16 Interesting Facts About Veliky Novgorod - Alternative View

2024 Author: Keith Bush | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 14:01

Veliky Novgorod is therefore called the Great, because it had a huge impact on the historical development of Russia as a state. These days it is much smaller and more modest than Moscow or St. Petersburg, but it is partly thanks to this city that Russia has reached the heights that we can all observe.

Interesting facts about Veliky Novgorod

1. Veliky Novgorod is one of the oldest and most famous cities in Russia, which was founded almost 1160 years ago.
2. For three centuries Novgorod was an independent republic on the territory of feudal Rus, and it became the first political entity of this kind.
3. Novgorod was the only Russian city that escaped disintegration and decline in the 11-12 centuries. The Mongol-Tatar invaders did not reach here either, due to which ancient architectural monuments have been preserved in the city.
4. Throughout its history, the city was divided into two parts by the waters of the Volkhov River - the Trade and Sofia sides of Novgorod in the past competed with each other, and between their inhabitants, clashes periodically occurred on the bridge over the river.
5. In the sagas of the Scandinavians, Novgorod was called Holmgard, that is, a city that goes under water during floods.
6. The famous epic about Sadko takes place in Novgorod.
7. At the beginning of the 13th century, after a long period of famine, a terrible fire broke out in Novgorod - exhausted and frightened people threw themselves into the river to escape, but most of them went to the bottom. The fire destroyed not only city buildings, but also food supplies. Novgorodians were saved by German merchants who brought bread to the city and breathed new life into it.
8. The fascist occupation caused more damage to Novgorod than all previous disasters - it amounted to about 11 billion rubles. All wooden buildings burned down in the city, many historical monuments and museum exhibits were lost. The Germans even took with them the cross of the Sophia Cathedral, and it was only relatively recently that this relic was returned.
9. After the war, many residents of Novgorod huddled in basements and dugouts. To build their own homes, people began to dismantle architectural monuments, but scientists intervened in the situation in time.
10. The trolleybus line appeared in Novgorod only in 1995 - this was the first trolleybus system created in the country after the collapse of the USSR.
11. Already in ancient times, a wooden water supply system functioned in Novgorod - an amazing convenience for that time.
12. A lead dove sits on the cross of St. Sophia Cathedral - this is a monument to a bird from an urban legend, which allegedly became numb with grief after seeing the massacre carried out in Novgorod by the guardsmen of Ivan the Terrible.
13. One of the Novgorod symbols is an icon depicting the Virgin. It is believed that the face of the saint defended the city from the troops of the Russian prince - the defenders of Novgorod hung the icon on the fortress wall and began to pray for a miracle. Their prayers were answered and the enemy retreated. Studies have shown that marks from arrows remained on the ancient icon, which confirms the veracity of the legend.
14. The chronicles say that Prince Yaroslav the Wise lived in Novgorod in an amazingly beautiful palace that had no equal in Europe. However, archaeologists still have not found any traces of these unique palaces.
15. Sophia Cathedral for many centuries was the tallest building in Novgorod. One of the merchants decided to surpass the old temple and built a church with a higher bell tower. Soon lightning struck the new building and it was completely burned down.
16. Ordinary Novgorodians lived in houses with an area of 16 square meters, while the stoves were fired in a black way, that is, the smoke went into the room, and not into the street.