Veliky Novgorod ( və-LEE-kee NOV-gə-rod; Russian: Великий Новгород, IPA: [vʲɪˈlʲikʲɪj ˈnovɡərət]; lit. 'Great Newtown'), also known simply as Novgorod, is the largest city and the administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. The city lies along the Volkhov River, just 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) downstream of its outflow from Lake Ilmen, and is situated on the M10 federal highway, which connects Moscow and Saint Petersburg. The city has a population of 224,286 (2021 census).
Novgorod is one of the oldest cities in Russia; it was first mentioned in the 9th century. From 1136 to 1478, it was the centre of a separate administrative and political entity known as the Novgorod Republic, which controlled much of the Russian North. Novgorod served as the intermediary between other Russian cities and northwestern Europe, allowing it to flourish through trade with the Hanseatic League, whose major trading post, or kontor, in the city was the Peterhof. At its peak in the 14th century, it was one of Europe's largest cities. It was also a major centre of Russian art and culture.
The city was historically known as Veliky Novgorod to distinguish it from other Russian cities known as Novgorod. In 1999, it was officially renamed Veliky Novgorod. UNESCO recognised Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992.
Climate
Veliky Novgorod has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb). The city has warm summers with temperatures reaching over 30 °C (86 °F) and relatively cold winters with frequent snowfall. The lowest air temperature ever recorded is -45 °C (-49 °F). The warmest month is July with a daily mean of 18.7 °C (65 °F), the coldest month is February with a daily mean of -6 °C (21 °F). The highest amount of precipitation is on average in June with 73 mm (2.9 inches) of precipitation, the driest is March with 30 mm (1.2 inches) of precipitation. The annual amount of precipitation is 603 mm (23.7 inches).
History
Early developments
The Nikon Chronicle, a late source, makes initial mention of the city under the year 859, in connection with the death of Novgorod's elder Gostomysl, while the copy of the Primary Chronicle found in the Laurentian Codex first mentions Novgorod under the year 862. The Charter of Veliky Novgorod recognises 859 as the year when the city was first mentioned and, therefore, the year it was founded. This date was proposed by the historian Mikhail Tikhomirov in 1959, when the city celebrated its 1,100th anniversary.
The original site of the city is thought to have been located at the source of the Volkhov River, where it flows from Lake Ilmen; Ryurikovo Gorodishche, located about a mile from the city centre, was founded sometime in the 9th century. By 930, the elite residences outside of the fort had merged at the present-day site of Veliky Novgorod. The reliably dated archaeological layers of Veliky Novgorod date no earlier than the 930s, and so the present-day site of the city is estimated to have emerged around the turn of the 9th and 10th centuries, or at the beginning of the 10th century.
The name Novgorod, which literally means 'new town', suggests that the city was preceded by an 'old town'. This 'old town' is often identified with Gorodishche; however, according to an alternative view, Gorodishche served as a princely pogost that controlled the area that later became the site of present-day Veliky Novgorod. The historian Valentin Yanin believed that Gorodishche was not separate from Novgorod but instead formed part of a larger, developing urban agglomeration. Novgorod therefore emerged through the merging of several kontsy ('ends'). The three original kontsy, or settlements, were Lyudin and Nerevsky on the left bank, and Slavensky on the right bank, followed by the emergence of Plotnitsky on the right bank in the 12th century and Zagorodsky on the left bank in the 13th century.
The Old Norse name Hólmgarðr is usually identified with the city. A wide range of explanations for the origin of the name have been proposed, including it referring to Ilmensky gorod (a town on Lake Ilmen), a town on an island (from hólmr, 'island'), settlements in the insularum regio (during the flood on the Volkhov), and Holm-gorod (a fortified settlement called Holm). Another possibility is that it referred to Gorodishche.
According to the Primary Chronicle, the Varangian chieftain Rurik was invited by the local tribes to rule over them in 862. The copy of the Primary Chronicle found in the Hypatian Codex says that Rurik first arrived at Ladoga before establishing himself at Novgorod. The prince of Novgorod continued to reside in Gorodishche until the late 15th century. These Varangians, known as the Rus', gave their name to the land and subsequently to Russia. As a result, Novgorod is traditionally viewed as the birthplace of the Russian monarchy in Russian historiography and a cradle of Russian statehood.
Kievan period
According to the Primary Chronicle, Rurik's successor Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and laid the foundations for the state of Kievan Rus'. Nevertheless, most Greek and Latin sources continued to mention Novgorod as the political centre for the next century, until it was eclipsed by Kiev. Following military campaigns in 947, the territories between the valleys of the Luga River in the west and the Msta River in the east were incorporated into the Novgorodian land. Around this time, as a result of increased urban revenues, a street-based layout of estates emerged and mandatory street paving was introduced. In addition, the Novgorod Detinets was built and served as the city's main fortification. The name Novgorod was initially given to the detinets (or kremlin) and subsequently extended to the rest of the territory of the city.
Novgorod's size, as well as its political, economic, and cultural influence, made it the second-most important city in Kievan Rus'. As it lay at the junction of multiple trade routes, particularly the route from the Varangians to the Greeks, Novgorod quickly developed as a centre of trade, crafts, and culture. According to custom, the eldest son and heir of the ruling Kievan prince was sent to rule in Novgorod, even when he was a minor. When the ruling monarch had no such son, Novgorod was governed by posadniki, or representatives of the prince, such as Dobrynya, Konstantin, and Ostromir.
By the end of the 10th century, the Novgorodians had been baptised during the reign of Vladimir the Great. Novgorod received its first bishop in 989 (elevated to archiepiscopal status in 1165). Yaroslav the Wise served as the prince of Novgorod from 1010 to 1019, while his father, Vladimir, ruled in Kiev. Yaroslav granted significant privileges to Novgorodian boyars, or nobles, after they supported him in seizing the Kievan throne in 1019. Yaroslav promulgated the first written code of laws, later incorporated into the Russkaya Pravda; historians generally believe that Yaroslav wrote a law that was connected to Novgorod's support in his war against his half-brother, Sviatopolk. The beginning of widespread literacy in Novgorod is also dated to Yaroslav's reign, as he ordered 300 Novgorodian children from boyar and priestly families to be taught. As a result, from the 11th century, Novgorod was one of the largest centres of chronicle writing. Yaroslav's son, Vladimir, sponsored the construction of the great Saint Sophia Cathedral, which stands to this day.
In Norse sagas, the city is mentioned as the capital of Garðaríki. Many Viking leaders came to Novgorod seeking refuge or employment, including the Norwegian kings Olaf Tryggvason, Olaf Haraldsson, Magnus Olafsson, and Harald Hardrada. Following the death and canonisation of Olaf Haraldsson, the Novgorodians built Saint Olaf's Church in his memory.
Republican period
From 1136 to 1478, Novgorod was the centre of a separate political and administrative entity known as the Novgorod Republic. The Novgorodians dismissed their prince, Vsevolod Mstislavich, in 1136, and this year is traditionally taken as the beginning of the republican period, although the development of republican institutions in Novgorod was a much more complicated process that began earlier and ended much later. Novgorod was effectively a city-state dominated by a small group of wealthy merchant and noble families; although such city-states were common in Western Europe, this system was unique in Russia, where princes typically held supreme authority. Novgorod was the largest Russian state until it was surpassed by Moscow in the 15th century. It controlled much of the Russian North, with its hinterland stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the Ural Mountains in the east.
The city was able to appoint and dismiss a number of princes over the next two centuries, but the princely office was never abolished, and powerful princes, such as Alexander Nevsky, could assert their will in the city regardless of the wishes of the Novgorodians and usually independently of any boyar group that was dominant at the time. One of the most important local figures in Novgorod was the posadnik, or mayor, an official elected by the veche (popular assembly) from among the city's boyars, or aristocracy. From the end of the 13th century, the posadnik was limited to one-year appointments, and from 1354, each of the five kontsy of Novgorod had their own posadnik, along with the stepenny (acting) posadnik. The number of posadniki increased again in the 15th century. By the end, there were 36 posadniki, while the term of office was reduced to six months. The tysyatsky, or chiliarch, originally the head of the Novgorodian militia but later a commercial and judicial official, was also elected by the veche. Another important local official was the archbishop, who shared power with the boyars. The archbishop was elected by the veche or chosen by lot, and, after being chosen, was sent to the metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church for consecration.
While a basic outline of the various officials and the veche can be drawn up, the city-state's exact political constitution remains unknown. In theory, supreme power belonged to the veche. The boyars and the archbishop ruled the city together, although where one official's power ended and another's began is uncertain. The prince, although his power was greatly diminished from the 13th century, was represented by his namestnik, or lieutenant, and still played important roles as a military commander, legislator and jurist. The exact composition of the veche, too, is uncertain, with some historians, such as Vasily Klyuchevsky, claiming it was democratic in nature, while later scholars, such as Valentin Yanin and Aleksandr Khoroshev, see it as a "sham democracy" controlled by the ruling elite. It has also been characterised as an oligarchy.
The merchants of the Hanseatic League were particularly attracted to Russian trade because of its vast resources of furs and beeswax, with Novgorod serving as the leading supplier of furs. The easternmost kontor, or trading post, of the Hanseatic League was located in Novgorod and known as the Peterhof, through which enormous quantities of luxury (sable, ermine, fox, marmot) and non-luxury furs (squirrel pelts) were traded. The Peterhof was established in the late 12th or early 13th century by merchants from northern Germany. Prior to the establishment of the Hanseatic League, traders from Gotland arrived and founded the Gothic court around the turn of the 12th century. German merchants came in substantial numbers; around 200 German merchants resided in the trading city in the 1430s, accounting for about 1% of Novgorod's total population. A merchant association known as Ivan's Hundred operated in Novgorod from the 12th century.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the city was also one of the most important centres of Russian art and culture. Approximately 1,000 birch bark manuscripts dating from the 11th–15th centuries have been unearthed in excavations. Most of these documents are letters written by laypeople in a local dialect, Old Novgorodian. As a result, it has been suggested that there was widespread literacy among large segments of urban society in medieval Russia; according to one estimate, 20% of the urban male population in Russian city-states were literate around the mid-13th century. It was also in Novgorod that the Novgorod Codex, the oldest East Slavic book, and birch bark letter no. 292, the oldest inscription in a Finnic language, were unearthed. Some of the oldest Russian chronicles, such as the Novgorod First Chronicle, were written in the scriptoria of the archbishops, who also promoted iconography and patronised church construction. The Novgorodian merchant Sadko appears as a hero in Russian folklore.