Veliky Novgorod, Yaroslavovo Dvorische: review, features, attractions and interesting facts

Yaroslav Dvorishche and Torg - belong to the oldest architectural complexes, preserved from the times of Ancient Rus. The facility is protected by the state and is on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

When appeared

Many historical monuments are full of Veliky Novgorod. Yaroslav Dvorishche is one of the unique buildings not only of the city, but of all Russia. The name of the complex was given by the name of Prince Yaroslav, who later ruled in Kiev, where he received a new title - Wise. Historically, on the right bank of the Volkhov River there is a commercial part of the city, where merchants have been settling since time immemorial and veche gatherings have been held.

Materials of excavation indicate the absence of any buildings, settlements or traces of people's stay on the territory of the Court before the 10th century. In the early 11th century, Prince Yaroslav set up a palace, which was not the same in Europe. Archaeological surveys carried out in the post-war years confirm that traces of a large wooden building have been found on the site between the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Gate Tower, belonging to the Gostiny Dvor.

On the territory of Yaroslav Dvorishche and Torg, excavations were conducted by Professor AV Artsikhovsky, and in his opinion, the foundation found may belong to the princes' chambers. Further work was mothballed until better times, when archaeologists will possess the best equipment, guaranteeing not only the preservation of the object, but also the possibility of its detailed study.

Appointment

After building the palace, Prince Yaroslav found himself in the center of the business life of Veliky Novgorod. The first mention of the complex in the annals dates back to 1030, during this period the city was an important part of the lively trade route from Scandinavia to Byzantium. Along the commercial shore stretched numerous piers, where the goods were unloaded gold, fabrics, spices and many other things from all over the world to Veliky Novgorod.

To Yaroslav the Novgorodians treated with respect and love. Since the refusal of the prince to pay an annual tribute to Kiev, the inhabitants twice helped him in the struggle for the throne of Kiev and ultimately brought him victory. Perhaps such an attitude towards the prince is due to his closeness to the people and constant communion in the Ancient Torg.

Yaroslav Dvorishche, apart from its representative and commercial purpose, performed the functions of the place where the Novgorodians gathered for the veche. The meeting place was a small site near Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral. Some historians believe that the veche was not collected by all the people living in the city, but only by representatives of noble families, called "300 golden belts." The bell of the veche bell served as a signal to the collection.

In the 15th century, Novgorod lost its independence. Yaroslav Dvorishche passes by right of inheritance to Prince Ivan III, who takes the veche bell to Moscow, and the territory begins to build up at its discretion. Since the 16th century, after the appearance of the Grand Dukes, Dvorishche received the second name "Sovereign".

Several legends are connected with the bell. According to one of them, in Valdai he crashed into thousands of small bells, which to this day spread the glory of the Novgorod freemen all over the world. According to the second legend, the bell was installed on the Spasskaya Tower of the Kremlin in Moscow and warned people about disasters. During one of the fires, he fell and crashed, after which Peter I ordered from his units to pour out a new one.

Strategic location

Russian statehood originates from Veliky Novgorod. Yaroslavovo Dvorishche after some time, the Ancient Torg - a platform where transactions were made, brisk trade was conducted, and the merchantry was born. Novgorod Torgy competed with the largest bazaars of Europe and Asia. A lively river route and well-trodden routes brought Novgorod merchants across the Dnieper and the Black Sea to Constantinople and Persia, and there were not uncommon long-term commercial trips to England, Flanders, to German markets. The ships of the Baltic and the White Sea moored to the Torg.

According to the surviving documents, it is known that the Novgorodians conducted civilized trade with foreign countries - contracts on deliveries and purchases, on mutually beneficial cooperation, etc. were preserved. Local traders were in a certain sense monopolies; on the other hand Novgorod merchandise was not sold by foreigners, the merchants themselves were engaged in the sale of overseas goods Throughout Russia.

Seating yard

Ancient Torg was famous not only for foreign goods and the scale of financial operations, but also for the realizations of goods of local craftsmen. Novgorod crafts were diverse, especially high-quality and highly artistic were the goods from silver, highly valued in different parts of the world. Leather workers wore excellent boots, belts, horse harness and unique crosses of the finest leather strips. Famous were potters, blacksmiths, carpenters, icon painters.

The shopping areas had the appearance of streets stretching from the river, each had its own name. The central series from Volkhov passed through all the bargaining and ended near the German court. The shops located on it were the most prestigious, in the people the central shopping street was called the Great Street, and in the books they gave different names - Mercenary, Surozhskaya, Bolshaya.

Since the 17th century, the ancient Torg has been transformed into a Gostiny Dvor, and remains so until the middle of the 20th century. In 1771, for Empress Catherine II and members of the court for a convenient stop, the "Travel Palace" was built, where you could comfortably relax and gain strength for further travel through the expanses of Russia.

Reckless Steps

After the Great Patriotic War, the architectural ensemble of Yaroslav Dvorishche and Torg was in good condition. Destructions were not critical, and much could be restored with little effort. The unique arcade of the Gostiny Dvor was untouched by shelling and stood intact, as it was during its construction. But the restoration was demanded by the city itself, and in 1945 the authorities decided to completely dismantle the entire historical complex.

The work started roughly in 1947 and continued until 1953, when the Academy of Sciences interfered with the process. Through the efforts of historian scientists, and in particular IE Grabar, the destruction of the ancient Russian monument was stopped. The process did not go quickly, and only by 1956 could assess the scale of losses.

Under the protection of the state

The Gostiny Dvor, the shopping arcades, located along May 1st Street, was completely disassembled, and only a small part of the arcade remained intact. Suffered and ancient temples - for building materials bricks of the bell tower, the chapels of the Assumption Church and the church of St. George on Torg were left.

After the audit, archaeological excavations began, thanks to which several layers of wooden pavements were opened in different years, flooring from bones of cattle was found between the St. Nicholas Cathedral and the church of Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa.

The preserved monuments of architecture represent a huge cultural value and historical heritage. Today, all of them are under the protection of the state and the international organization UNESKO. Each of the monuments is well known, and the excavations conducted each time give new materials for research and study.

Nikolsky Cathedral Monomakh

The most ancient landmark of Veliky Novgorod is Yaroslavovo Gorodische, where the first temple was built by Prince Mstislav, the eldest of Vladimir Monomakh's sons. The church has survived to our days, and is called the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky or St. Nicholas Cathedral. His construction was handled by a master named Peter. It is believed that he was the first Russian architect, whose name was included in the annals.

The cathedral was rebuilt several times during the centuries of his life, but the masters always adhered to the old foundation, trying not to introduce unnecessary innovations into the appearance of the building. The church was built as an analogue of the temple of Sofia, the works were finished in 1113, but they consecrated it after two decades. At the ancient Torg at that time it was the first building made of stone.

The temple has three equal apses, crowned with a dome of five golden heads, which embodied the princely power. The cathedral obeyed the prince, bypassing the supremacy of the ruler of Novgorod. According to chronicles, the temple burned at least twelve times and always revived. From the 13th century, veche was gathering near its walls. In the 17th century, the square in front of the cathedral was decorated with a six-sided belltower, the rest of the buildings that joined the walls of the St. Nicholas Cathedral belong to the 19th century.

As part of the fight against religion, in the 30s the church was closed. In the short period from 1945 to 1962, the St. Nicholas Cathedral was in operation. After the next closing, an exhibition of the Novgorod Museum devoted to scientific atheism was placed in it. In the dome, there was a city planetarium. The change in the economic system served as the start of the restoration work, the financing of which was provided by the New Hanseatic League.

Temple Buildings

Yaroslavovo Dvorishche in Novgorod carefully preserves several ancient temples. The Church of the Dormition was set in memory of the Novgorod warriors who died in an unsuccessful campaign to the Suzdal lands. The initiator of the temple was Prince Vsevolod, the construction was completed in 1144. Novgorodians kept the memory of the dead, reviving the temple after numerous fires, and gave it a second name - "Assumption on a goat beard." This name is associated with the neighborhood of the church with the area where the trade in goats, horses and other domestic animals was conducted.

Near the Church of the Assumption there is another church, to which unmarried young ladies come to Veliky Novgorod. Yaroslav Dvorishche is decorated with the Church of Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa, whose architecture differs significantly from other churches. St. Paraskeva-Friday brings good luck in trading matters. The first wooden temple was built in 1156, a century later, on the place of the burnt building, the overseas merchants set up a stone church.

It is described 15 cases of a fire, after which it was carefully re-built. Ancient architecture was opened in the first post-war restoration. From the layers of plaster, the masonry dating from the 13th and 14th centuries was cleared off, and the glaucoma remained on the church from the 18th century. In the people the temple of Paraskeva-Pyatnitsa has long been called the church "about a hundred and seventy corners", which corresponds to reality. There is a belief that if an unmarried young lady walks around in circles three times, then she will soon get married.

Patrons of the Sick

The founder of the Moscow family of famous merchants Sykorkov - Ivan Syrkov, was born and accumulated capital at Torg (Veliky Novgorod). Yaroslav Dvorishche with its worries grew in 1510 by the wooden temple of the Myrrhbearers. After a major fire that occurred in 1541, a stone church was erected on the site of the burnt down building. In the Moscow tradition, churches were placed on stone podkletyah, where the values were stored, in the Novgorod churches such cellars were not built.

The first temple with a large basement floor was the Church of the Myrrhbearers, according to some reports, Ivan the Terrible kept some of his treasury there for some time. From both sides in the upper floors of the building are wooden staircases, near each a porch is arranged. Now the Children's Cultural Center is located on the second floor.

By the order of Dmitry Syrkov in 1529 on the Yaroslav court yard is built a small church of Prokopy in the height of three floors. The first two of them are a basement and a high podklet. The architecture of the building feels the influence of the Moscow and Pskov architectural traditions, expressed in the keeled arches that adorn the facades of the church.

Gate Tower

During the centuries of its existence, Yaroslav Dvorishche (Veliky Novgorod) knew many changes. The history of the Gate Tower dates back to the time when Peter I ordered the Gostiny Dvor to be laid. Its builders in the 17th century were Semen Efimov and Gury Vakhromeev. The gate tower was part of a large complex. It is a three-story building, divided in the middle by two wide travel arches, the roof has a tent structure, on its left side there is a bell tower, which once belonged to the already lost temple.

For a long time, the Gate Tower was considered veche, but studies conducted have refuted this steady hearing. The building housed a variety of organizations, from the orphanage to the archive, and today exhibited works of art created in the technique of artistic metal casting.

Most of the collection is represented by church utensils and cult attributes. There are on the stands of the tabernacle, the crosses, arches, church dishes, icons, products of Old Believer masters and many others. In Gate Tower there is an observation deck, from where a magnificent view of the Sofia side of the city opens.

Address

Many tourists are eager to visit Veliky Novgorod. Yaroslavovo Dvorishche, on a par with Detinets, are the most visited places. More than ten ancient architectural structures have been preserved on the territory of the Torg and Dvorisha ensemble.

On the expanses of the complex there are also signs of modern history. The monument to the heroic deed of Soviet soldiers perpetuated the history of the Great Patriotic War. The monument to the legendary character Sadko will also interest curious tourists. In commemoration of the restoration of the Hanseatic League of merchants and the membership of Novgorod in it, a memorial sign was installed on the territory of the complex in 2009.

Yaroslav Dvorishche (Veliky Novgorod) has the address: Nikolskaya street, building 3B (commercial side).