Presidential Library invites readers to virtual cinema tour of North-West of Russia

Russian Cinema Day is celebrated on August 27 in Russia. The Presidential Library invites readers to take a virtual film tour of the North-West region of our country. Documentary films prepared by library specialists are available on the library's portal. Presidential Library gives an opportunity to explore different ancient cities remotely from any place. One such city is Veliky Novgorod, known as the cradle of Russia.

The film Novgorod: 1150 Years in the History of the Russian State is dedicated to the 1150th anniversary of the city. It was created based on materials from the permanent exhibitions of the Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve and the work of archaeologists who have been conducting excavations in the city.

The film tells the story of Novgorod region from the 6th to the 15th century. It focuses on events related to the formation of Russian statehood in Novgorod, the reign of Rurik, and the rise of Novgorod in the late 10th and early 11th centuries. It also discusses the political structure, economic system, and the city's integration into the Moscow State.

One and a half kilometers from Veliky Novgorod, on the right bank of the Volkhov, stands the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa - a vivid example of 12th-century Novgorod architecture. The film The Restored Frescoes of the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa tells the story of the restoration of these unique frescoes.

Researchers from the 19th century were surprised by the peculiarities of the painting in this temple, as it seemed very unusual. Tatyana Romashkevich, the restorer and head of the restoration team for the Church of the Savior on Nereditsa, describes this in detail.

Several more documentary films about Veliky Novgorod are available on the Presidential Library's portal. For instance, the restoration of fresco paintings is discussed in The Saved Frescoes of the Church of the Assumption on Volotovo Field, and the collection of decorative and applied arts from the Novgorod State United Museum-Reserve is featured in The Golden Storeroom of Veliky Novgorod.

Staraya Ladoga, a city where the princes Rurik and Oleg (also known as Prophetic Oleg) once visited, has been competing with Veliky Novgorod to be considered the capital of ancient Russia in academic circles. The city has the remains of a stone fortress and temples with 800-year-old frescoes.

After watching the movie Saved Frescoes of Staraya Ladoga: Churches of the 12th Century, readers can learn about the fallen and destroyed frescoes of Saint George and other churches on the Ladoga land. Since 1973, researchers have been studying the collection of fragments of frescoes and building materials from six stone churches in Ladoga from the 12th century.

To this day, some paintings from the churches of Saint George, the Assumption of the Virgin, and small areas on the western pillars and southern wall of the Church of Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker can still be seen on the walls of the city.

After Staraya Ladoga and the ancient city of Pskov, viewers move to the bank of the Velikaya River where the Mirozhsky Monastery was founded in the 12th century. The documentary film, The Saved Frescoes of the Transfiguration Cathedral at the Mirozhsky Monastery, is dedicated to the history and restoration of these world-famous frescoes, which represent one of the most significant stages in the development of Byzantine art. The Mirozhsky Monastery holds a prominent place among the Christian relics of Pskov.

A lot of interesting data is available in the Russian North, and the pearl of it is the city of Vologda. This documentary tells the story of the construction of the Vologda fortress by Ivan the Terrible. The authors of the documentary, together with the employees of the Vologda State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, explored the places where the wooden palace of Ivan the Terrible and his house church were located, as well as the remains of the fortress towers. These towers were later used in the construction of modern buildings.

This and other documentaries are available on the Presidential Library's portal in the Audio visual materials section.