In the Volkhov region Leningrad region there is an ancient village - Staraya Ladoga. Until 1704, when it was built, it was simply called Ladoga. Ladoga is the first capital of Rus'. In 2008, I had the opportunity to work here under the guidance of Professor Anatoly Nikolaevich Kirpichnikov.

It is the feeling of native antiquity that fills you when looking at Staraya Ladoga. Something is not remembered in the painting of Ladoga motifs, and yet how much beautiful and typical can be taken out of this forgotten corner - a fragment of antiquity, accidentally preserved among the surrounding garbage, and how easy and convenient it is to do it.

— Nicholas Roerich “On the way from the Varangians to the Greeks”

Gostomysl and Rurik

Many historians believe that Ladoga was the first capital of Rus': Rurik ruled here in 862-865, and then moved to. The Ipatiev list of the Tale of Bygone Years says: “ And the first one came to the Slovenes and cut down the city of Ladoga and Rurik became grayer than the elders in Ladoga". According to some sources - the Joachim Chronicle, the Novgorod Chronicles of the 15th century, “The Tale of Sloven and Rus and the City of Slovensk” of the 17th century and others, Rurik was the grandson of the elder of the Ilmen Slovenes Gostomysl.

Old Ladoga inspired the artist Nicholas Roerich to create the famous painting “Overseas Guests” (1901, State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow). The fortress depicted in the upper right corner of the picture is correlated by some researchers of the artist’s work with the fortress, discovered and explored by archaeologists only in the second half of the 20th - early 21st centuries

According to legend, the son of Burivoy was a wise ruler and a brave warrior. Gostomysl's four sons died in infancy or were killed in battle; Only three daughters survived, who were married to the rulers neighboring countries. Finding himself without male heirs, one day in a dream Gostomysl saw that from the womb of his middle daughter Umila a huge tree had grown, covering a huge city with its branches. The sorcerers invited to interpret the dream decided that the next ruler would be Umila’s son Rurik.

Gostomysl died a very old man in 844. He was buried on Volotovo Field near Veliky Novgorod. As V.N. Tatishchev writes, after the death of Gostomysl, at the call “the elders of the earth from the Slavs, Rus', Chud, Vesi, Mers, Krivichi and Dryagovichi” Rurik appeared with two brothers - Sineus and Truvor. Rurik first reigned in Ladoga, and then moved to, reigned in, and Sineus reigned in Beloozero.

Gostomysl is not mentioned in the oldest Russian chronicles, so not all researchers consider him a historical figure. However, his name is mentioned in the Xanten and Fulda annals, according to which Gostomysl was the leader of the West Slavic tribe of Wends and died in 844 in a battle against King Louis II of Germany.

Gostomysl, modern painting

There are many ambiguities and Rurik. A number of researchers identify Rurik with the “ulcer of Christianity” king Rorik of Jutland(Hrørek, d. before 882), who was in the service of the Carolingians, the ruler of Dorestad and a number of Frisian lands in 841-873. Supporters of the anti-Norman theory believe that Rurik came from Rügen Islands(cf. Buyan Island from Russian fairy tales) and came from the princely family of the West Slavic tribes of the Obodrits, Ruyans and Pomeranians. There are also those who consider Rurik to be a fictional character.

The sculpture “Attacking Falcon”, a symbol of Staraya Ladoga. Falcon is a totemic symbol of the Rurik dynasty, often found as a heraldic symbol in the culture of the Eastern Slavs. An attacking falcon, its appearance reminiscent of a trident, is depicted on the coat of arms of Staraya Ladoga

The place of Rurik’s death also remains unclear. According to one version, he died in 879 in Novgorod. But in (in the past - Korela) I happened to see a stone with a carved inscription that Rurik died in.

Rurik was the son Oleg, nicknamed Prophetic, Prince of Novgorod in 879-912, Grand Duke of Kiev in 882-912. According to the Novgorod Chronicle, he was buried near Staraya Ladoga in . However, the Tale of Bygone Years reports that he was buried in Kyiv on Mount Shchekovitsa. In 1820, the mound of Prophetic Oleg was opened using the “well” method. They found only a dart, charcoal and a piece of iron similar to a lock bolt. The funeral items themselves were not found in this or many other mounds.

Monument to Rurik and Oleg the Prophet in Staraya Ladoga. Installed on September 12, 2015, sculptor Oleg Shorov

Origin of the name "Ladoga"

According to one version, the name “Ladoga” arose from the Ladozhka River flowing into the Volkhov. A fortress was erected at their confluence, which is sometimes called “Rurik’s castle.” Then this name spread to the entire Lake Ladoga. Most likely, the name of the river comes from the Finnish hydronym Alode-jogi (joki), which means "Lower River".

According to another version, the Scandinavians called this city Aldeigya, further - Aldeigjuborg, which over time transformed into the word “Ladoga”. Lake Ladoga was called in those days Aldek, Alda, Aldagen, Aldoga.

In the past, the water level in Lake Ladoga and, accordingly, in Volkhov and Ladozhka was higher than it is now.

History of Staraya Ladoga

Old Ladoga stands on the banks of the Volkhov, at the crossroads of several trade routes. The routes “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and “from the Varangians to the Arabs” went through it, as well as the route from Sweden through the Ladoga region to the Urals.

The area around Staraya Ladoga was developed back in the 4th-2nd millennium BC, during the Neolithic and Early Metal Ages. Life here never stopped. From the first centuries of our era, Finno-Ugric peoples settled in these areas, then Balts, Slavs, and Scandinavians. Thus, in, located on the other bank of the Volkhov almost opposite Staraya Ladoga, traces of Chud inhabitants of the 3rd-4th centuries were discovered (dated by radiocarbon dating, as well as individual finds from the Early Iron Age era).

According to dendrochronology data, the age of the first buildings in Ladoga dates back to 753 and earlier, up to 700. Apparently, they were erected by people from Northern Europe, the Scandinavians, as evidenced by the objects of material culture discovered during archaeological excavations. The archaeological season of 2010 brought interesting discoveries: under the cultural layer of one of the excavations, traces of ancient arable land were discovered, which dates back to the 6th century (radiocarbon).

In the 760s, the Ilmen Slovenes came to the southern Ladoga region. The fire that destroyed the Lyubsha fortress indicates that their arrival in these places was not peaceful.

Artistic reconstruction of an archaeological site. Museum-Reserve "Old Ladoga"

The settlement of the 8th-9th centuries occupied an area of 10-12 hectares. There were burial mounds around. One of them is Norman in tract Plakun on the opposite bank of the Volkhov. The second one is on the same bank, in Sopki tract. There were others too. Probably these mounds, clearly visible from the water, were objects of worship for dead ancestors.

The main occupation of the population was trade and related crafts. Back in the 780s, the production of eye beads using Arab low-temperature technology—the first Russian money—was established. In the 10th century, you could buy a slave or slave for such a “peephole”. On the banks of the Volkhov there was an intensive exchange: furs were supplied from Scandinavia, which local residents sold for silver dirhams to Arabs. This is evidenced by numerous finds of Arab coins and even entire treasures, the earliest of which dates back to 786.

Ancient beads, finds of the Staraya Ladoga archaeological expedition, archaeological season 2008

In the first third of the 9th century, Ladoga became the center of a large early state formation (Russian Kaganate, Ladoga Rus), which, along with Khazaria, was the largest Eurasian economic partner, trading along the Great Volga (“from the Varangians to the Khazars”) and the Dnieper (“from the Varangians to the Greeks”) ") ways. Around Ladoga, points arose for the inspection of cargo and collection of tribute, as well as fortified settlements, “small towns,” one of which was the already mentioned Lyubshanskaya fortress, and the other was fortifications in the area of the village of Duboviki (now the New Duboviki microdistrict in Volkhov). Under Rurik and Oleg, economic ties of Ladoga are expanding significantly.

The attacking falcon is a unique find of the Staraya Ladoga archaeological expedition, season 2008, layer of the second half of the 10th century

Under Rurik, in Staraya Ladoga, to protect against Varangian raids and control trade routes, a wooden fortress was built on the cape formed by the confluence of Ladozhka and Volkhov. In 882 Oleg “starting to build cities”, that is, a stone fortress.

In Zemlyanoy Gorod, adjacent to the fortress from the south, in the layers of the 9th-10th centuries, remains were discovered large merchant houses. In 2008, I was just working on the excavations of one of them, the so-called “Viking house”. The house was at least 17 meters long and 10 meters wide, oriented along a west-east line. It consisted of a central heated room and a gallery adjacent to it along the perimeter.

The walls of the main part of the house had a frame-and-post structure. It was assembled from horizontally placed logs or blocks with a diameter of 20-25 cm, which fit into the grooves of pillars with a diameter of up to 45 cm. The distance between the pillars was 2.88 - 3.07 meters along the long side and 3.8 meters along the end side. The gable roof was supported on these pillars. In the western part of the central room there was a rectangular hearth measuring 1.2 x 3.6 meters, made of large limestone slabs. The floor was made from recycled ship planks. The area of the heated room was approximately 104 sq.m. (8 x 13 meters).

The warm room was surrounded on four sides by a gallery, 1 meter wide on three sides and 3 meters wide on the end. The total area of the house was about 175 sq.m.

Large house of the 9th-10th centuries in Staraya Ladoga, excavation in 2008. Fragment of the central heated room and gallery

Large house of the 9th-10th centuries in Staraya Ladoga, excavation in 2008

In the summer of 2018, I visited (Leningrad region) and was able to see the reconstruction of a house similar to which I had to dig 10 years ago.

Reconstruction of a large house in the Björkagard Viking Age Living History Museum in Berezovo (under construction)

The Norwegian Earl Eirik, who attacked Ladoga in 997, destroyed the stone fortress and the fan-shaped settlement surrounding it. There was a threat of constant raids from the Swedes, Danes and Norwegians. Therefore, in 1000, on the site of the destroyed fortress, construction of a new wood-earth fortress began.

In 1019, Yaroslav the Wise married Princess Ingigerda (baptized Irina), daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Shotkonung. Ladoga and the adjacent territories came into her possession. Since then, these lands began to be called Ingria (land of Ingigerda). In the lower reaches of the Volkhov, a Russian-Norman jarlship was formed, occupying vast territories, whose tasks included the defense of the northern borders of Rus'. After Irina's death in 1050, the Swedes refused to return Ingermanland and had to be recaptured by force. From that time on, the territory became disputed; the Swedes and the peoples subordinate to them (in particular, the Finns) more than once raided Ladoga.

The 12th century was marked by the rise of stone construction in Staraya Ladoga. It becomes one of the largest military-defense, trade and craft centers of Northern Rus'. In 1114, Prince Mstislav the Great and Ladoga mayor Pavel laid the foundation for a new stone fortress. The height of its walls reached 8 meters, the thickness was about 3 meters. The walls, made of limestone flagstone, fastened with cement mortar, stood “on the fill” - bulk soil. Some of the walls from that time have survived to this day.

The wall of the Ladoga fortress, facing Volkhov with the dilapidated Secret Tower. The “trading arch” for lifting water and cargo has been preserved. 12th century

In the second quarter of the 12th century, power in the city passed to the Novgorodians. As in Novgorod, urban areas - “ends” - appeared in Ladoga. By 1500 there were six of them, named after nearby churches: fortress, Nikolsky, Klimentovsky, Spassky, Simeonovsky and Bogoroditsky. Since that time, Ladoga has been reoriented from Eurasian to Baltic trade, trading with the countries of Northern and Western Europe.

In the second quarter of the 12th century it was built Church of the Assumption Holy Mother of God - the first stone church in Staraya Ladoga. Whether it existed at that time is unknown. Also built in the 12th century St. Nicholas Cathedral, the remains of which were discovered under the existing 17th-century Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the St. Nicholas Monastery.

In 1153 a stone foundation was laid in Ladoga Church of Clement Pope, in 1161 - Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands. Both of them were destroyed during the Time of Troubles, then restored and in the 18th century moved to Novaya Ladoga.

In May 1164, the Swedes again attacked Ladoga. They arrived here on 55 ships. Despite the tenfold superiority of the attackers' forces over the fortress garrison, the defenders of Ladoga and the Novgorodians who came to their aid were able to capture 43 enemy ships. This is how this campaign against Rus' ended ingloriously.

In memory of this event, an elegant four-pillar Church of St. George, a striking example of ancient Russian pre-Mongol architecture. Inside, frescoes from the 12th century have been preserved, including “The Miracle of George on the Serpent.” In July 1240, 19-year-old Prince Alexander Yaroslavich, on the way to the mouth of the Izhora, prayed in this temple and consecrated his sword before the battle with the Swedes and their allies. After the victory in that battle, Prince Alexander received the nickname “Nevsky”.

Summer Church of St. George (late 12th century) and warm wooden Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica (1901) in the Ladoga Fortress

Fresco "The Miracle of George on the Serpent", photocopy in the Church of Demetrius of Thessalonica

On the way back, in the church founded, according to legend, by Alexander Nevsky, funeral services were held for the dead.

The area of Ladoga Posad by that time was 14-15 hectares. Until the 14th century, Ladoga remained the northernmost trading and port city of Rus', protecting the northern borders of the Novgorod Republic. In 1313, the Swedes managed to briefly capture Ladoga. The next assault on the fortress took place in 1338.

At the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th centuries, active construction of new monasteries, renovation and expansion of old ones began in Ladoga: John the Baptist on Malysheva Mountain, Uspensky, Simeonovsky, Vasilyevsky, Nikolsky. At the mouth of the Volkhov, where New Ladoga would be founded by Peter I at the beginning of the 18th century, the Nikolo-Medvedsky (Nikolo-Medvedovsky) monastery is being built.

Restored section of the fortress wall and restored corner turnout tower

At the end of the 15th century, Ladoga, together with Novgorod, became part of the Moscow kingdom. In 1495, due to the spread of firearms, the fortress was rebuilt taking into account new realities. Five towers were erected from huge boulders (Klimentovskaya, Vorotnaya, Tainichnaya, Strelochnaya and Raskatnaya), which were lined with cut stone and flagstone. The thickness of their walls at the base reached 9 meters. The towers had several tiers of battle. In plan, the fortress was in the form of an elongated pentagon, repeating the original layout.

Despite its remoteness from Moscow, Ladoga continued to actively develop. In 1568, there were 126 households and over 1,100 inhabitants. The area of the city was more than 18 hectares, about 70% of which were occupied by vegetable gardens. The main occupations of the townspeople were crafts, trade and fishing, and their secondary occupations were gardening.

Square Second house on the left - former house merchant P.V. Kalyazin, now the Archaeological Museum. Behind it is the house of merchant A.V. Kalyazin. Varyazhskaya Street, the oldest in Russia, appears between them in the 9th-10th centuries.

In 1570, a dark time began for Ladoga: oprichnina, famine, epidemics. In just two years, from 1570 to 1572, more than 2/3 of the households were lost. Part of the population died, others became impoverished, others fled in search of best places. In 1580, 1581, 1582 and 1583, the Swedish king Johan III, considering the Russian kingdom an easy prey, appeared at the walls of Ladoga. And although he was unable to take the city itself, the entire area was burned and destroyed by his troops. Monasteries especially suffered.

In 1584-1585, to the south of the stone fortress, the Earthen City was built from wood and earth, which had three bastions. Apparently, this was one of the first fortresses of the bastion system in Russia. On a four-meter earthen rampart stood an oak palisade with three towers: Naugolnaya, Berezhnaya and Nadvratnaya. The stone citadel was further strengthened.

The Time of Troubles was especially difficult for Ladoga. In 1610, it was captured by the French expeditionary force of Jacob Delagardie. In January 1614, Ladoga was occupied by the Swedish regiment of Josper Kruus. After the conclusion of the Treaty of Stolbovo in 1617, Ladoga became part of Russia, but for almost a century it became a frontier - the border with Sweden was 40 kilometers away.

In 1617, Ladoga was a sad sight: only 35 inhabitants, 24 households. Six monasteries existing at that time were completely destroyed, and churches were destroyed. Only the St. George and Assumption churches survived. The city “ends” also disappeared. In fact, the city had to be populated and rebuilt. The Ladoga fortress, which stood without a roof, began to rot and collapse. In the middle of the century, it was redecorated; holes in the stone walls and towers were patched with wood.

Staraya Ladoga Fortress in 2008, before the reconstruction of the section of the wall between the Gate and Strelochnaya towers

Construction is gradually resuming in Ladoga. In 1695, on Malysheva Mountain, on the site of previous buildings, a five-domed stone Church of John the Baptist with the chapel of Paraskeva Friday.

Opposite the Ladoga Fortress, it is being rebuilt (now Vasilyevsky Pogost) in the village of Chernavino, abolished in 1764.

Vasilievsky Pogost in Chernavino: the Church of St. Basil of Caesarea (1686) and the Transfiguration Church (1871)

In the second half of the 17th century it was restored and rebuilt. In 1668, the four-pillar Cathedral of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was rebuilt and consecrated there.

Nikolsky Monastery, view from Vasilyevsky Pogost

In 1702, after failure at Narva, Peter decides to take the Noteburg fortress () on Lake Ladoga. The Ladoga Fortress is being strengthened, Zemlyanoy City is being reconstructed. In August from Ladoga along the old highway towards Lake Ladoga Over 16,000 soldiers deployed.

After the capture and founding of St. Petersburg, the border moved far to the west. Ladoga lost its military and economic significance. In 1704, at the mouth of the Volkhov near the Nikolo-Medvedsky Monastery, Peter I founded. Ladoga, which received the prefix “Old,” lost its status as a city and lost its coat of arms.

In 1718, Evdokia Lopukhina, the disgraced first wife of Peter I, was transferred from to. In 1754, the first wife of great-grandfather A.S. Pushkin, also Evdokia, became a prisoner of the Assumption Monastery.

In the 18th century, Staraya Ladoga turned into a quiet village with a measured flow of life. A whole necklace of estates and estates arose around it. Thanks to the efforts of the hero of the War of 1812, landowner Alexei Romanovich Tomilov (1779-1848), Staraya Ladoga turned into one of the centers of the arts. In his estate "Uspenskoe" in the very center of Staraya Ladoga, he collected a rich collection of sculpture and painting. The guests of “Uspensky” were many creative people, including O.A. Kiprensky, I.K. Aivazovsky, N.K. Roerich, B.M. Kustodiev. In 1917, Tomilov's collection was transferred by his heirs to the Russian Museum. The manor house burned down in 1928; only the former service house survived.

The construction of the Nikolaevskaya railway, which connected St. Petersburg and Moscow, caused enormous damage to the economy of Staraya Ladoga, which was cut off from trade and transport routes. The atmosphere of that time is well conveyed by the painting of the Itinerant artist Vasily Maksimovich Maksimov (1844-1911), who depicted his mother-in-law Nadezhda Konstantinovna Izmailova and the fading Lyubsha estate near the Vasilievsky churchyard and the seemingly forever forgotten Lyubsha fortress.

Vasily Maksimov. “Everything is in the Past”, 1889. Oil on canvas. State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow

During the Great Patriotic War, Staraya Ladoga became frontline: from 1941 to 1943, the front line was only 15 kilometers from it. The village was subjected to constant German bombing. The local population was evacuated. Separate military formations of the 54th Army of the Volkhov Front were located in Staraya Ladoga. Aviation workshops for the repair of English aircraft supplied to the USSR under lend-lease were opened in the Nikolsky Monastery. A rest home for the flight personnel of the 4th Guards Fighter Regiment and various services were organized in the Assumption Monastery. In the spring of 1942, Staraya Ladoga collective farms began to grow vegetables for supplies to besieged Leningrad.

Staraya Ladoga made an indelible impression on me. Before this, I had never seen such a concentration of ancient monuments in a small area in a very quiet place. During the archaeological expedition in 2008, we were able to “touch a lot with our hands” and touch more than a thousand years of history.

I came to Staraya Ladoga again in 2018, during the big one. New experience, new knowledge appeared. Over the past time, I have visited almost all of North-West Russia. Thousands of kilometers behind you Russian roads. All complicated tragic story our country began to gradually take shape into a single picture. Staraya Ladoga gave me a lot in this regard. The ancient capital of Rus'. And that's it.

Literature:

Kirpichnikov A.N., Sarabyanov V.D. Old Ladoga. The ancient capital of Rus'. St. Petersburg, 2013
Kirpichnikov A.N., Gubchevskaya L.A.. Staraya Ladoga. History and sights. St. Petersburg, 2015
Ryabinin E.A. Report on field research of the Lyubshan settlement in 1999
Kasatkin V.V. Ladoga lake. Three fortresses, two monasteries, one city. 2017

Staraya Ladoga is one of the oldest villages in Russia, “the first capital of Rus'”. Today it is a fairly large village, located 120 kilometers from St. Petersburg. However, in terms of the number of historical and architectural monuments it surpasses many cities in the country.

In our article we will tell you about the history and main attractions of Staraya and Novaya Ladoga.

Staraya Ladoga - a village with a thousand-year history

These days, Staraya Ladoga is just a village on the banks of the Volkhov River with a population of 2,000 people. But it was once an important outpost city of Russia, which held back the ferocious attacks of ill-wishers. The main reason to visit Staraya Ladoga is its numerous natural, historical, cultural and architectural monuments, dating from the 9th-19th centuries.

Almost all the sights of the village of Staraya Ladoga are interesting and unique in their own way. And there are incredibly many of them! But tourists come here not only for the monuments, but also to feel the spirit of antiquity and enjoy the incredibly picturesque landscapes.

To further captivate the reader with Staraya Ladoga, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the ten most interesting historical facts about this village:

Staraya Ladoga is one of the oldest settlements in Russia (the first mention of it dates back to 862);
until 1703, Staraya Ladoga had the status of a city and was simply called Ladoga;
the city was one of the most important points on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks”;
according to one version, the ancient Russian prince Oleg was buried in Ladoga;
Ladoga became the first city in Northern Europe, all the walls of which were built exclusively of stone;
already in the 8th century, Ladoga residents traded with the help of money (glass beads played their role);
in the 10th century you could buy a slave for just one Ladoga bead;
the architecture of the Staraya Ladoga Fortress is unique for Russian architecture; there is no other similar monument in all of Russia;
The Staraya Ladoga stronghold is included in the hundred most beautiful places countries;
A real treasure of silver Arab coins was found on the territory of the village (the find was dated by historians to the 8th century).

Novaya Ladoga and its history

If you go upstream from Staraya Ladoga, then after 15 kilometers you will reach Novaya Ladoga. This small town was founded in 1704 by decree of Peter the Great to serve the shipyard created two years earlier. Many Old Lada residents were ordered to move to new town. During the Second World War, Novaya Ladoga played a significant role in providing besieged Leningrad along the so-called Road of Life.

It would be a sin not to stop by this small town if you are heading to Staraya Ladoga. There are also plenty of attractions here. Novaya Ladoga is a beautifully planned city, ancient buildings and magnificent views of the Volkhov River and Lake Ladoga.

The main monuments and interesting places in Novaya Ladoga:

Nikolo-Medvedsky Monastery.
Gostiny Dvor.
Staraya Ladoga Canal.
St. Nicholas Cathedral.
Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin.
Temple of Clement of Rome (dilapidated).
St. George's Church.
Novoladozhsky Museum of Local Lore.
Memorial complex "Road of Life".

List of attractions of Staraya Ladoga

However, let's return to the settlement where our story began - Staraya Ladoga. As a rule, an inspection of the monuments of this village begins with the fortress. This is the main and most valuable attraction of Staraya Ladoga, which is under UNESCO protection. Inside the fortress there is an ancient church from the 12th century, which is perfectly preserved.

Full list historical monuments And interesting places The must-sees in this unique village are as follows:

Staraya Ladoga fortress.
Assumption Monastery.
Varyazhskaya street.
Oleg's grave.
St. Nicholas Orthodox Monastery.
Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist.
House of merchant Kalyazin.
Estate "Uspenskoe".
Tanechkina and Staroladoga caves.
Gorchakovshchinsky waterfall.

A schematic map of the attractions of Staraya Ladoga will help you navigate locality(see photo below).

Staraya Ladoga Fortress

The main attraction of Staraya Ladoga is the fortress, founded at the end of the 9th century. What we can see today was built almost from scratch in the 2000s.

The fortress is located on a narrow cape, in the place where the Ladozhka River flows into the Volkhov. Initially it was wooden. During the reign of Prince Oleg, a powerful stone stronghold was erected here. For a long time, the fortress defended the northern borders of Ancient Rus', then Russia. It lost its defensive significance only at the beginning of the 18th century.

Assumption Monastery

To the north of the fortress there is another important monument of the village - the Staraya Ladoga Holy Dormition Monastery. It was founded in the middle of the 12th century.

Behind the walls of the monastery hides the northernmost of the ancient Russian churches of the pre-Mongol period - the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It has been here since 1156! The temple is quite miniature: its width is 14 meters and its height is 19 meters, however, it can accommodate several dozen people. The walls of the Assumption Church were lavishly painted, but the painting has practically not survived to this day.

It is known that from 1718 to 1725, it was in this monastery that the first wife of Peter the Great, Evdokia Lopukhina, stayed and became a nun.

Varyazhskaya street

It is unacceptable to visit Staraya Ladoga and not take a walk along Varyazhskaya Street. After all, according to historians, this is the most old street in Russia! The earliest mentions of it date back to the 15th century.

Today on Varyazhskaya Street you can see ancient wooden houses on one floor, which once belonged to local merchants. It's quiet and very cozy here. At the beginning of the ancient street there is a bronze sculpture of a falcon. This bird is considered the symbol of Staraya Ladoga. All tourists make a wish near this sculpture and leave coins in the beak of the bronze falcon.

Gorchakovshchinsky waterfall

Very few people know about the Gorchakovshchinsky waterfall, but in vain, because this is the most high waterfall in the Leningrad region. This is an amazing natural corner where you can calmly relax your thoughts and enjoy nature. It is located in the village of Gorchakovshchina, on the opposite bank of the river from Staraya Ladoga.

The height of the waterfall is only four meters. It is located in a river canyon and falls into a shallow bowl with sandstone walls. The walk to the waterfall does not take long; a forest path leads to it directly from the village.

Tanechkina Cave

In the past, Tanechkina Cave was a place where white quartz was mined. It stretches seven kilometers in length. The cave has many passages and labyrinths, and in its central gallery there is a shallow lake.

Hundreds of bats live inside. This is the largest, but also the most dangerous cave in Staraya Ladoga. Landslides and flooding often occur here, although this rarely stops speleologists.

How to get to the sights of Staraya Ladoga?

The village is located in the Volkhov district of the Leningrad region, ten kilometers from the city of Volkhov and 120 km from St. Petersburg. How can I get to the sights of Staraya Ladoga? It will be easiest to do this by car. But you can also get there by public transport.

By car you need to travel from St. Petersburg along the Murmansk highway (M18). Immediately after the village of Kiselnya you need to turn right off the highway (signpost to Volkhov). After another two kilometers you should turn left. This road will lead to an intersection on the banks of the Volkhov River. Here you need to turn left again and drive another four kilometers to Staraya Ladoga.

The second way to get to the village is public transport. You can get to the city of Volkhov by electric train (from Moskovsky or Ladozhsky railway stations). In Volkhov you can change to a regular bus to Staraya Ladoga. In about 20 minutes he will bring you to the ancient village.

The village and museum-reserve Staraya Ladoga are located on the high left bank of the Volkhov River, flowing from the lake and flowing into. The village is located near Lake Ladoga, about 15 km from where the Volkhov flows into it. It stretches along the river bank for 1.5-2 km. Down the river, 9 km, at the mouth is Novaya Ladoga.

Staraya Ladoga is one of ancient cities Russia. It was first mentioned in the “Tale of Bygone Years” of the Ipatiev List under 862 in the section telling about the calling of three Varangian brothers to reign in Rus': “And he chose three brothers from his clans and came to the glorious first and cut down the city of Ladoga and the oldest in Ladoz, Rurik.”.

Story

Based on the record, historians conclude that it, along with Novgorod and Kiev, was one of the capitals of the Old Russian state and was capital city Rurik until 864, when “Elder Rurik sat in Novgorod”.

Ladoga is one of the transit points on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” Thanks to this circumstance, it developed quickly. Fairs were often held here. Dynasties of pilots lived here, guiding foreign ships up the Volkhov to Lake Ilmen, where Veliky Novgorod stood - the center of Novgorod Rus, then the Novgorod land, and subsequently the Novgorod Republic.

To protect merchant ships from “dashing people,” a military garrison was stationed in the fortress.

The city grew richer, the wooden fortifications no longer seemed reliable protection, and in 1144, by order of the Grand Duke of Kyiv Vladimir Monomakh (1053-1125), construction began stone Kremlin. A wall rose above the river cliff, and the cliff itself was covered with stone.

Such measures did not seem excessive: starting from the 12th century. the city was repeatedly besieged by Karelians and Swedes (in 1164, 1313 and 1338), but without much success.

In the XI-XV centuries. Old Ladoga (in those centuries it was simply called Ladoga) was both a fortress and a trade and craft center of the Novgorod Republic.

In the middle of the 15th century. Tsar Ivan III Vasilyevich the Great (1440-1505) defeated the Novgorod Republic in the Moscow-Novgorod War of 1477-1478. during the unification of Russian lands around Moscow. The city became the northern outpost of the united Russian state and needed stronger fortifications.

The Staraya Ladoga fortress became pentagonal in plan and rebuilt taking into account the use of firearms. Powerful fortress walls and multi-tiered towers with walls up to 7 m thick were made of limestone, which was taken from neighboring quarries, and filled with boulders. The cladding was done with hewn stone. To get into the fortress, you had to walk along the wall to the only gate closed by bars in the quadrangular Gate Tower. Once in the tower, you had to turn half-turn to face the passage. The other towers each had their own purpose: for example, Tainichnaya covered the passage to the river, which made it possible to collect water in the event of a siege.

During the Time of Troubles, in 1610, the Swedes, who brought 55 ships, managed to capture the fortress, which was returned to Russia in 1617. according to the Stolbovo Peace Treaty. The fortress withstood the last assault in its history in 1701.

After victories over the Swedes at the beginning of the Northern War, the fortress lost its significance, and Tsar Peter I (1672-1725) ordered the transfer of offices and a significant part of the inhabitants to Novaya Ladoga.

Construction railways in the second half of the 19th century. reduced the importance of Staraya Ladoga to a minimum, and it became a simple village on the river.

Staraya Ladoga appeared where the most convenient place for the device was located trading city on the way “from the Varangians to the Greeks”, for intermediary trade between the northern and southern countries. The location of the fortress is such that it is possible to successfully repel an attack from the river, since it took a long time to get here by land.

The tallest buildings are the stone towers of the Staraya Ladoga fortress and monastery churches, symbols of the establishment of the power of the Russian state and the Orthodox faith in these places.

Part of the rampart, churches and an earthen fortification have also been preserved from the old city. The remains of wooden buildings from the 8th-12th centuries have been discovered on its territory. and the ruins of the stone church of Clement from the mid-12th century.

The pentagonal layout of the 15th century has been preserved from the Staraya Ladoga fortress, but the walls are in ruins, not even having clear outlines. A small section of the wall with two towers - Klementovskaya and Vorotnaya - has been restored.

The first wall, erected back in the 12th century, in many places turned out to be embedded in a later wall. It offers a picturesque view of northern part the village with the Assumption Cathedral and the southern one with Nikolsky.

Traces ancient buildings not preserved in the fortress.

Inside the fortress there is a wooden church of Dmitry Solunsky, with a museum exhibition in it.

Another church in the fortress is St. George from the beginning of the 12th century, built under Vladimir Monomakh - one of the most ancient stone buildings in the north of Rus'. The church is single-domed, four-pillared, three-apsed, rebuilt several times. It preserves fragments of frescoes from the Novgorod school, in particular the fresco “The Miracle of George on the Serpent,” as well as ancient tombstone inscriptions of the 12th-13th centuries.

On a hill called Malysheva Mountain, where there was once another monastery, there is the Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist.

To the south of the fortress is the Staraya Ladoga Monastery of St. Nicholas. Legends tie the time of its construction to the years of the reign of Alexander Nevsky (1221/1222-1263) when he was Prince of Novgorod, but there is no documentary evidence of this. The modern ensemble of the monastery took shape in the 17th century, when St. Nicholas Cathedral was built on the site of a 12th century church. Adjacent to it is the Church of St. John Chrysostom - an example of religious buildings from the mid-19th century.

To the north of the fortress, on the banks of the Volkhov, stands the Staraya Ladoga Holy Assumption convent. His main temple- Assumption Cathedral - in a place called the Bogoroditsky end. Nearby are monastery buildings for domestic purposes.

In the vicinity of the village there are burial mounds from Varangian times. According to legend, the Prophetic Oleg, Prince of Novgorod and Kiev Oleg (? - 912), who died in Staraya Ladoga, is buried in one of them: the hill in the northern part of the village is called Oleg’s grave. Excavations do not confirm the legend.

On the opposite bank of the Volkhov in the Plakun tract there are the remains of a Varangian cemetery.

Systematic excavations of the Ladoga fortress and burial mounds on the opposite bank have been carried out intermittently since the 1880s. In 1909, research into the settlement began. The lower horizons of the cultural layer, the later strata starting from the 12th century, have been preserved better than others. - much worse.

In the 1960s restoration work has been carried out in the fortress. The excavation materials are stored in the Hermitage of St. Petersburg.

According to archaeological data, the population of ancient Staraya Ladoga was multi-ethnic, consisting of Slavs, Normans and representatives of local Finnish-speaking ethnic groups.

Traces of blacksmithing, bone carving, jewelry and pottery production, various items, coins and items of Eastern and Western European origin were found in the settlement.

The territory of the fortress has been declared the Staraya Ladoga Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve.

general information

Location : north-west of the European part of Russia.
Administrative affiliation : Staroladoga rural settlement, Volkhov municipal district, Leningrad region.
Based: up to 753
First mention : 862
Village: since 1703
Language: Russian.
Ethnic composition : Russians.
Religion: Orthodoxy.
Currency unit : Russian ruble.

Numbers

Staraya Ladoga Historical-Architectural and Archaeological Museum : area - 1.6 km 2, total historical and architectural monuments - more than 150.
Population (village Staraya Ladoga) : 2012 people (2010).
Fortress walls : thickness - up to 5 m, height - 7-12 m.
Fortress towers : diameter - up to 24 m at the base, height - up to 19 m, tiers - 3.
The height of Oleg's grave : 10 m.

Climate and weather

Moderately continental.
Cold snowy winter, moderately warm summer.
Average January temperature : -10°C.
Average temperature in July : +17.5°C.
Average annual precipitation : 550 mm.
Relative humidity : 70-80%.

Economy

Services sector: tourism, transport, trade.

Attractions

Staraya Ladoga Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve (1984)

Zemlyanoye Gorodische (Zemlyanoy Gorod, until the 12th century)

Fortress "Old Ladoga" (restored walls and towers of Klementovskaya and Vorotnaya, ruins of walls and Raskatnaya, Strelochnaya and Taichnaya towers, founded in the 12th century, rebuilt in the 15th-16th centuries; Church of St. George 1114; wooden church of Dmitry Solunsky , 1731).

Cult

Staraya Ladoga Holy Dormition Convent (Assumption Cathedral of the 12th century, rebuilt in the 17th-19th centuries)

Staraya Ladoga Nikolsky Monastery (XIII-XIV centuries, Nikolsky Cathedral, bell tower and other buildings of the 17th century, Church of St. John Chrysostom 1860-1873)

Transfiguration Church (wooden - 1684, brick - 1871)

Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, 1695, chapel of St. Peter and Fevronia.

Historical

Neolithic site (3 thousand years BC)

Sopki tract (grave hills, VIII-X centuries)

Pobedishche (VII-X centuries) and Plakun (IX-X centuries)

Remains of the Varangian cemetery (late 9th - early 10th century)

Houses of merchant Kalyagin (19th century) and Schwartz (1816)

Varyazhskaya street and monument to Rurik and Oleg (2015)

Curious facts

The Scandinavians called ancient Ladoga Aldeigjuborg, less commonly Aldeigya. The earliest reliable news about Ladoga-Aldeigyuborg dates back to the end of the 10th century. and is contained in the collection of sagas “The Circle of the Earth”. An attack on Aldeigjuborg was reported during a military campaign against Gardariki by the Norwegian Earl Eirik.
“When he sailed into the possessions of King Valdmar, he began to fight and kill people, and burn houses wherever he passed, and devastated the country. He sailed to Aldeigjuborg and besieged it until he captured it. There he killed many people and destroyed and burned the entire city.” Historians date this event to 997 and consider it as evidence that there was a fortress or fortified settlement in Ladoga even then.

One of the reasons for Rurik’s move from Ladoga to Novgorod the Great is that Ladoga, located on the outskirts of the settlement territory of the East Slavic tribes, turned out to be inconvenient for them to manage.

In 2003, a big celebration took place in the village on the occasion of the 1250th anniversary of one of the first Russian capitals. To emphasize the Scandinavian presence in those ancient times on this land, the authorities of the county (province) of Nordland and participants in the show “Steigenberg Sagaspil” - a musical and historical reconstruction of the life of the ancient Vikings - were invited from Norway.

The economic importance of Staraya Ladoga began to decline in the 1580s, when Arkhangelsk became the northern port of the Moscow state.

The name Staraya Ladoga is of Baltic-Finnish origin, coming from the Ladoga River, now called Ladozhka, a left tributary of the Volkhov, which flows into it next to the fortress.

Tsarina Evdokia Feodorovna, née Lopukhina (1669-1731), the first wife of Tsar Peter I, by his will in 1698, was initially exiled to the traditional place of imprisonment for queens - the Suzdal-Pokrovsky Monastery, where she stayed until 1718. During the trial Tsarevich Alexei revealed her participation in the conspiracy, as well as the fact that she had not lived a monastic life for a long time. She was transferred first to the Alexander Assumption Monastery, and then to the Ladoga Assumption Monastery. A military guard was placed in the monastery, parishioners were prohibited from entering, and the tonsure of new novices was suspended. Evdokia Fedorovna lived here for seven years under strict supervision until the death of her ex-husband in 1725.

The design of the Church of St. John Chrysostom of the St. Nicholas Monastery was created by the architect Alexei Gornostaev (1808-1862), who stood at the origins of the eclectic trend in Russian architecture of the 19th - early 20th centuries. - “Russian style” (also called “pseudo-Russian”), The appearance of the building of the Church of St. John Chrysostom reflects the main components of the style: the traditions of Old Russian architecture and folk art, combined with elements of Byzantine architecture.

The Staraya Ladoga expedition of the Institute of the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered that already by the 12th century, when the fortress was being built, local craftsmen knew how to smelt copper from local raw materials. Traces of copper smelting were found; its composition differed from the usual alloys for these places from imported raw materials delivered from the Urals or from England. Experimental smelting was carried out using ancient technologies and pure metal was obtained.

Malysheva Mountain is riddled with underground passages. In the 19th century peasants extracted quartz sand from it and sold it in St. Petersburg to make light bulbs. The resulting voids threatened the safety of the monument, and restorers introduced large amounts of concrete into them to prevent destruction.

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History of Staraya Ladoga

Another (Swedish) name for Ladoga is Aldeigjuborg (Aldeigjuborg, formerly Aldeigja, presumably from the ancient Finnish Alode-jogi - “lower river” or “lower river”, from where the other Russian Ladoga). The oldest known buildings - production and ship repair workshops on Zemlyanoy Gorodische, according to dendrochronology, were erected from logs cut down before 753 and were probably built by immigrants from Northern Europe. Excavations show that the first settlement in Ladoga was founded and initially populated presumably by Scandinavians (according to E. Ryabinin, by Gotlanders).

The first settlement consisted of several buildings of a pillar structure, which has analogues in Northern Europe. In the 760s it was destroyed by the Slovenes and built up with houses of log construction. The lack of continuity between the first inhabitants of Ladoga and the subsequent population, which had different cultural traditions, was noted. During this period, the settlement was already trading with local tribes. The Slovenian settlement existed until the 830s. and was captured by the Varangians.

Further, Ladoga was a trade and craft settlement, which was once again destroyed in the 860s as a result of internecine wars. Around 870 The first fortress was built in Staraya Ladoga, similar in design to the neighboring Lyubsha fortress, which was abandoned in the same years. As a result, Ladoga developed from a small trade and craft settlement into a typical ancient Russian city.

In one of the interpretations of the “Tale of Bygone Years” of the Ipatiev copy of the ancient Russian chronicle, in 862 the Ladoga residents, in order to protect their lands from raids, invited the Varangian Rurik to reign:

“And the first one came to the Slovenes and cut down the city of Ladoga and Rurik became grayer than the elders in Ladoga.”

Although other readings say that he sat down to reign in Novgorod (Rurik settlement). Hence the version that Ladoga was the first capital of Rus' (more precisely, the place of Rurik’s reign from 862 to 865). Archaeological research carried out in Staraya Ladoga (led by Anatoly Nikolaevich Kirpichnikov) proves close contacts between the Slovenes, Finno-Ugric peoples and Normans (Urmans) in this area in the 9th–10th centuries.

The Tale of Bygone Years is not the only source to which one should lean, for example, B.D. Grekov writes that Ladoga is not a Varangian state, but a Slavic one, and specifically the Krivichi one.

The city was known as part of the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”

According to the Novgorod Chronicle, the grave of Prophetic Oleg is located in Ladoga (according to the Kyiv version, his grave is located in Kyiv on Mount Shchekovitsa).

In 997, Ladoga was attacked by the Varangian Erik Haakonsson, the future Norwegian king. The first Ladoga fortress, which existed for more than 100 years, was destroyed. In the sagas there is a mention that when the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Shotkonung, Princess Ingegerda in 1019 married the Novgorod prince Yaroslav the Wise, as a dowry (veno) she received the city of Aldeigaborg (Old Ladoga) with adjacent lands, which have since received the name Ingermanlandia (the land of Ingegerda), and Regnvald Ulvson, jarl of Västra Götaland (a relative of Ingegerda on the maternal side), was appointed mayor (jarl) of Ladoga. Ulv (Uleb) and Eiliw are the sons of Regnvald. According to Scandinavian sources, Eiliw became a jarl (posadnik) in Ladoga after the death of his father, and Uleb is mentioned in the chronicle under 1032 as a Novgorod governor.

In 1116, Ladoga mayor Pavel founded a stone fortress.

The ancient 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. During the times of Novgorod Rus' it was a strategically important place, because it was the only possible harbor where they could stop sea vessels, unable to swim along the rapids of the Volkhov.

In 1142, “the prince of Svea and the biskup came in 60 augers” - the Swedes attack Ladoga.

After the end of the Russian-Swedish war of 1590-1595, according to the Tyavzinsky peace, Ladoga was recognized as belonging to Russia and according to the Stolbovo peace, which ended the Russian-Swedish war of 1613-1617, Sweden returned Ladoga to Russia.

In 1703, Peter I founded Novaya Ladoga at the mouth of the Volkhov and renamed Ladoga “Old 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 live in Novaya Ladoga. Before 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 Ladoga Assumption Monastery.

In 2003, a celebration of the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga was held, which was covered by the press and attracted the attention of the authorities (Russian President Vladimir Putin visited it twice).