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Velikiy Novgorod () is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia. It is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. "Novgorod" is the Russian word for "new city", whereas "Velikiy" means "the Great". The administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, the city lies along the Volkhov River just below its outflow from Lake Ilmen. Population: 216,856 (2002 Census); geographical location:

History

In 882, Rurik's successor, Oleg of Novgorod, captured Kiev and founded the state of Kievan Rus. In that state Novgorod was the second city in importance. According to a custom, the elder son and heir of the ruling Kievan monarch was sent to rule Novgorod even as a minor. When the ruling monarch had no such son, Novgorod was governed by the posadniks, such as legendary Gostomysl, Dobrynya, Konstantin, and Ostromir. In Norse sagas the city is mentioned as the capital of Gardariki (i.e., the East Slavic lands). Four Viking kings — Olav I of Norway, Olav II of Norway, Magnus I of Norway, and Harald Haardraade — sought refuge in Novgorod from enemies at home.

In 1136, Novgorod merchants and boyars seceded from Kiev, banished their prince and proclaimed the Novgorod Republic. The powerful city state controlled most of Europe's North-East, from today's Estonia to the Ural Mountains. The most important figure in Novgorod was the Posadnik, an official elected by the popular assembly (called Veche) from the city's aristocracy. The Novgorod court was formally presided over by the Prince (also elected by the Veche), but his verdicts had to be confirmed by the Posadnik to become binding. In the 13th century, the city joined Hanseatic League.

Throughout the Middle Ages, the city thrived culturally. Most of the population was literate and used birch bark letters for communication. When Paris and London were drowning in mud, Novgorod was praised by foreigners for its paved embankments and clean streets. Some of the most ancient Russian chronicles were written in the city. The Novgorod merchant Sadko became a popular hero of Russian folklore.

The city's downfall was a result of its inability to feed its large population, making it dependent on the Vladimir-Suzdal region for grain. The main cities in this area, Moscow and Tver, used this dependence to gain control over Novgorod. Eventually Ivan III annexed the city to Muscovy in 1478. Novgorod remained the third largest Russian city, however, until Ivan the Terrible sacked the city and slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants in 1570.

During the Ingrian War, Novgorod was captured by Swedish troops led by Jacob De la Gardie in summer of 1611, and restituted to Russia only in 1617 by the Treaty of Stolbovo.

In 1727, Novgorod was made an administrative centre of the Novgorod Governorate of the Russian Empire, which was detached from Saint Petersburg Governorate (see Administrative divisions of Russia in 1727-1728). This administrative division has existed until 1927. Between 1927 and 1944 the city has been a part of Leningrad Oblast, and then became an administrative center of the newly formed Novgorod Oblast.

During the Second World War, on August 15, 1941 the city was occupied by the Nazi army. Its historic monuments were systematically annihilated. When the Red Army liberated the city on January 19, 1944, out of 2536 stone buildings less than 40 were still standing. After the WWII, the downtown has been gradually restored. Its chief monuments are declared the World Heritage Site. In 1998, the city was officially renamed Velikiy Novgorod, thus partly reverting to its medieval title "Lord Novgorod the Great".

Sights

No other Russian or Ukrainian city may compete with Novgorod in the variety and age of its medieval monuments. The foremost among these is the St Sophia Cathedral, built in the 1040s at the behest of Yaroslav the Wise. It is the best preserved of 11th century churches, and the first one to represent original features of Russian architecture (austere stone walls, five helmet-like cupolas). Its frescoes were painted in the 12th century and renovated in the 1860s. The cathedral features famous bronze gates, made in Magdeburg in 1156 and reportedly snatched by Novgorodians from the Swedish capital Sigtuna in 1187.

Novgorod kremlin, traditionally known as Detinets, also contains the oldest palace in Russia (the so-called Chamber of the Facets, 1433), the oldest Russian bell tower (mid-15th cent.), and the oldest Russian clock tower (1673). Among later structures, the most remarkable are a royal palace (1771) and a bronze monument to the Millennium of Russia, representing the most important figures from the country's history (unveiled in 1862).

Outside kremlin walls, there are three cathedrals constructed during the reign of Mstislav the Great, the last monarch of united Rus. Nikolo-dvorischensky.jpg (1113-23), containing frescoes of Mstislav's family, graces Yaroslav's Court (formerly the chief square of Novgorod Republic). The Yuriev Monastery (probably the oldest in Russia, 1030) contains a gloomy Romanesque cathedral from 1119. A similar three-domed cathedral (1117), probably designed by the same masters, stands in the Antoniev Monastery.

In the 13th century, there was a vogue for tiny churches of three-paddled design. These are represented by a small chapel in Peryn (1230s) and St Nicholas' on the Lipnya Islet (1292, also notable for its 14th-century frescoes). The next century saw development of two original church designs, one of them culminating in St Theodor's church (1360-61, fine frescoes from 1380s), and another one leading to the Saviour church on Ilyina street (1374, painted in 1378 by Feofan Grek). The Saviour' church in Kovalevo (1345) admittedly reflects Serban influence.

During the last century of republican government, some new temples were consecrated to Sts Peter and Paul (on Slavna, 1367; in Kozhevniki, 1406), to Christ's Nativity (at the Cemetery, 1387), to St John the Apostle's (1384), to the Holy Apostles (1455), to St Demetrius (1467), to St Simeon (1462), and other saints. Generally, they are not thought so innovative as the churches from the previous epoch. Several 12th-century shrines (i.e., in Opoki) were demolished brick by brick and then reconstructed exactly as they used to be.

Novgorod's conquest by Ivan III in 1478 decisively changed the character of local architecture. Large commissions were thenceforth executed by Muscovite masters and patterned after cathedrals of Moscow Kremlin: e.g., the Saviour Cathedral of Khutyn Monastery (1515), the Cathedral of the Sign (1688), the Nicholas Cathedral of Vyaschizhy Monastery (1685). Nevertheless, some parochial churches were still styled in keeping with traditions of local art: e.g., the churches of Holy Wives (1510) and of Sts Boris and Gleb (1586).

In the village of Vitoslavlitsy, on the road from Novgorod to the Yuriev Monastery, a museum of ancient wooden art was established. Many wooden churches, houses and mills, some of the dating to the 14th century, were transported there from all around the Novgorod region.

Transportation

The city's airports Yurievo and Krechevitsy do not serve any regular flights since the middle 1990s. The nearest international airport is St. Petersburg's Pulkovo, some 180 km north of the city.

Sister cities

• Strasbourg, France
• Rochester, New York, USA
• Bielefeld, Germany
• Watford, UK
• Zibo, China

See also

• Novgorod Republic
• Old Novgorod dialect
• Birch bark documents

References

• Yanin. The Archaeology of Novgorod, by Valentin L. Yanin, in Ancient Cities, Special Issue, (Scientific American), pg 120-127, c 1994. Covers, History, Kremlin of Novgorod, Novgorod Museum of History, preservation dynamics of the soils, and the production of Birch bark documents.