Velikiy Novgorod is the foremost historic city of Russia, a genuine treasury of the national culture and art. The history of Russia is simply impossible without Novgorod. In Russia they say: “Novgorod is the Father, Kiev is the Mother and Moscow is the heart of all old Russian cities”.
The history of Velikiy Novgorod is as long as 1200 years. The Chronicle first mentions it in 859. From XII to XV centuries Novgorod was the capital of Novgorod Feudal Republic, the largest state formation in medieval Europe.
Novgorod is known to be one of the foremost centres of expansion of Christianity among the Rus. In 990 Ioakim Korsunianin, the first bishop of Novgorod the Great, arrived here from Kiev. The first stone cathedral of Saint Sofia was being built here from 1045 to 1050, thus symbolizing the ultimate victory of a new religion in Northern Russia.
Due to its beneficial geographic location the city was developing as the commercial centre of Old Rus. It was also a major station on the trade route from the Baltics to Byzantium.
German merchants were the ones to have their own trade court and the ones to maintain close commercial relations with. Up to 200 German merchants could stay in Novgorod at a time. Velikiy Novgorod was the easternmost settlement of the Hanseatic League.
However, Novgorod the Great is glorious by many other things. It is actually the centre of Russian culture. Yet in XI-XII centuries the literacy rate among the aristocracy and common citizens of Novgorod was incredibly high as evidenced by numerous birch bark documents discovered by archeologists in this area. It was specified that medieval Novgorod residents had recorded religious and political messages, household and commercial documents, routine and love letters in birch bark. The education process was started in 1030 in Novgorod by Yaroslav I the Wise who initiated the first school at the Episcopal court.
Literacy made it possible to record first manuscripts and script books. The oldest Russian book, the Novgorod Codex written in wooden wax tablets (dated between 988 and 1030 AD), was unearthed in Novgorod. One of the largest medieval Russian libraries containing about 1, 500 script volumes, was collected and kept in Novgorod at the renowned Sofia Cathedral built in 1045-1050. Ostromir Gospels (1057), Nomocanon, the collection of ecclesiastical and secular law (1280), all these script books originate from Velikiy Novgorod.
No other Russian city but Novgorod has preserved as many architectural monuments, paintings and applied art objects of 900-1600 AD. Since 1992 all monuments of Velikiy Novgorod have been guarded by UNESCO as a part of the world heritage.
