Novgorod is a city in the north-west part of russia, that was first mentioned in russian ancient chronicles in the year 859,  and even earlier in the foreign chronicles. being located close to finland and sweden, it passed through numerous arguments with them, which actually formed its history.  i find its main feature the people's knowing of their onw strength and their wish for self-dependece. the State of Novgorod was annexed to the State of Moscow only in 1478 by force.

its architecture is different from that of moscow and saint-petersburg. it is, say, more laconic and thus more expressive (in my opinion). and it's so white that it feels cold and clear like  the northern air and light. ))

out of the city there's a monastery near Chudskoye Lake, where the duke of Novgorod Alexander Nevsky won the battle on ice with crusaders of teutonic order in 1242.

 there's a historical reconstruction of a settlement of that time, not yet finished completely, still very interesting even for native people. all buildings were made of wood. they also reconstruct interiors, things of life.  in every building you can meet the person dressed in the historic gown of that time and ask her about the names of the things you see, because many things, we now don't know their use already.

Novgorod's Kremlin and bell tower. the gates for it was made in Italy. can you imagine delivering heavy metallic gates from as far as Italy at that time ? %

the Kokui watchtower(below). it's being restored, and the last wooden flight of stairs is unstable and dangerous to walk on. there's even a note asking heavy people not to climb up. but if you dare go up, you can see all the city and its ancient wall.

at that time the city's government didn't let novgorod's merchants build storehouses, because everything being built in the city should be useful for all the citizen. so, as the merchants always faced the danger of losing their profit (no fridges at that time), they built a church with a storehouse inside it. so, the church was useful both for the citizen and for the merchants ))

the monument to the russian history is composed of three levels and depicts all the historically meaningful figures on it. it is amazing. examining it is equal to reading a book on russian history. and im surprised that this monument is located in novgorod, not in moscow which is considered to be the center of russian history. % in the lower row there's a figure of my favourite woman in russian history - princess Olga. she's known for her intricate cruelty. when the neighbouring tribe, which was known as very savage people, killed her husband in a battle, they thought that she would send an army on them and prepared for the fight. but she said that she forgave them, and as a sign of this she asked each family of that tribe to bring her a pigeon. so they did. when they left happily, she ordered to tie a burning piece of wood to the leg of each pigeon. all the pigeon came back home. and, as the village was made of wood, it burned to the ground.

but after russia adopted christianity she was the first to turn from heathenism to monotheism, though it coasted her great inner struggle with herself and she refused her own decision several times. she even persuaded the neighboring princes to follow her example. it was equal to walking naked among hungry predators. finally she got recognition by the church, and they even made her full-length icon, that is located in the city of taganrog, i dunno why. maybe she got her place on this monument because of contradiction that formed  her nature  ))

this is Rita, my guide about novgorod. i think she is a typical novgorod type of a person - red-haired, freckled, not tall and sturdy,  as i met several people in the city looking very much like her, and they were not her relatives ))