(Very) Old Ladoga

Just 120 kilometers from Russia’s northern capital lies the small village of Staraya Ladoga. Like St. Petersburg, Staraya Ladoga was once a capital — not of imperial Russia, but of ancient Rus’. 

And, this year, Staraya Ladoga, again like St. Petersburg, celebrated an anniversary. Yet, while Peter’s city turned 300, the village of 

Staraya Ladoga celebrated its 1250th birthday. 

“Russia,” wrote the historian Vasily Klyuchevsky, “is a country of forests and vast, slow-flowing rivers.” In Staraya (“Old”) Ladoga, Klyuchevsky’s words ring true. Along the banks of the wide, slow-flowing Volkhov river, stretches the aesthetically perfect silhouette of an ancient Russian city. The panorama of kremlin walls and church domes is untainted by Soviet architecture. 

Staraya Ladoga owes its birth and prosperity to the watery “road from the Varangians to the Greeks,” which connected Scandinavia and the Baltic to the Black Sea. The exact date of the town’s founding is unknown, but archeological excavations suggest that it happened no later than 753. 

In the early middle ages, at the place where the Volkhov river flows into the Ladozhka, a Scandinavian outpost sprouted up — it later became known as Ladoga. The Varangian guests were a mixture of racketeers and merchants. They built their towns on the shores of the rivers Volkhov, Lovat, Dnepr and Volga so that they had a place to store their booty, receive furs as tribute from Finns and Slavs, and rest along the long road to Constantinople. 

In the 8th and 9th centuries, Ladoga was the capital of the Slav-Varangian state, Russia’s progenitor. Here, at the confluence of the rivers Volkhov and Ladozhka, ruled the Viking leader Rurik, founder of Russia’s first royal dynasty. Prince Oleg the Prophet, one of Rurikids, met his end here. According to an episode immortalized in the Chronicle (and which became widely known through Alexander Pushkin’s “Song of Oleg the Prophet”), a soothsayer warned Oleg that he would die because of his favorite horse. So Oleg abandoned the animal, only to later die after being bitten by a snake that slithered out of the dead horse’s skull. 

For several centuries, Ladoga played a role later given to St. Petersburg — an administrative center on the outskirts of Rus’, a window into Europe. Russia’s first stone fortress was built here, as were six stone churches, two of which still stand today. 

In the 12th century, Ladoga was something of a suburb of Novgorod, a link in the chain of forts which protected that city from its enemies. In 1114, a stone fort with walls eight meters high and two meters thick was built here. Half a century later, in 1164, Ladoga withstood a siege by the Swedish army. After calling on Novgorod for help, Ladogans drove the Swedes to the estuary of the river Voronega and there crushed them. Legend has it that, in memory of this victory, the church of Saint George the Victor was built under the fortress’ ramparts.

In the 15th century, four new churches were built in Ladoga — St. Peter, Simon, Vasily Kesariisky and the Birth of John the Baptist. The fortress was rebuilt into a pentagonal shape and multi-storied towers up to seven meters wide were added, including the quadrilateral Gates Tower, which was the only entry into the kremlin. The following century, Boris Godunov rebuilt Ladoga after the end of the Livonian War (1558-1583). The walls built then, along with the adjoining “Earth City,” still stand today. Ladoga was one of the first wood-and-earth fortifications in Russia and, until the 18th century, it protected northwest Russia from invaders. 

But high, thick walls did not save Ladoga from troubles within Rus’ itself — after devastating Novgorod, Ivan the Terrible’s oprichniks paid Ladoga a visit as well. Having hardly recovered from this, Ladoga was drawn into the intrigues of the Time of Troubles. In 1609, beckoned by Tsar Vasily Shuysky, Swedish troops, together with Russians, liberated northwest Rus’ from the forces of the Second False Dmitry and brought their victory to Moscow. For this, Sweden was rewarded with the town of Korela and its surrounding district, which included Ladoga. In June 1611, joint Novgorodan-Swedish rule was established in the land of Novgorod. Order was maintained by Swedish military garrisons, deployed in border forts, including Ladoga.

But Swedish occupation of Ladoga did not last long. In early 1617, Muscovy, ruled by Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov, signed a peace treaty with Sweden in the village of Stolbovo, situated halfway between the town of Tikhvin, occupied by Moscow, and Ladoga. According to the treaty, Ladoga and Novgorod were returned to Moscow. Yet the border with Sweden was still very close — along the river Lava. And here the Swedes established an outpost.

Ladoga had a central role in Peter the Great’s Northern War. The main forces of Peter’s army were gathered here before the campaign of 1702-1703. Fourteen regiments led by Boris Sheremetyev set out from Ladoga to assault the Swedish fortress of Noteburg (Oreshek) — the military campaign that brought victory against Sweden and led to the founding of the new capital — St. Petersburg. 

In 1704, 12 km north of Ladoga, Novaya (“New”) Ladoga was founded. Peter ordered that all of Ladoga’s administrative offices be transferred there, along with some of the town’s citizens. This was when the ancient capital of Russia got its offensive prefix — Staraya (“Old”). From that point on, Staraya Ladoga became a historical backwater.

But this fate also “saved” Staraya Ladoga. It left standing an incredible number of ancient architectural wonders and makes this town no less important than any of the towns of the “Golden Ring.”

Get Thee to a Nunnery

You will need a full day to get at least a brief glimpse of all of Staraya Ladoga’s sights. The town covers about two square kilometers and includes over 160 monuments of historical and cultural importance. 

The sights stretch along the left side of the road connecting Novaya Ladoga to Volkhov. The first is the famous burial mounds, one of which is thought to contain Prince Oleg the Prophet. From the mounds you can take in a beautiful view up river, of Ladoga’s monasteries and kremlin.

Further on are the cemetery and 19th century Alexeevskaya Church and the Church of John the Baptist (1695). Closed by the Soviets, the church reopened in 1991. 

Behind these is Uspensky Monastery with the pre-Tatar Church of the Assumption of Our Lady, along with a collection of 19th century buildings — stone walls with towers, private cells, the refectory, the laundry-house and others. The monastery was a rather infamous involuntary home for two famous Yevdokias. From 1718 to 1725, Peter the Great’s first wife, Yevdokia Lopukhina, who plotted against him, was locked up here. From 1754 until her death, Yevdokia Andreevna Gannibal, the unfortunate first wife of Abram Gannibal, Peter the Great’s Ethiopian favorite and Alexander Pushkin’s great grandfather, was held here. Yevdokia Dioper had been married to Gannibal against her will and had cheated on him. She was tried, and jailed for 11 in the monastery. 

Staraya Ladoga’s main tourist attraction is the pentagonal kremlin, which has been restored to the way it looked at the end of the 17th century. Inside the fortress is the Church of St. George (1165) which contains fragments of pre-Tatar frescoes. The small, four pillar church with three apses is constructed of alternating layers of limestone and brick. In 1445, on the orders of Archbishop Yefimy Vyazhishchsky, the Monastery of St. George was built around the church. 

In 1646, the church was elevated to the status of Cathedral of all Ladoga. But 100 years later, in the first half of the 18th century, the monastery closed and St. George Cathedral became a parochial church. In the 19th century, stone vestibules, belfries, new windows, doors and roofing were all added to St. George’s. In the 20th century, it was restored to its original appearance. If you visit the church today, you are likely to be led about by its exotic tour guide — a young man sporting a leather jacket and an earring. 

Nearby, the wooden Church of Dmitry Solunsky houses a small museum of peasant life. To the south of the kremlin stands Nikolsky Monastery, with its 17th century Nikolsky Cathedral, 19th century Church of John Zlatoust and 18th century private cells. 

Formally, these landmarks were made a historical-architectural and archaeological museum-reserve some 20 years ago. But, in reality, Uspensky Monastery was turned into a home for children with handicaps. The locals, who previously worked on the state farm, are now idle, and thus permanently drunk. Signs of prosperity and labor are absent. There is, however, a snack-bar selling cheap port, the retro-Soviet “Ladya” cafe, and a very modest regional museum, opened hurriedly on the eve of the jubilee. It is housed in a wooden, 19th century merchant’s home. We were told that the museum had already had three visitors ...

The 1250th anniversary gives Ladoga some hope that things will change for the better. Leningrad region needs kremlins and hermitages in which to receive high-ranking guests. In 2003, before St. Petersburg’s jubilee, Staraya Ladoga received a visit from President Vladimir Putin. Adhering to the old Russian tradition of bluffing and window-dressing, attempts were made to patch Staraya Ladoga up a little for his visit. And although today Staraya Ladoga is not in the best shape, tourists do come here frequently. 

Everywhere a Rurik

Today, Staraya Ladoga is home to just over 2,000 souls. The houses are all pretty and wooden, but mostly aging and decrepit. A natural, pastoral appearance is spoiled somewhat by the wooden fences—all painted brown in the heat of anniversary fever —and old garages. As in all big villages, the center of Staraya Ladoga is the square in front of the administration building and the local House of Culture. Ladoga also has a school, an information-entertainment center, and some shops. 

The economic infrastructure is still in the development stage. This July, the Duke Rurik café was opened, where you can feast on “Chicken Ladoga-style” (50 rubles) and “Duke’s Delight” (a 75 ruble pork chop). The local hotel, also Duke Rurik, can accommodate up to 56 persons and rents out televisions at 50 rubles per day. There is also a hotel Ladya, which calls itself “a hotel of average comfort level.” 

To get to Staraya Ladoga by car you take Murmanskoye highway. Where the road forks for Staraya and Novaya Ladoga, there is a very cheap fish market, where you can buy nice whitefish and salmon. Inexperienced customers are easily spotted and vendors will try to sell you fish at triple the price, so be sure to haggle. 

To get to Staraya Ladoga by public transport, take a suburban train from Ladozhsky or Moskovsky train station in St. Petersburg to Volkhovstroi station—about a two-and-a-half hour ride. Then take bus 23 from the train station square. The 13 kilometer trip costs 13 rubles; a taxi will get you there for 120 rubles. 

You can also visit Staraya Ladoga with a tour bus — there are one- and two-day tours available from travel agencies in St. Petersburg. But no matter how you get there, Staraya Ladoga is a treat worth savoring.   RL