The first capital of Russia, a major trading post and another centre of Russian Orthodoxy - Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings 604
What and Why
While Veliky Novgorod (Russian: Великий Новгород) is so-called the 'new city', it is actually one of the oldest cities in the history of Russia (Россия, Rossiya). The city was founded in 859 CE by the Varangian (Old Norse: Væringjar) prince Rurik (Рюрикъ, Rjurikŭ), which began the ruling dynasty of Kievan Rus' (Киевская Русь, Kiyevskaya Rus'). The city became its first capital until it was taken over by Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ) in 882 CE, after which the city began its self-government as a republic in the form of Novgorod (Новгород) until mid-15th century CE.
The city is favourably located along the Volkhov (Во́лхов) and it became an important trading post between Scandinavia and Southern Europe, and hence during its heydays it was one of Europe's largest cities. The city's downfall also started to occur when it was no longer able to feed its large population, making it dependent on the Vladimir-Suzdal (Владимирско-Су́здальская, Vladimirsko-Suzdal'skaya) (see our blog in Suzdal (Суздаль)) region for grain.
The most important monument of the city is its kremlin (кремль, kreml'), which was built in the late 10th century CE as a pagan worship site. The site had since been rebuilt during the 15 century CE when the city was annexed to the Principality of Moscow (Великое Княжество Московское, Velikoye Knyazhestvo Moskovskoye) and remained until today.
Toponymy
Veliky Novgorod means 'the great new city' in Russian. The word 'veliky (великий)' meaning 'great' was only added to the city name in 1999 CE.
See
The kremlin, as the map above shows, is also affectionately referred to as the detinets (детинец), which means 'child' in Russian, as it is a small kremlin compared to others in Russia, especially compared to that in Moscow (Москва, Moskva) as in our blogged Moscow (Москва) - Kremlin and beyond. The detinets is only roughly 18 km2 with the fortress wall around 1.5 km in circumference. Hence if one just walks around the wall, it will hardly take more than half an hour.
Millennium of Russia (Тысячелетие Росси)
The centrepiece of the kremlin is the Millennium of Russia (Тысячелетие Росси, Tysyacheletiye Rossii) monument, which is a bronze bell-shaped monument sculpted by Mihail Mikeshin (Михаил Микешин) in 1862 CE, a thousand years after Rurik's arrival in Novgorod.
The sculpture is supposed to look like a globus cruciger, or a cross-and-orb, which is a Christian symbol of authority since the Middle Ages. However, as it was eventually sculpted the orb seems to be have been obscured by the lower bell-shaped structure.
The kneeling figure at the cross in the upper tier of the monument personifies Russia. Below, around the bell, there are six groups symbolising different periods of Russian history from the creation of Kievan Rus' up to the creation of the Russian Empire (Россійская Имперія, Rossiyskaya Imperiya) in the 18th century CE. Represented, amongst others, are Rurik, Tsars (царь) Ivan III Rurikovich (Иван III Рюриковичи) and Peter I Romanov (Пётр I Романов, Pyotr I Romanov ). The lower tier of the memorial depicts more than a hundred Russian military heroes, statesmen, educators, writers and artists.
Saint Sophia Cathedral (Софийский Собор)
At the heart of the kremlin is the oldest church of Russia, the Byzantine Saint Sophia Cathedral (Софийский Собор, Sofiyskiy Sobor). The cathedral, built in the year 1045 CE, was modelled after its more famous namesake cathedral in Kyiv (Ukrainian: Київ), being built just a few years earlier. The cathedral has long been recognised as the ceremonial and spiritual centre of the previous state of Novgorod and presently the city.
It is important to reckon that the church was named not after Saint Sophia (Italian: Santa Sofia) or any namesake female saints, but rather in reference to wisdom (Greek: σοφία, sofia), similar to Hagia Sofia (Turkish: Ayasofya) in our blogged Istanbul (İstanbul). Although the cathedral is fundamentally Byzantine, the cathedral also features significant Romanesque building style with its narrow windows and plain facade.
There is a very important feature of this cathedral that should not be missed. There are three sets of bronze gates, in particular the pictured Magdeburg gate (Магдебургские врата, Magdeburgskie vrata) located at the west side of the cathedral. This was a set of gates from the town of Sigtuna of Sweden (Swedish: Sverige) in 1187 CE. These gates were probably wrought and sculptured by Magdeburg masters during the mid-12th century CE and hence named.
Just next to the cathedral is its auxiliary building, the belfry of the cathedral sitting in its east side. The white stone tower in five bays was built by Archbishop Evfimy II (Евфимий II) during the mid-15th century CE, although the tower had since much altered.
These bells actually bear important cultural significance of Veliky Novgorod. This city is actually the birthplace of the country’s traditional bell ringing, which eventually became a significant part of its music in the 18th and 19th centuries CE and was also essential in the development of znamenny (знаменный) singing, a type of liturgical singing that is now popular throughout the country and around the world. As a result, the city is one of the UNESCO City of Music.
Chamber of Facets (Грановитая Палата)
The Chamber of Facets (Грановитая Палата, Granovitaya Palata) is an impressive 15th-century CE Gothic (German: Gotik) monument inside the kremlin. Other than the Millennium monument, this is probably the most famous of the kremlin ensemble. The star-vaulted reception hall dates back to mid-15th century CE and the building is currently a gallery and museum.
Eternal Flame of Glory (Вечный Oгонь Cлавы)
The war memorial Eternal Flame of Glory (Вечный Oгонь Cлавы) honours the victims of World War II and celebrates the victory. It is also the grave of the 19 soldiers who sacrificed during the war.
Stay
We were on a tour and stayed in the very basic Hotel Tver (Отель Тверь), located in Tver (Тверь) which is around four hours away. Basic provision.
Travel Suggestions and Logistics
We were on a tour and as mentioned we drove four hours from Tver. The kremlin is not very big and can spend a good morning or afternoon inside.
Veliky Novgorod is often considered a day-side trip from Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург, Sankt-Peterburg), as blogged in Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) | City centre. Saint Petersburg is only 2.5 hours drive away for Veliky Novgorod.
UNESCO Inscription
Situated on the ancient trade route between Central Asia and northern Europe, Novgorod was Russia's first capital in the 9th century. Surrounded by churches and monasteries, it was a centre for Orthodox spirituality as well as Russian architecture. Its medieval monuments and the 14th-century frescoes of Theophanes the Greek (Andrei Rublev's teacher) illustrate the development of its remarkable architecture and cultural creativity.
References
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Please share your thoughts and comments about the blog. If you need suggestions to build a travel itinerary, please let me know. More than willing to help. I would also like to build a bespoke-travel community around UNESCO WHS and ICH.
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