Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 20:41, 5 January 2015

Staraya Ladoga Старая Ладога
FlagCoat of arms
Location of Staraya Ladoga
Staraya LadogaLocation of Staraya LadogaShow map of RussiaStaraya LadogaStaraya Ladoga (Leningrad Oblast)Show map of Leningrad Oblast
Coordinates: 59°59′56.170″N 32°17′44.880″E / 59.99893611°N 32.29580000°E / 59.99893611; 32.29580000
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Leningrad Oblast
Founded	753
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK )
Postal code(s)	187412
Dialing code(s)	+7 81363
OKTMO ID	41609462101

Staraya Ladoga (Template:Lang-ru), Template:Lang-fi or the Aldeigjuborg of Norse sagas, is a village (selo) in the Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River near Lake Ladoga, 8 km north of the town of Volkhov. The village used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries. A multi-ethnic settlement, it was dominated by Scandinavians who were called by the name of Rus and for that reason it is sometimes called the first capital of Russia.

Origin and name

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 through Ladoga to Novgorod and then to Constantinople or the Caspian Sea. This route is known as the Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks. An alternative way led down the Volga River along the Volga trade route to the Khazar capital of Atil, and then to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to Baghdad. Tellingly, the oldest Arabian Middle Age coin in Europe was unearthed in Ladoga.

Old (staraya means "old") Ladoga's inhabitants were Norsemen, Finns, and Slavs, hence different names for the city. The original Finnish name, Alode-joki (i.e., "lowland river"), was rendered as "Aldeigja" in Norse language and as "Ladoga" (Ладога) in Old East Slavic.

Ladoga under Rurik and Rurikids

According to the Hypatian Codex, the legendary Varangian leader Rurik arrived at Ladoga in 862 and made it his capital. Rurik's successors later moved to Novgorod and then to Kiev, thus laying foundations for the powerful state of Kievan Rus. There are several huge kurgans, 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. The Heimskringla and other Norse sources mention that in the late 990s Eiríkr Hákonarson 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 to 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 Ragnvald Ulfsson, 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 kings spent their youths in Ladoga, king 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. Later its trade significance declined and most of the population engaged in fishing in the 15th century. After new fortresses such as Oreshek and Korela were constructed in the 14th century further to the west of Ladoga the town's military significance also decreased. Ladoga belonged to the Vodskaya pyatina of the republic and contained 84 homesteads in the 15th century; most of the land belonged to the church. The Novgorodians built there a citadel with five towers and several churches. The fortress was rebuilt at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, while 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.

Sights and landmarks

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 Old Ladoga, in order to distinguish it from the new town.

The heart of Staraya Ladoga is an old fortress where the Yelena River flows into the Volkhov River. In earlier times, it was a strategic site because it was the only possible harbour for sea-vessels that could not navigate through the Volkhov River. Apart from the churches mentioned above, there is a mid-12th-century church of St. Climent, which stands in ruins. There is also a monastery, dedicated to St. Nicholas and constructed mainly in the 17th century.

Gallery

• St. George's Church in the Ladoga Fortress.
• 8th to 10th-century Viking burial mounds along the Volkhov River near Staraya Ladoga.

Staraya Ladoga in Painting

• Vladimir Ovchinnikov Staraya Ladoga. Saint George Cathedral 1971 Vladimir Ovchinnikov
  Staraya Ladoga. Saint George Cathedral 1971
• Alexander Semionov Staraya Ladoga. Towards Spring 1972 Alexander Semionov
  Staraya Ladoga. Towards Spring 1972
• Taisia Afonina St. Dmitry Solunsky Church in Staraya Ladoga 1976 Taisia Afonina
  St. Dmitry Solunsky Church in Staraya Ladoga 1976
• Arseny Semionov Staraya Ladoga 1964 Arseny Semionov
  Staraya Ladoga 1964
• Veniamin Borisov Cottage in Staraya Ladoga 1981 Veniamin Borisov
  Cottage in Staraya Ladoga 1981
• Vladimir Ovchinnikov Spring is on the way 1972 Vladimir Ovchinnikov
  Spring is on the way 1972
• Alexander Semionov Staraya Ladoga. A Midday 1971 Alexander Semionov
  Staraya Ladoga. A Midday 1971
• Vladimir Ovchinnikov A Spring. Staraya Ladoga 1971 Vladimir Ovchinnikov
  A Spring. Staraya Ladoga 1971

References

1. "Об исчислении времени". Официальный интернет-портал правовой информации (in Russian). 3 June 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
2. Почта России. Информационно-вычислительный центр ОАСУ РПО. (Russian Post). Поиск объектов почтовой связи (Postal Objects Search) (in Russian)
3. Federal State Statistics Service (21 May 2004). Численность населения России, субъектов Российской Федерации в составе федеральных округов, районов, городских поселений, сельских населённых пунктов – районных центров и сельских населённых пунктов с населением 3 тысячи и более человек [Population of Russia, Its Federal Districts, Federal Subjects, Districts, Urban Localities, Rural Localities—Administrative Centers, and Rural Localities with Population of Over 3,000] (XLS). Всероссийская перепись населения 2002 года (in Russian).
4. Chernykh, N.B. (1985). Дендрохронология древнейших горизонтов Старой Ладоги (по материалам раскопки Земляного городище) (Dendrochronology of the oldest layers of Starya Ladoga (from material of the excavation of the city's Earthmound)). Vol. I. Leningrad (Saint Petersburg). p. 79. {{cite book}}: |journal= ignored (help)CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
5. ^ Bernadsky, Viktor Nikolayevich (1961). Новгород и новгородская земля в XV веке (Novgorod and the Novgorod Land in the 15th Century). Leningrad (Saint Petersburg): published by the USSR Academy of Sciences. pp. 130–131.

External links

• History of Old Ladoga
• About Old Ladoga
• Detailed info on the fortress
• Template:Ru icon Old Ladoga Museum

v t e Garðaríki
Names in italics are settlements whose Norse names are not recorded
Volkhov-Volga trade route	Lyubsha Aldeigja Álaborg Duboviki Hólmgarðr Sarskoe Timerevo Balymer
Dvina-Dnieper trade route	Pallteskja Gnezdovo Chernigov Kænugarðr
Other locations	Bjarmaland Khortitsa White Shores Miklagarðr Móramar Rostofa Rurikovo Gorodische Særkland Smaleskja Súrdalar
Varangians Kylfings Chudes Rus' Slavs Merya Bulgars Khazars Blakumen

v t e Norse people
Scandinavia History
History	Nordic Stone Age Nordic Bronze Age Pre-Roman Iron Age Roman Iron Age Germanic Iron Age Migration Period Viking Age Old Norse religion Germanic paganism Norse mythology Christianization
Expansion	Norse–Gaels Normans Garðaríki Exploration of the Americas Trade route Viking Trade Routes Varangian Trade Routes Volga Trade Route
Paganism and mythology	Gods Æsir Vanir Jötunn Sigurd Sigmund Völundr Vættir Elves Light elves Dark elves Dvergr Einherjar Fenrir Hel (being) Dís Norns Valkyries Jörmungandr Ask and Embla
Cosmology	Ásgarðr Vanaheimr Miðgarðr Vígríðr Bifröst Fólkvangr Ginnungagap Helheim Múspellsheimr Niflheimr Mímisbrunnr Hvergelmir Urðarbrunnr Yggdrasill Valhalla Jötunheimr
Rituals and worship	Blót Seiðr Norse funeral Yule Walpurgis Night Midsummer Hörgr Vé Gothi Calendar Runic magic Völva Galdr Death in Norse paganism
Society	Law Clans Jarl Thegn Thrall Félag Thing Mead hall Holmgang Old Norse Runes Runemaster Nithing pole Skalds Longships Nīþ Ergi Vikings Berserkers Emporium
Events	Æsir–Vanir War Fimbulwinter Ragnarök Wild Hunt
Sources	Poetic Edda Prose Edda Tyrfing Cycle Völsung Cycle Saga Runestones
Settlements	Alaborg Aldeigja Arkona Bardy-Świelubie Birka Dierkow Gnezdovo Grobin Hedeby Holmgard Jomsborg Kaup Kaupang Köpingsvik Lindholm Menzlin Ralswiek Reric Ribe Sarskoye Sigtuna Timerevo Truso Vanaja Wolin
WikiProject Norse history and culture

• 753 establishments
• Staraya Ladoga
• Novgorod Republic
• Trading posts of the Hanseatic League
• Archaeological sites in Russia
• Defunct towns in Russia
• Rus settlements
• Populated places established in the 8th century