Staraya Ladoga (russian: Ста́рая Ла́дога, p=ˈstarəjə ˈladəɡə, lit=Old Ladoga), known as Ladoga until 1704, is a

rural locality In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are describ ...

(a '' selo'') in

Volkhovsky District Volkhovsky District (russian: Во́лховский райо́н) is an administrativeOblast Law #32-oz and municipalLaw #56-oz district (raion), one of the seventeen in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It is located in the central eastern part of the o ...

Leningrad Oblast Leningrad Oblast ( rus, Ленинградская область, Leningradskaya oblast’, lʲɪnʲɪnˈgratskəjə ˈobləsʲtʲ, , ) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 194 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, located on the

Volkhov River The Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is a river in Novgorodsky and Chudovsky Districts of Novgorod Oblast and Kirishsky and Volkhovsky Districts of Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia. It connects Lake Ilmen and Lake Ladoga and forms pa ...

near Lake Ladoga, north of the town of

Volkhov Volkhov (russian: Во́лхов) is an industrial town and the administrative center of Volkhovsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the river Volkhov east of St. Petersburg. Population: It was previously known as ''Zvan ...

, the

administrative center An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lu ...

of the district. It used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries. It was dominated by

Varangians The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

who became known as the Rus'. For that reason, it is sometimes called the first capital of Russia.

History

Origin

Dendrochronology suggests that Ladoga was founded in 753. Until 950, it was one of the most important trading ports of Eastern Europe. Merchant vessels sailed from the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

through Ladoga to Novgorod and then to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

or the

Caspian Sea The Caspian Sea is the world's largest inland body of water, often described as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. An endorheic basin, it lies between Europe and Asia; east of the Caucasus, west of the broad steppe of Central Asia ...

. This route is known as the

trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks was a medieval trade route that connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Eastern Roman Empire. The route allowed merchants along its length to establish a direct prosperous trade with the Empir ...

. An alternative way led down the

Volga River The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchme ...

along the

Volga trade route In the Middle Ages, the Volga trade route connected Northern Europe and Northwestern Russia with the Caspian Sea and the Sasanian Empire, via the Volga River. The Rus used this route to trade with Muslim countries on the southern shores of the ...

to the

Khazar The Khazars ; he, כּוּזָרִים, Kūzārīm; la, Gazari, or ; zh, 突厥曷薩 ; 突厥可薩 ''Tūjué Kěsà'', () were a semi-nomadic Turkic people that in the late 6th-century CE established a major commercial empire coverin ...

capital of

Atil Atil (also Itil) , was the capital of the Khazar Khaganate from the middle of the 8th century until the end of the 10th century. Known to have been situated on the Silk Road in the vicinity of the Caspian Sea, its precise location has long bee ...

, and then to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. Tellingly, the oldest Arabian Middle Age coin in Europe was unearthed in Ladoga.

Ladoga under Rurik and the Rurikids

According to the

Hypatian Codex The Hypatian Codex (also known as Hypatian Letopis or Ipatiev Letopis; be, Іпацьеўскі летапіс; russian: Ипатьевская летопись; uk, Іпатіївський літопис) is a ''svod'' (compendium) of three ''l ...

that was created at the end of the 13th century, the legendary

Varangian The Varangians (; non, Væringjar; gkm, Βάραγγοι, ''Várangoi'';Varangian
" Online Etymo ...

leader Rurik arrived at Ladoga in 862 and made it his capital. Rurik later moved to Novgorod and subsequently his successors moved from there to Kiev where foundations for the powerful state of

Kievan Rus' Kievan Rusʹ, also known as Kyivan Rusʹ ( orv, , Rusĭ, or , , ; Old Norse: ''Garðaríki''), was a state in Eastern and Northern Europe from the late 9th to the mid-13th century.John Channon & Robert Hudson, ''Penguin Historical Atlas of ...

were laid. There are several huge

tumulus A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones bu ...

, or royal funerary barrows, at the outskirts of Ladoga. One of them is said to be Rurik's grave, and another one—that of his successor

Oleg Oleg (russian: Олег), Oleh ( uk, Олег), or Aleh ( be, Алег) is an East Slavic given name. The name is very common in Russia, Ukraine and Belаrus. It derives from the Old Norse ''Helgi'' ( Helge), meaning "holy", "sacred", or "bless ...

. The

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

and other Norse sources mention that in the late 990s

Eric Haakonsson The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...

of Norway raided the coast and set the town ablaze. Ladoga was the most important trading center in Eastern Europe from about 800 to 900 CE, and it is estimated that between 90% to 95% of all Arab dirhams found in Sweden passed through Ladoga. Ladoga's next mention in chronicles is dated 1019, when Ingigerd of Sweden married Yaroslav of Novgorod. Under the terms of their marriage settlement, Yaroslav ceded Ladoga to his wife, who appointed her father's cousin, the Swedish

earl Earl () is a rank of the nobility in the United Kingdom. The title originates in the Old English word ''eorl'', meaning "a man of noble birth or rank". The word is cognate with the Scandinavian form '' jarl'', and meant "chieftain", particula ...

Ragnvald Ulfsson Ragnvald Ulfsson the Old (beginning 11th century) was a jarl of Västergötland or Östergötland and was married to a sister of King Olav Tryggvason.Winroth 1995–1997:616 Biography According to Snorri, Ragnvald was the son of jarl Ulf T ...

, to rule the town. This information is confirmed by sagas and archaeological evidence, which suggests that Ladoga gradually evolved into a primarily Varangian settlement. At least two

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

kings spent their youths in Ladoga, Stenkil and Inge I, and possibly also King Anund Gårdske. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Ladoga functioned as a trade outpost of the powerful

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east, including the city of Novgorod and the Lake Ladoga regions of mod ...

. Later its trade significance declined and most of the population engaged in fishing in the 15th century. After new fortresses such as

Oreshek Shlisselburg ( rus, Шлиссельбу́рг, p=ʂlʲɪsʲɪlʲˈburk; german: Schlüsselburg; fi, Pähkinälinna; sv, Nöteborg), formerly Oreshek (Орешек) (1323–1611) and Petrokrepost (Петрокрепость) (1944–1992), is ...

and Korela were constructed in the 14th century further to the west of Ladoga, the town's military significance also decreased. Ladoga belonged to Vodskaya Pyatina of the Republic and contained eighty-four homesteads in the 15th century; most of the land belonged to the church. The Novgorodians built there a

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

with five towers and several churches.

Later history

After the town of Novaya Ladoga (New Ladoga) was founded in 1704 by Peter the Great, Ladoga became known as Staraya Ladoga and its importance decreased.

Sights and landmarks

The heart of Staraya Ladoga is an old fortress where the Ladozhka flows into the Volkhov. In earlier times, it was a strategic site because it was the only possible harbor for sea-vessels that could not navigate through the Volkhov River. The fortress was rebuilt at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1703, Peter the Great founded the town of Novaya Ladoga (New Ladoga) closer to the bank of Lake Ladoga. The ancient fortress thenceforth declined and came to be known as Staraya Ladoga (Old Ladoga), in order to distinguish it from the new town. The reconstruction of one of the towers of Staraya Ladoga's fortress was scheduled to be completed in 2010. File:Prokudin-Gorskii Ladoga fortress.jpg, Ladoga Fortress 1909 by

Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky ( rus, Сергей Михайлович Прокудин-Горский, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪxəjɫəvʲɪtɕ prəkudʲin ˈɡorskʲɪj, a=ru-Prokudin-Gorskii.ogg; – September 27, 1944) was a Ru ...

File:Вход в крепость.JPG, Ladoga Fortress 2013 File:Вид на крепость и пришвартованная ладья.JPG, Ladoga Fortress 2013 File:Staraya Ladoga Fortress 2.jpg, Ladoga Fortress 2017 File:Staraya Ladoga Fortress 1.jpg, Ladoga Fortress 2017 File:Воротная башня, ворота.jpg, Ladoga Fortress main gate File:Староладожская крепость. Церковь Дмитрия Солунского. Вид с юга.JPG, Ladoga Fortress wooden chapel File:Volkhov River view upstream.jpg, Panorama of the Ladoga Fortress from the eastern bank of the Volkhov River The mid-12th-century churches of St. George and of Mary's Assumption stand in all their original glory. Inside St. George's, some magnificent 12th-century frescoes are still visible. In addition, there is a mid-12th-century church of St. Climent, which stands in ruins. File:StGeorgeChurch060709.jpg, St. George's Church in the Ladoga Fortress. File:Georgeladoga.jpg, St. George's Church contains frescoes painted in 1167. File:Собор Успения Пресвятой Богородицы XII века постройки.jpg, The Assumption Cathedral, Staraya Ladoga in the Assumption Monastery/Nunnery File:Staraya Ladoga Church.JPG, Church of St. John the Baptist on Malyshevaya Hill 1909 by

There is also the Assumption Nunnery/Monastery, and a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

, dedicated to St. Nicholas which was constructed mainly in the 17th century. File:Staraya Ladoga Assumption Monastery Nunnery 6.jpg, The Assumption Monastery/Nunnery File:Staraya Ladoga Assumption Monastery Nunnery 2.jpg, The Assumption Monastery/Nunnery File:Staraya Ladoga Assumption Monastery Nunnery 4.jpg, The Assumption Monastery/Nunnery File:Staraya Ladoga Assumption Monastery Nunnery 5.jpg, The Assumption Monastery/Nunnery File:Staraya Ladoga Saint Nicholas Monastery LOC 01916u.jpg, The St Nicholas Monastery 1909 by

File:Староладожский Никольский монастырь.JPG, The St Nicholas Monastery 2011

Culture and art

Staraya Ladoga's barrows, architectural monuments, and romantic views of the

have always been drawing attention of Russian painters. There were the artists

Ivan Aivazovsky Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky (russian: link=no, Иван Константинович Айвазовский; 29 July 18172 May 1900) was a Russian Romantic painter who is considered one of the greatest masters of marine art. Baptized ...

, Orest Kiprensky,

Aleksander Orłowski Aleksander Orłowski (9 March 1777 – 13 March 1832) was a Polish painter and sketch artist, and a pioneer of lithography in the Russian Empire. Life Orłowski was born in 1777 in Warsaw into an impoverished noble family, his father was a ...

, Ivan Ivanov,

Alexey Venetsianov Alexey Gavrilovich Venetsianov (russian: Алексей Гаврилович Венецианов; 18 February 1780–4 January 1847) was a Russian painter, renowned for his paintings devoted to peasant life and ordinary people. Life Alexe ...

and many others in the 19th century. A future member of the

Imperial Academy of Arts The Russian Academy of Arts, informally known as the Saint Petersburg Academy of Arts, was an art academy in Saint Petersburg, founded in 1757 by the founder of the Imperial Moscow University Ivan Shuvalov under the name ''Academy of the T ...

and the

Peredvizhniki Peredvizhniki ( rus, Передви́жники, , pʲɪrʲɪˈdvʲiʐnʲɪkʲɪ), often called The Wanderers or The Itinerants in English, were a group of Russian realist artists who formed an artists' cooperative in protest of academic restr ...

group Vassily Maximov was born and laid to rest there. He portrayed scenes from an everyday life of peasants.

Nicholas Roerich Nicholas Roerich (; October 9, 1874 – December 13, 1947), also known as Nikolai Konstantinovich Rerikh (russian: link=no, Никола́й Константи́нович Ре́рих), was a Russian painter, writer, archaeologist, theosophi ...

painted his studies there during the summer of 1899. He named this landscape the best of the Russian one.Д. П. Бучкин. О доме творчества «Старая Ладога» // Д. П. Бучкин. Гравюры и рассказы. — СПб, Бибилиотека «Невского альманаха», 2004. — С. 10.

Valentin Serov Valentin Alexandrovich Serov (russian: Валенти́н Алекса́ндрович Серо́в; 19 January 1865 – 5 December 1911) was a Russian painter and one of the premier portrait artists of his era. Life and work Youth and edu ...

Konstantin Korovin Konstantin Alekseyevich Korovin (russian: Константи́н Алексе́евич Коро́вин, first name often spelled Constantin; 11 September 1939) was a leading Russian Impressionist painter. Biography Youth and education Konstan ...

Boris Kustodiev Boris Mikhaylovich Kustodiev (russian: Бори́с Миха́йлович Кусто́диев; – 28 May 1927) was a Russian and Soviet painter and stage designer. Early life Boris Kustodiev was born in Astrakhan into the family of a profe ...

also worked there. Alexander Samokhvalov was in Staraya Ladoga many times in 1924-1926. He took part in the restoration of the St. George's Church. That experience gave a great deal to the artist, he wrote. It helped him to understand the effect of joining a monumental painting with the architectural forms. In result of this dwelling in that place painter made his "Staraya Ladoga" (1924) and "Family of Fisherman"(1926,

Russian Museum The State Russian Museum (russian: Государственный Русский музей), formerly the Russian Museum of His Imperial Majesty Alexander III (russian: Русский Музей Императора Александра III), on ...

) In February 1945 the ex-estate of the prince Shakhovskoy was given to Leningrad artists as a base zone for the rest and creative work. The restoring works continued 15 years from 1946. But Leningrad artists began to arrive to Staraya Ladoga from 1940s. It became a source of inspiration for Sergei Osipov,

Gleb Savinov Gleb Savinov (russian: Гле́б Алекса́ндрович Сави́нов; September 27, 1915, Natalievka, Kharkov Governorate, Russian Empire – November 5, 2000, Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet, Russian painter and art t ...

, Nikolai Timkov, Arseny Semionov and many others for many years. A House of creativity «Staraya Ladoga» began to work permanently in the beginning of 1960s after the finish of the restoration. It was an important center of the art life of Russia for 30 years. Such artists as Evsey Moiseenko, Alexander Samokhvalov, Vecheslav Zagonek, Dmitry Belyaev, Vladimir Ovchinnikov,

Boris Ugarov Boris Sergeevich Ugarov (russian: Бори́с Серге́евич Уга́ров; 6 February 1922 – 2 August 1991) was a Russian Soviet realist painter and art educator, Honored Artist of the RSFSR, who lived and worked in Leningrad. He was ...

Boris Shamanov Boris Ivanovich Shamanov (russian: Бори́с Ива́нович Шама́нов; September 15, 1931 – March 1, 2008) was a Soviet Russian realist painter, graphic artist, and art teacher, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, who ...

Vsevolod Bazhenov Vsevolod Andreevich Bazhenov (russian: Все́волод Андре́евич Баже́нов; February 18, 1909 – August 2, 1986) was a Soviet, Russian painter who lived and worked in Leningrad. He was a member of the ''Leningrad branch of ...

Piotr Buchkin Piotr Dmitrievich Buchkin (russian: Пё́тр Дми́триевич Бучки́н; 22 January 1886 – 21 June 1965) was a Soviet and Russian painter, watercolorist, graphic artist, illustrator, and art teacher, Honored Arts Worker of the RSFS ...

Zlata Bizova Zlata Nikolaevna Bizova (russian: Зла́та Никола́евна Бызо́ва; 29 March 1927, Leningrad, USSR - 8 August 2013) was a Russian Soviet realist painter and graphic artist, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg (former Lening ...

Taisia Afonina Taisia Kirillovna Afonina (russian: Таи́сия Кири́лловна Афо́нина; 13 May 1913 – 19 April 1994) was a Ukrainian and Russian painter and watercolorist. She lived and worked in Leningrad, was a member of the Saint ...

Marina Kozlovskaya Marina Andreevna Kozlovskaya (russian: Мари́на Андре́евна Козло́вская; 7 April 1925 – 2019) was a Soviet and Russian painter who lived and worked in Leningrad – Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of the leading rep ...

, Dmitry Maevsky,

Alexander Semionov Alexander Mikhailovich Semionov (russian: Александр Михайлович Семёнов; 18 February 1922 – 23 June 1984) is a Soviet Russian painter, a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists and representative of the Leningrad Scho ...

, Arseny Semionov, Irina Dobrekova, Vladimir Sakson,

, Elena Zhukova, Sergei Zakharov, Ivan Varichev,

Veniamin Borisov Veniamin Ivanovich Borisov (russian: Вениами́н Ива́нович Бори́сов; 16 April 1935, in Susanino, Kostroma Oblast, Russian SFSR – 6 October 2014, in Saint Petersburg) was a Soviet Russian painter, a member of the Saint ...

Valery Vatenin Valery Vladimirovich Vatenin (russian: Вале́рий Влади́мирович Вате́нин; January 27, 1933, Leningrad, USSR – June 16, 1977, Leningrad, USSR) was a Russian Soviet realist painter, graphic artist, and art teacher, ...

Ivan Godlevsky Ivan Ivanovich Godlevsky (russian: Иван Иванович Годлевский; March 9, 1908 in Kholm Governorate, Russian Empire – August 20, 1998 in Saint Petersburg, Russia) was a Soviet Russian painter, a member of the Saint Petersburg ...

, Vladimir Krantz, Lazar Yazgur, Irina Dobrekova, Piotr Fomin and many other Leningrad and other regions painters and graphic artists worked there. In 1970-1980 a House of Creativity was widening, the new buildings were built. They used it a whole-year. A dwelling there for 1–2 months was without any payment for them. All commitments on habitation, feed and journeys took the Art Foundation of

Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

. The paintings created there were exposed in the first-rate art exhibitions. It completed the collections of the main museums of Soviet Union and numerous private collections of Russia and abroad. Also it became a base of an extensive found of painting, graphics and sculpture of the museum “Staraya Ladoga”.Фонд живописи, графики и скульптуры музея - заповедника «Старая Ладога»
/ref> Financing of the House of Creativity stopped at the beginning of the 1990s on the breakup of the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and after the liquidation of the Art Foundation. It stopped to receive the artists and was closed.

References

Notes

Sources

* * *А.Н. Самохвалов. Ладога, и не только Ладога // А. Н. Самохвалов. Мой творческий путь. — Л: Художник РСФСР, 1977. *А.Н. Самохвалов. В поисках монументальной выразительности // А. Н. Самохвалов. В годы беспокойного солнца. — СПб: Всемирное слово, 1996. *Д.П. Бучкин. О доме творчества «Старая Ладога» // Д. П. Бучкин. Гравюры и рассказы. — СПб, Бибилиотека «Невского альманаха», 2004. *Н. В. Мурашова, Л. П. Мыслина. Дворянские усадьбы Санкт-Петербургской губернии. Южное Приладожье. Кировский и Волховский районы. — СПб, Алаборг, 2009. *Л. С. Конова. Санкт-Петербургский Союз художников. Краткая хроника 1932-2009 // Петербургские искусствоведческие тетради. Выпуск 20. — СПб, 2012.

External links

History of Old Ladoga
* ttp://www.ladogamuseum.ru/about/funds/f1/ The Fund of Painting, Grafics, and Sculptures of reserve-museum ''Staraya Ladoga''
Old Ladoga Museum
{{Use mdy dates, date=July 2015 Rural localities in Leningrad Oblast 753 establishments Novgorod Republic Trading posts of the Hanseatic League Archaeological sites in Russia Defunct towns in Russia Varangians Populated places established in the 8th century 8th-century establishments in Russia 8th-century establishments in Europe