Veliky Novgorod



Veliky Novgorod

Name: Irina Mordasova & Konstantin Chalabov

Age: 31

Profession: Journalist

City: Novgorod

How long have you been doing photography? Since I was in school.

What style or genre most interests you? I love landscapes.

Can you give us a short description of your city? Where is it located? What is it famous for? Veliky Novgorod is a small city in northwest Russia, located between the two capitals of Moscow and St. Petersburg. The city was founded in 859. Later, from this very spot, the Varangian prince Rurik was summoned, setting in motion the foundation of Russian statehood and Kievan Rus. Everyone knows about the famous Novgorod People's Veche. In the Middle Ages, Veliky Novgorod was one of the main cities of the Hanseatic League and played a far from insignificant role in European trade. After the unification of Russian lands about Moscow, the two capitals began to develop, and Novgorod began to wane in significance, taking on a more provincial character. The city now has about 220,000 residents.

What are some things that only locals would know about the city? 

1. When you meet someone and tell them you are from Novgorod, they always nod their head and say, "Oh, from Nizhny?" Veliky Novgorod is constantly confused with Nizhny Novgorod, which is located closer to Moscow and was previously known as Gorky. Both Novgorodtsy and Nizhegorodtsy have no patience with this error. Well, what are you going to do? With each passing year the number of people who have no understanding of even the rudiments of our history grows...

2. Near the city is Lake Ilmen (often incorrectly pronounced by foreigners, with the accent on the second syllable). It is similar to the famous Lake Baikal in that many rivers flow into it and just one flows out.

3. The city sits on the Volkhov River and is divided into two halves: Sofiyskaya and Torgovaya. Locals call them "that" and "this" («та» и «эта») "Where are you?" "I am on that side." This means the speaker is on the Torgovaya side (та), which is the smaller of the two halves of the city.

4. Among the cities innumerable historical monuments is "The Bra." This is the name that locals gave to the iron and cement art construction "The Sail," located in the kremlin park.

Which places or sites are a must for someone to see if they visit your city? The city has more than 20 monuments that are on the UNESCO list. Among them are Russia's oldest church, Sofia Cathedral, which was build in 1045-50. The main focal point for monuments is the fourteenth century stone kremlin, inside which is located the "Thousand Years of Russia" monument, Yaroslav Palace and its dozen churches – where the ancient Hanseatic League trading took place. 

Near the city is a working monastery: Yuriev Monastery, which is also near the museum of wooden architecture, Vitoslavlitsa, housing things built without a single nail. And on the other side of the river Volkhov is Rurik's Settlement, with the ruins of an ancient church. According to legend, it was here that Rurik established his first settlement. 

Anything else?: I truly love my city. I would love it if more tourists saw it. Our city is very beautiful and truly radiates history.

 



Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Tolstoy Bilingual

Tolstoy Bilingual

This compact, yet surprisingly broad look at the life and work of Tolstoy spans from one of his earliest stories to one of his last, looking at works that made him famous and others that made him notorious. 
White Magic

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.
Marooned in Moscow

Marooned in Moscow

This gripping autobiography plays out against the backdrop of Russia's bloody Civil War, and was one of the first Western eyewitness accounts of life in post-revolutionary Russia. Marooned in Moscow provides a fascinating account of one woman's entry into war-torn Russia in early 1920, first-person impressions of many in the top Soviet leadership, and accounts of the author's increasingly dangerous work as a journalist and spy, to say nothing of her work on behalf of prisoners, her two arrests, and her eventual ten-month-long imprisonment, including in the infamous Lubyanka prison. It is a veritable encyclopedia of life in Russia in the early 1920s.
Moscow and Muscovites

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 
Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod: A Novel in Many Voices

Stargorod is a mid-sized provincial city that exists only in Russian metaphorical space. It has its roots in Gogol, and Ilf and Petrov, and is a place far from Moscow, but close to Russian hearts. It is a place of mystery and normality, of provincial innocence and Black Earth wisdom. Strange, inexplicable things happen in Stargorod. So do good things. And bad things. A lot like life everywhere, one might say. Only with a heavy dose of vodka, longing and mystery.
Chekhov Bilingual

Chekhov Bilingual

Some of Chekhov's most beloved stories, with English and accented Russian on facing pages throughout. 
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955