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The Millennium of Russia monument was erected in Novgorod the Great (or Veliky Novgorod) in 1862 in honour of the 1,000th anniversary of the the Varangians arrival in Russia. The 1,150th anniversary of Russian statehood is being marked on 21 September this year.
Ricardo Marquina
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The Tithe Monastery is associated with the name of the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff. The musician’s grandmother lived near the monastery, and he drew inspiration for his religious chants from within its walls.
Ricardo Marquina
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The Valday region (140 km at south from Veliky Novgorod) is situated between Moscow and St. Petersburg and it is a surprising example of the lavishness of Russian nature, which has endowed this place with landscapes and biodiversity. Though it may seem incredible in the neighbouring Moscow, Tver and Pskov regions. The hills of the Valday plateau alternate with numerous rivers and lakes with water that is so clear you can see down to five metres.
Ricardo Marquina
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Patriarch Nikon, who chose one of the islands for his residence, put it concisely: “Heaven has paradise, and the earth has Valday.” The quay by the main gates of the Valday Iversky Monastery of the Holy Lake of the Mother of God is lost from view on the boundary between the water and the heavens.
Ricardo Marquina
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Created in the 17th century by Patriarch Nikon in the style of the Iveron Monastery on Mt Athos, the Iversky Monastery was the embodiment of the idea of Russia’s succession in the heritage of Byzantine spiritual culture. After becoming the richest and most famous monastery of those days, the monastery became a centre of spiritual enlightenment, one of a few centres of book-printing in Rus, and a place where crafts began and developed.
Alexandr Ganjushin
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The main building of the Iversky Monastery is the Cathedral of the Assumption, which even today has lost none of its greatness. It is one of the biggest 17th-century buildings in Russia. The cathedral is distinguished by its simplicity and its monumental architectural styles. The dedication of the cathedral to the Mother of God and the presence of miracle-working icons in it determined the themes of the wall paintings inside the church from its earliest days.
Ricardo Marquina
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Under the Soviet regime a historical museum and archive occupied the site of the monastery. During the war there was a hospital here, and then a home for disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War, and a rural boarding school for children suffering from tuberculosis. In 1991 the monastery, which was in a critical condition, was returned to the Novgorod diocese. The complete restoration of the monastery was finished in 2007.
Alexandr Ganjushin
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A monastery is an image of heaven on earth. It has its own Garden of Eden and sacred spring. This is the St George Monastery, a very ancient Russian monastery. In the corner near the garden there is a ciborium – a source of sacred water which flows from within the carved bowl in the centre of the granite rotunda. A stone alcove with a carved bowl. The water possessed healing properties, and many believers travelled from all the surrounding areas to take it. The Bolsheviks closed the monastery in 1929 and concreted over the ciborium’s borehole. Since then the bowl has been dry, and attempts to drill have so far been unsuccessful.
Ricardo Marquina
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The Novgorod Kremlin was first mentioned in 1044. The townspeople themselves called it the Kids Yard [Detinets]. With its strong walls, which were wide enough for defensive weapons to be moved on carts, it protected its residents from many threats from the outside world.
Ricardo Marquina
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You can walk round the Kremlin in just half an hour. Its walls are 1,350 m long and up to four metres thick. Nine of the original 12 towers remain. Five of them were gate towers and formed small architectural ensembles: a tower plus a gatehouse church.
Ricardo Marquina
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In the center of the city there is a monument to Sadko, Russian epic hero, who is charmed by princess Volkhova, allegory of Novgorod's main river called Volkhov.
Ricardo Marquina
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You can take a boat trip from the Kremlin that will take you round the picturesque outskirts of Novgorod and as far as the source of the Volkhov River – Lake Ilmen.
Ricardo Marquina
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Only two subspecies of men live in Novgorod the Great: if a local resident is not an angler, he’s a hunter (usually with a dog). There is no heavy industry in the Novgorod region, so local websites suggest that you not only catch a fish in the historic city centre but also feel free to eat it.
Ricardo Marquina
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Seven churches and three chapels have now been moved to the Vitoslavlitsy Museum together with 15 peasant houses. Together, the wooden architectural ensemble recreates a picture of everyday life in a Russian village over the many centuries since the days of the Late Middle Ages.
Ricardo Marquina
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Wedding ceremonies held in the surroundings of the Museum of Architecture and conducted according to folk traditions are especially popular with Novgorod couples who are marrying.
Ricardo Marquina
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It’s not just newlyweds and their happy relatives who can enjoy traditional Russian ceremonies: any guest of the estate, young or old, can take part in games, dances and fun of various kinds. One of the most appreciated russian traditions is to put a lock on a tree, or a bridge, or wherever as a symbol of lasting love and infrangible matrimony.
Ricardo Marquina
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In the summer, theatrical productions are staged in the Kremlin, and traditional crafts and forgotten cultural customs are revived.
Ricardo Marquina
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The people of Novgorod have become interested in the history of their region and its cultural traditions thanks to its long-standing connections to the Hanseatic League. Hansa Days are celebrated in cities in Europe and Scandinavia in the spirit of the carnival tradition, with everyone dressing in historic costumes.
Ricardo Marquina
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The Hanseatic League (also known as the Hanse or Hansa; Low German: Hanse, Dudesche Hanse, Latin: Hansa, Hansa Teutonica or Liga Hanseatica) was a commercial and defensive confederation of merchant guilds and their market towns that dominated trade along the coast of Northern Europe. It stretched from the Baltic to the North Sea and inland during the Late Middle Ages and early modern period.
Alexandr Ganjushin
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Sofijsky Cathedral is one of the most ancient stone structures in Russia (1045–1050). The imposing cathedral dedicated to Sophia, the Wisdom of God, was founded by Prince Yaroslav the Wise, his son Vladimir and Bishop Luka as a church for the whole city. Eminent inhabitants of Novgorod – princes, bishops and governors – are buried in the southern gallery.
Alexandr Ganjushin
![The Novgorod Kremlin was first mentioned in 1044. The townspeople themselves called it the Kids Yard [Detinets]. With its strong walls, which were wide enough for defensive weapons to be moved on carts, it protected its residents from many threats from the outside world.](http://nl.media.rbth.ru/all/2012/0709/galleries/17911/.thumb116X76_9.jpg)
