The walls of the Kremlin in Novgorod.
Lying roughly between Moscow and St Petersburg, the medieval UNESCO World Heritage Site of Velikiy Novgorod is Russia’s oldest city, crammed full of ancient monasteries, churches and monuments. Visiting Novgorod from St Petersburg gives an insight into historic Russian culture.
Key to the foundation of modern Russia and founded long before St Petersburg or Moscow, Novgorod was proclaimed the country’s first capital city by its Scandinavian ruler Prince Rurik way back in the ninth century, and his dynasty went on to rule the country for a further 750 years. Thanks to its position on the River Volkhov and the crossing of ancient trading routes uniting Europe with Asia, the city saw a great flowering of culture, literacy and teaching, and capitalizing on its geographical position, Novgorod also became the spiritual heart of the Russian Orthodox church. No other Russian city remains so historically complete as Novgorod does today.
First stop on any visit should be Novgorod’s Kremlin (originally known as the Detinets and almost as impressive as Moscow’s Kremlin), straddling the side of the river and today surrounded by the modern suburbs typical of 21st-century life but still protecting the ancient heart of the city. Built after Ivan the Great conquered Novgorod in 1478, the sturdy fortified bastions – the defensive arrow slits are still clearly visible – of the Gothic red-brick Kremlin are punctuated by nine defense towers. During Nazi occupation of Novgorod in World War II, the city was effectively on the front line of battle and the Kremlin was badly damaged. However it has been seamlessly renovated and somehow the architectural delights found inside its walls survived almost unscathed.
St Sofia’s Cathedral in Novgorod.
The lovely whitewashed cathedral of St Sofia stands behind the fortified walls of the Kremlin; the oldest place of worship in Russia was built in Byzantine style around 1050 at the behest of Prince Vladimir and is topped with extravagant gold and copper onion domes; originally its plain façades were covered with multicolored decoration. It houses the tombs of early Novgorod princes and its grandiose five-aisle interior is awash with frescoes and agleam with icons; the cathedral’s three ornately carved and gilded prayer gates also date back to the 12th century. The domes were badly damaged during the war and during the Communist regime, which fell in 1989, the cathedral was converted into a museum but it was handed back to the Orthodox church in 1991 and restored to something like its original splendor.
Also found within the great walls of the Kremlin is the ornate and grandiose bell-shaped Monument to the Russian Millennium, which was designed by the favored tsarist architect Mikhail Mikeshin to celebrate 1,000 years of Russian statehood in 1862 and was unveiled by Tsar Alexander II. The monument is adorned with figures from Russian history and crowned with an angel blessing a kneeling woman, who represents Russia worshipping God. One of Russia’s best collections of historical memorabilia is found at the excellent Novgorod State United Museum, also in the Kremlin and notable for its fine icon collection and rare Russian woodcarvings.
Appropriately enough for the center of Russian religion, there are several other Orthodox churches in Novgorod that form part of the UNESCO site, including the Cathedral of St Nicholas, the Church of the Nativity of Our Lady in St Anthony’s Monastery, and the 12th-century Church of Our Saviour-at-Ilino, which is smothered in works by the great fresco artist Theophanes the Great, who lived in the city between 1370 and 1395.
Across the great swathe of the River Volkhov, close to its source in Lake Ilmen and accessible by bridge, the much-restored St George’s (Yuriev in Russian) Cathedral and Monastery stands proudly under its new gold and blue domes. Ravaged during repeated battles in World War II and neglected under the Communist regime, it also was returned to the Orthodox church in 1991 and has flourished ever since.
Aside from its historical connections, Novgorod is a thoroughly modern city, with a choice of traditional restaurants and bars – thanks to its position on the Volkhov, fish is a specialty of the region – and many souvenir stores selling local gingerbread, kvas (a fermented alcoholic drink) and honey as well as intricate embroidery.
The post Visiting Novgorod from St Petersburg appeared first on Viator Russia.