawn over
calmly moving Volkhov river in Staraya Ladoga before the services
will start to work.
A couple of trains from Murmansk to
Moscow or other destinations may also stop on Volhovstroy-2 station,
though mainly summer (and rather than or) on days and usually at
night.
By bus
From the Volkhovstroy-1 station in Volkhov,
catch the bus #23, marshrutka (actually also bus, but with fixed
price for the ride) #K-23, or bus #23A, which will get you there in
about 50 minutes, costing about 25 rubles (2009). The bus tends to
be well synced with the arrival times of the elektrichka from Saint
Petersburg (you can find synced buses in the timetable site,
referenced below). It's not terribly easy to tell when you have
arrived in Staraya Ladoga if you haven't been there before, so it's
best to ask a local to tell you when you have arrived: не подскажете
мне, пожалуйста, когда мы доедем до Старой Ладоги (nyeh
pod-SKAH-zhe-tyeh mnyeh, puh-ZHAHL-uh-stuh, kahg-DAH myh dо-ye-DEM
dah STAH-ruy LAH-duh-gee). You can also look in window for Staraya
Ladoga kremlin on the right side, on the way from Volkhov, it will
be in the middle of the village, the right stop will be right after
it.
From the Volkhovstroy-2 station you'll have to walk from the
station and cross the Volkhov river to catch on the #23 bus, as it
doesn't cross the river. You can catch it on either "Il'inskiy park"
stop (right beside the park after the bridge, 20 min on foot, the
stop is on the further side of road from side-shows), or
"Raiispolkom" (if you go by local #2 bus, first stop after the
bridge, the stop to Staraya Ladoga will be on the other side of the
street). You'd better find the time-table for the bus before trying
this route though, because the schedule is sparse with intervals up
to 2 hours, especially late in the evening, and may be not available
on the stops. You might also want to hitch ride on the bus with a
hand, especially if you see the bus or even better marshrutka
outside the stop. Alternatively just take #2 bus to Volkhovstroy-1
station where schedule is available (you may also take any seldom
other is this direction, however be aware, that bus #3 from
Volkhovstroy-2 takes a side root up the Volkhov river, passing the
GES, which is sightly, and #5 takes side root to Murmanskie Vorota,
which is not sightly and a bit long). Or ask locals when will be the
bus: Когда пойдёт 23-й автобус в Старую Ладогу? (kagh-DAH poi-DYOT
dvad-tsat-TRE-tiy av-TO-bus v STAH-ru-yu LAH-duh-gu?)
You may
try to go by bus from Sankt-Peterburg, though it may not be as
convinient. There are no direct buses to Staraya Ladoga; though some
schemes may be confusing, #877 bus to Boksitogorsk does not pass the
village, but go along right side of the Volkhov river via Babino.
Some buses reach Volkhov, but even there are more of them to the
stop "Yushkovo", which is on the cross of M18 and A115, which is
passed by #23 bus as well. The trip is slightly more than 2 hours to
Yushkovo, the bus may be crowdy and the road a bit bumpy after
crossing Neva. It's tricky to find where the #23 bus stop in
Yushkovo in the direction to Staraya Ladoga is, the stop is usually
inside the ring around the "Turist" kafe, closer to river, and might
be right the same, where you get out from the bus from
Sankt-Peterburg, but it might change. Look for signs - they may be
present, or ask locals Где останавливается 23й автобус в Старую
Ладогу (Hdeh ohs-tah-NAV-lee-vah-yeh-tsya dvad-tsat-TRE-tiy
av-TO-bus v STAH-ru-yu LAH-duh-guh?)
There used to be #800
bus Velikiy Novgorod - Petrozavodsk, which passed Staraya Ladoga,
but it has been cancelled. Last timetable was once a week, on
Sundays from Novgorod and on Saturdays from Petrozavodsk. The trip
was about 6 hours from Novgorod and about 7 hours from Petrozavodsk,
arriving to Staraya Ladoga somewhen around 16:00-17:00.
Semiupdated bus timetable can be found here. It contains local and
even town Volkhov buses, however last update was about summer 2010.
However is doesn't contain timetables for Staraya Ladoga and
Yushkovo stops, so, for timetable of #23 buses traveling to Volhov,
look in Novaya Ladoga (New Ladoga) section, add approximately 10-15
min for Yushkovo and about 25 min for Staraya Ladoga.
By car
Staraya Ladoga is on the A-115 between Volkhov and Novaya Ladoga,
which intersects with the M-18 from Saint Petersburg (120 km), 7 km
north of the village. Coming from Novgorod/Moscow, take the M-10
until turning right on the A-115. From Vologda, take the A-114 to
the M-18 towards Saint Petersburg, eventually making a left on
A-115.
By thumb
A115 is good for hitch-hiking, with
transit traffic from M10 to M18 to the north, though relatively
empty at night. Try hitching buses off duty - may be a good choice.
From Volkhov a good lighted position is right under the new
automobile bridge. From Yushkovo a position is good in daylight, but
somewhat limited in light at night.
Staraya
Ladoga is a small village and is easily covered on foot via
leisurely stroll. Locals often opt for bicycles, but there are no
rentals available.
Bus #23 actually makes three stops in the
village. First from Volkhov is not far from Nikolsky Monastery,
second, after Kremlin, in the small central square, the third right
near Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist (and greatest sight
of Volkhov river).
There are only 2 hotels in the village, and both are non-premium.
You can also stay in hotels in the neighboring cities of Volkhov and
Novaya Ladoga.
1 Hotel "Ladya", Sovetskaya st., 3. ☎ +7
(81363) 49555. Mini-hotel with 5 rooms, each with a bathroom, TV.
2 Staraya Ladoga Hotel, 6 Sovetskaya st. expensive. It occupies
part of a five-story residential building. There are rooms with
private facilities in the block and separate apartments (in the
hotel they are classified as two-room suites). There are a lot of
complaints about cleanliness and non-compliance with sanitary and
hygienic standards, however in 2015 the staff was completely
replaced - there are hopes that the situation will improve. It is
possible to order breakfast/food from the cafe "Drevnyaya Ladoga".
In the country
3 Abyrvalg hotel, Issad village,
Staroselskaya st., 1A. Double from 1500 rubles. Very small rooms in
wooden houses. There is a sauna, a cafe.
1 Cafe "Ancient Ladoga", Volkhovsky pr., 24. ☎ +7 (952)
364-888-3. Main dishes 100-200 rubles. It is located in a wooden,
slightly shabby house of the 19th century with an interior in the
old Russian style. For groups and on weekends they kindle a
fireplace, turn on folk music. Delicious homemade food, but without
any culinary delights, small portions. In any case, this is the best
that can be found in Staraya Ladoga.
2 Knyaz Rurik Restaurant,
Volkhovsky pr. Hot dishes: 200-400 rubles Prices are higher than in
other establishments in the area. Spacious room with a pleasant
interior and a varied menu. Food is an amateur: something is good,
something is worse. The main drawback is the service: employees are
trying in every possible way to evade work, running away and hiding
in utility rooms and smoking rooms, but if you managed to catch
someone, you can immediately regret it, because they are very harsh
in communication.
3 “Lyubava” shop-cafeteria, Volkhovsky avenue.
Whatever the name of the establishment says, it looks both outside
and inside like a rural bar. This is probably called a store,
because you can go in from the street to buy mineral water and
chocolates. Tourist groups often dine here, in between them you can
order food for the rest of the mortals. According to reviews,
sometimes they serve delicious food, but the appearance of the
institution makes you doubt it.
In 1708, the first archaeological excavations in Russia by Wilhelm
Tolle took place here, who unearthed several pagan graves and burial
mounds. In 1820, archaeologist Adam Charnotsky was excavating a mound
called "the tomb of Oleg the Prophet". The most significant contribution
in the 1880s was made by the archaeologist and historian N. E.
Brandenburg and V. V. Suslov, who unearthed a number of Ladoga hills and
destroyed temples. N. I. Repnikov was engaged in further systematic
excavations on Staraya Ladoga in 1909-1913 in the area of the Zemlyanoy
settlement.
During the Soviet period, excavations were resumed in
1938 by the expedition of the IIMK of the USSR Academy of Sciences led
by V. I. Ravdonikas. Archaeological research with his participation
continued until 1959. Since 1972, the expedition of the LOIA of the USSR
Academy of Sciences under the leadership of A. N. Kirpichnikov began
work in Staraya Ladoga. In 1998, a Byzantine lead seal of Leontius,
Metropolitan of Laodicea, was discovered at the Zemlyanoy settlement of
Ladoga. In addition, Scandinavian jewelry of the 8th century and Arab
dirhams of the 10th century were found.
In 2015, the expedition
of the Institute of the History of Material Culture (IIMK) of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, led by Vladimir Anatolyevich Lapshin,
discovered a treasure of 116 silver coins from the reign of Boris
Godunov on the territory of the Staraya Ladoga fortress.
The first image of Staraya Ladoga was an engraving by Adam Olearius,
who visited the city in 1634 as secretary of the embassy of Frederick
III to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Russian artists of the 19th-20th
centuries were attracted by Staraya Ladoga with its romantic views of
the banks of the ancient Volkhov, churches, monasteries and majestic
burial mounds. Not far from the village was the estate "Uspenskoe" by
Alexei Tomilov, which in the 19th century was a local center of culture.
Artists I. K. Aivazovsky, O. A. Kiprensky, A. O. Orlovsky, A. G.
Venetsianov, I. A. Ivanov and others have been here. In 1844, in the
village of Lopino, located opposite the fortress on the other side of
the Volkhov, V. M. Maksimov, a future academician of painting and an
itinerant artist, who painted pictures from the life and life of
peasants, was born into a peasant family. Here in 1911 he was buried.
In the summer of 1899, Nicholas Roerich painted sketches from nature
in Staraya Ladoga. “We climb a hillock,” Roerich wrote about his
impressions, “and before us is one of the best Russian landscapes.” V.
A. Serov, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev have been here. In 1924-1926,
A. N. Samokhvalov repeatedly visited Staraya Ladoga, participating in
the preparatory work for the restoration of St. George's Cathedral.
According to the artist, this experience taught him a lot, helped him
understand how the compositional fusion of images of monumental painting
and architectural forms "created the pathos of the polyphonic sound of
the whole complex of influencing elements." These trips also resulted in
the landscape Staraya Ladoga (1924) and the painting Fisherman's Family
(1926, Russian Museum).
In February 1945, by decision of the
Leningrad Executive Committee, the Rest House in Staraya Ladoga (the
former Shakhovsky estate, named after the last owner, Prince Nikolai
Ivanovich Shakhovsky (1851-1937), Privy Councilor, member of the State
Bank of Russia and his son, Vsevolod Nikolayevich (1874-1954), real
state councilor, the last minister of trade and industry (1915-1917) of
tsarist Russia, who emigrated to France in 1919). In 1946, repair and
construction work began, which stretched for 15 years.
Already
from the mid-1940s, Leningrad artists began to come to Staraya Ladoga.
For S. I. Osipov, G. A. Savinov, N. E. Timkov, A. N. Semyonov and other
masters, these places became a source of inspiration for many years. The
idea of inheriting the values of labor and culture will clearly sound in
their work, for which "the national past is not separated from the
present, but is an important part of it."
In the early 1960s,
after the renovation of the buildings of the old estate in the village
of Chernavino was completed, the Staraya Ladoga House of Artists began
to work constantly, becoming an important center of artistic life for
thirty years. Artists E. E. Moiseenko, A. N. Samokhvalov, V. F. Zagonek,
N. N. Baskakov, V. I. Ovchinnikov, V. V. Vatenin, I. I. Godlevsky, V. P.
Kranz , B. V. Korneev, M. A. Kozlovskaya, L. S. Yazgur, D. V. Belyaev,
V. A. Bazhenov, D. P. Buchkin, E. P. Zhukova, S. E. Zakharov, A M.
Semenov, T. K. Afonina, Z. N. Byzova, V. I. Borisov, I. M. Dobryakova,
N. N. Brandt, B. S. Ugarov, P. T. Fomin, V. I Reikhet, L. I. Vaishlya,
V. I. Vikulov, V. S. Saxon, D. I. Maevsky and many other Leningrad
painters and graphic artists, as well as artists from other regions of
Russia. In 1970-1980, the Staraya Ladoga House of Artists' Creativity
expanded, new buildings were built, which made it possible to use the
creative base in Staraya Ladoga year-round. The expenses for
accommodation, food, travel of artists were paid by the Art Fund. Works
written in Staraya Ladoga or based on materials collected here were
exhibited at the largest art exhibitions of the 1960-1980s, replenished
the collections of museums. In particular, they became the basis of an
extensive fund of paintings, drawings and sculptures of the museum of
the Staraya Ladoga reserve.
In the early 1990s, after the
liquidation of the Art Fund and due to lack of funds for the maintenance
of the House of Artists "Staraya Ladoga" first stopped accepting
artists, and then ceased to exist.