eliky Novgorod (Novgorod the Great) one of the Russia's oldest and most beautiful cities, has played an important role
in the foundation of the Russian State. For several centuries it was a link between medieval Europe and Russia, and a center
for international integration and trade. The Hanseatic League of the medieval Hansa, a trade system that is considered to be
the prototype of the modern common European marketplace. The city is located in the North-West European part of Russia, 180 km
from St. Petersburg.
bout 50 of the most precious monuments of old Russian architecture, dating back to the period from 11th to 17th centuries,
have now become part of the living and changing modern urban landscape. Passing through the city, you can touch the
rough-plastered walls of the churches and see an ancient fresco. The history of the Novgorod churches, monasteries,
convents and fortifications includes many chapters — some of them are truly wondrous and some are tragic.
Main places of visit during a private tour
by the Veliky Novgorod
tart your exploration at the Novgorod Fortress (Kremlin) and them continue along the western or left bank of
the Volkhov River, Sophiyskaya Storona (Sophia Side), following with the right bank of the Volkhov River, Torgovaya Storona
(Market Side), and ending with the monuments in the environs of Veliky Novgorod.
he Kremlin is certainly the most striking landmark in Veliky Novgorod.
Referenced in the Chronicles since 1044, it was a religious, political, and cultural center of Novgorod Lands for centuries.
Kremlin ensemble includes the most renowned monuments:
the St. Sophia Cathedral (1045-50), the St. Sophia's Belfry (15th century), the Archbishop's Chamber (1433), the St. Andreas Stratilates Church
(15th-17th century), the St. Sergius of Radonezh Church (1463), the monument to the Millennium of Russia (1862), the State Museum of Arts and Culture.
he St. Sophia Cathedral is one of the oldest stone
buildings of Northern Russia. It has three apses — the apse became the most important external feature of all subsequent typical church architecture.
The central dome is a huge copy of the helmet of a warrior, capped by a bronze dove and a cross. (Legend says that Novgorod will remain in existence until the dove files away.)
At the west entrance is the Korsun bronze door, supposedly brought from Magdeburg as booty in the 12th century. It depicts scenes from the Old and
New Testaments, with Latin and Slavonic inscription. The murals are much later, having been painted over earlier ones in the 1830s.
The best frescoes are in the southern part of the Cathedral.
Opposite of the St. Sophia Cathedral is the central square of the Kremlin with the Millenary Monument (sculptor M. Mikeshin).
It is shaped like a bell and was erected in 1862 to commemorate 1,000 years of Russian history.
n the right (eastern) bank of the Volkhov,
the Torgovaya Storona (Merchant Quarter) began by the Great Bridge that connected it to the Kremlin. The original center of the quarter was the Yaroslav's Courtyard.
It is first described as a "court" in the chronicles of the 13th century, and it is knows that public meetings were held there.
The partly enclosed complex is dominated by the St. Nicholas Cathedral, built in 1113-36 in Kiev style, with three naves;
under its roof the remnants of the original four domes still exist. The graphic quality of its partially surviving murals is quite remarkable.
outh and southwest of St. Nicholas
are the churches of Zhen-Mironosits (Myrrh-Bearing Women) and St. Prokopius, both dating from the 16th century and built entirely of brick,
though the roof of the former is wood. Northwest from St. Nicholas Cathedral we see the two-level gate-house of the Gostiny Dvor (Market Hall), with its double archways;
its octagonal helmet-crowned tower dates from 1690s. One of the other churches of the Torg, the St. Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa (1207) is one of Novgorod's most original monuments,
though it was somewhat modified in the 16th century. The other church, the Uspensky (Assumption of Our Lady), has retained only the ground plan of the 12th-century original.
North of it the Church of St. George belongs to the 17th century with the exception of its lower walls which is part of the original 14th century stone buildings.
West from here the Church of St. John the Forerunner on Opoki (1127-30) was the headquarters was the headquarters of the "Ivanovskoye Sto" merchant guild,
housing its civil courts, and depository of the weights-and-measures officials. Entrance fee for merchants was 50 silver hryvnias - weight of one hryvnia silver in ancient Novgorod amounted 204 grams.
The church included a merchant court that heard litigation on various commercial issues. In 1453 on the order from Archbishop Euphemius II, the old church was rebuilt on the original foundation.
he important sights of Novgorod's environs are mostly on the Volkhov River. South of Veliky Novgorod, at the rise of the Volkhov River close to the Like Ilmen,
located the St. George (Yuriev) Monastery. It is one of Russia's oldest religious centers. It was founded in 1030 by a Russian prince, Yaroslav the Wise.
The monastery's major temple, St.George Cathedral (1119), is amazingly harmonious, it looks like neatly cut of a white stone. In the Cathedral, the fragments of fresco
painting of the 12th century can be seen.
pen-air Museum of Wooden Architecture "Vitoslavlitsy" founded in 1964, it occupies the area 33.4 hectares, washed from three sides by the Like Myachino and the Volkhov River.
Ancient wooden structures have been relocated here from all over the Novgorod region. Today it is one of the places beloved both by locals and by guests who come to see it.
