Ancient pages about the history of modern Leningrad Region

The village of Staraya Ladoga is located 130 kilometers east of St. Petersburg, in Leningrad Region, in the lower reaches of the Volkhov River. Until 1704 it had the status of a city called Ladoga. Ladoga was the first "window to Europe" for the Eastern Slavs, a key port city on the great waterways, including the famous from the Varangians to the Greeks. This city witnessed the birth of the Russian state. The evidence of the "capital" character of Staraya Ladoga and the significance of the role it played in Russian history is provided by the Presidential Library's film Capital City, as well as other materials presented on the institution's portal.

...The call to reign of Rurik in Ladoga, according to the chronicles, took place in 862. Scientists associate the date of foundation of Ladoga with an archaeological find of a log of an ancient hut. The analysis of the saw cut revealed the date of its felling - 753. But studies of the soil in this place show that Ladoga could have arisen in earlier centuries. Anatoly Kirpichnikov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences, author of the concept of Staraya Ladoga as the "ancient capital of Northern Russia", speaks about this in the Presidential Library film Capital City. Since 1972, every summer, together with his colleagues and students-archeologists, he carried out excavations in Ladoga, removing one cultural layer after another and unraveling the secrets of history hidden by time.

For a century, Ladoga has flourished. But the beginning of the 9th century was marked by bloody wars both with the closest neighbors and with the Varangians, whom the Ladoga land has always attracted with its wealth. It was at this time that the most important event in the history of Staraya Ladoga and Russia as a whole took place - the call to reign of Rurik: “And they said to themselves: 'Let's look for a prince who would rule us and judge us by right.' And they went across the sea, to the Varangians ... The Chud, the Slavs, the Krivichi and the whole said: “Our land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come to reign and rule over us"", - this is how the formation of statehood in Russia is described in the Tale of Bygone Years.

Rurik heeded the request and “cut down the city of Ladoga”. Subsequently, the walls - already under Oleg - were erected from stone. Legends say that it was here, on the Ladoga land, that "he accepted death from his horse" and the Prophetic Oleg was buried. His burial place is considered to be the largest of the Ladoga burial mounds, but scientists have no reliable data on this.

Under Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich, when Ladoga was already under the rule of Novgorod, the rapid construction of churches and monasteries began. ““Ladoga stretched forty miles before, and there were forty churches in it”, say local residents. Forty churches, never existed there, but there were at least more of them than at the present time. In some places, wooden crosses mark the places of destroyed churches ... Excavation of the embankments did reveal the ruins of ancient churches, which, according to various characteristics, were also attributed to the 11th and 12th centuries”, - says Yekaterina Nelidova in the book Rus’ in its capitals. Staraya Ladoga (1916).

The reason for such a rapid development of temple architecture is explained by Anatoly Kirpichnikov in the film Capital City: “At the beginning of the 12th century, a kind of record took place in Ladoga - 5 or 6 stone churches were built at once. This was not the case anywhere in Russia. Obviously, this was a state plan - to create a large settlement in Ladoga, to build monasteries in stone. These northernmost ancient Russian churches were built instantly - literally in two or three decades ... Ladoga. First half of the 12th century. Another powerful rise of Russia”. The films of the Presidential Library Saved Frescoes of Staraya Ladoga. Church of St. George and Saved Frescoes of Staraya Ladoga. Churches of the XII century illustrate the monuments of temple architecture of Staraya Ladoga.

Of the churches existing in Staraya Ladoga at the present time, the most ancient is the Church of St. George. The temple, decorated with frescoes from the 12th century, played an important role in the Orthodox world. According to Yekaterina Nelidova, there is a legend that the church “...it was built on the site of the former pagan temple. It is also believed that it was founded in the XI century by Yaroslav the Wise, during his reign in Novgorod. <...> This is also indicated by the fact that the church was built in the name of St. George: George Yaroslav was named at baptism. " Many historians believe that Alexander Yaroslavovich, who received the title of Nevsky for the victory, prayed in this church before the battle with the Swedes in 1240...

Speaking about the uniqueness of Staraya Ladoga, Anatoly Kirpichnikov emphasized: "It is on this ancient land that we find the greatest possible harmony between the chronicle evidence and archeology".

... Since the reign of Peter I, Ladoga was deprived of the status of a city and, having changed its name to Staraya Ladoga, turned into an ordinary village. Although it is difficult to call it "ordinary" - today almost all of its territory - with earthen ramparts, barrows, ancient fortress walls, churches and temples - is included in the Staraya Ladoga Historical, Architectural and Archaeological Museum-Reserve.

Six years ago, in the center of Staraya Ladoga, a monument to Rurik and Oleg was unveiled, with which the first steps of Russian statehood are associated. The grand Princes cast in bronze lean on a shield, personifying the protection of the state, the power and strength of the Russian people.