Site search:
History of Staraya Ladoga
Another (Swedish) name for Ladoga is Aldeigjuborg (Aldeigjuborg, formerly Aldeigja, presumably from the ancient Finnish Alode-jogi - “lower river” or “lower river”, from which other Russian Ladoga). The oldest known buildings - production and ship repair workshops on Zemlyanoy Gorodische, according to dendrochronology, were erected from logs cut down before 753 and were probably built by immigrants from Northern Europe. Excavations show that the first settlement in Ladoga was founded and initially populated presumably by Scandinavians (according to E. Ryabinin, by Gotlanders).
The first settlement consisted of several buildings of a pillar structure, which has analogues in Northern Europe. In the 760s it was destroyed by the Slovenes and built up with houses of log construction. The lack of continuity between the first inhabitants of Ladoga and the subsequent population, which had different cultural traditions, was noted. During this period, the settlement was already trading with local tribes. The Slovenian settlement existed until the 830s. and was captured by the Varangians.
Further, Ladoga was a trade and craft settlement, which was once again destroyed in the 860s as a result of internecine wars. Around 870 The first fortress was built in Staraya Ladoga, similar in design to the neighboring Lyubsha fortress, which was abandoned in the same years. As a result, Ladoga developed from a small trade and craft settlement into a typical ancient Russian city.
In one of the interpretations of the “Tale of Bygone Years” of the Ipatiev copy of the ancient Russian chronicle, in 862 the Ladoga residents, in order to protect their lands from raids, invited the Varangian Rurik to reign:
“And the first one came to the Slovenes and cut down the city of Ladoga and Rurik became grayer than the elders in Ladoga.”
Although other readings say that he sat down to reign in Novgorod (Rurik settlement). Hence the version that Ladoga was the first capital of Rus' (more precisely, the place of Rurik’s reign from 862 to 865). Archaeological research carried out in Staraya Ladoga (led by Anatoly Nikolaevich Kirpichnikov) proves close contacts between the Slovenes, Finno-Ugric peoples and Normans (Urmans) in this area in the 9th–10th centuries.
The Tale of Bygone Years is not the only source to which one should lean, for example, B.D. Grekov writes that Ladoga is not a Varangian state, but a Slavic one, and specifically the Krivichi one.
The city was known as part of the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.”
According to the Novgorod Chronicle, the grave of Prophetic Oleg is located in Ladoga (according to the Kyiv version, his grave is located in Kyiv on Mount Shchekovitsa).
In 997, Ladoga was attacked by the Varangian Erik Haakonsson, the future Norwegian king. The first Ladoga fortress, which existed for more than 100 years, was destroyed. In the sagas there is a mention that when the daughter of the Swedish king Olaf Shotkonung, Princess Ingegerda in 1019 married the Novgorod prince Yaroslav the Wise, as a dowry (veno) she received the city of Aldeigaborg (Old Ladoga) with adjacent lands, which have since received the name Ingermanlandia (the land of Ingegerda), and Regnvald Ulvson, jarl of Västra Götaland (a relative of Ingegerda on the maternal side), was appointed mayor (jarl) of Ladoga. Ulv (Uleb) and Eiliw are the sons of Regnvald. According to Scandinavian sources, Eiliw became a jarl (posadnik) in Ladoga after the death of his father, and Uleb is mentioned in the chronicle under 1032 as a Novgorod governor.
In 1116, Ladoga mayor Pavel founded a stone fortress.
The ancient Staraya Ladoga fortress, which has become the “heart” of today’s Staraya Ladoga, stands at the confluence of the Elena/Ladozhka River into the Volkhov. During the times of Novgorod Rus', it was a strategically important place, because it was the only possible harbor where sea vessels that were not able to sail along the rapids of the Volkhov could stop.
In 1142, “the prince of Svea and the biskup came in 60 augers” - the Swedes attack Ladoga.
After the end of the Russian-Swedish war of 1590-1595, according to the Tyavzinsky peace, Ladoga was recognized as belonging to Russia and according to the Stolbovo peace, which ended the Russian-Swedish war of 1613-1617, Sweden returned Ladoga to Russia.
In 1703, Peter I founded Novaya Ladoga at the mouth of the Volkhov and renamed Ladoga “Old Ladoga”, depriving it of the status of a city and the right to have its own coat of arms, and ordered many Ladoga residents to move to live in Novaya Ladoga. Before this event, Ladoga was the center of the Ladoga district of the Vodskaya Pyatina of the Novgorod Land.
In 1718, the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Lopukhina, was transferred from Suzdal to the Ladoga Assumption Monastery.
In 2003, a celebration of the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga was held, which was covered by the press and attracted the attention of the authorities (Russian President Vladimir Putin visited it twice).
An old chronicle says: once upon a time, tribes living in the north of Russia, in the territory of modern Karelia and Leningrad, paid tribute to the Varangians. But then the Varangians were kicked out. “They drove the Varangians overseas, and did not give them tribute, and began to control themselves, and there was no truth among them, and generation after generation arose, and they had strife, and began to fight with each other. And they said to themselves: “Let’s look for someone who would own us and judge us by right.” And they went overseas to the Varangians, to Rus'. Those Varangians were called Rus, just as others are called Swedes, and some Normans and Angles, and still others Gotlanders, just like these. The Chud, the Slovenians, the Krivichi and all said to the Russians: “The land is great and abundant, but there is no order in it. Come reign and rule over us." And three brothers were chosen with their clans, and all of Rus' with them, and the eldest, Rurik, sat down in Novgorod, and the other, Sineus, in Beloozero, and the third, Truvor, in . from those Varangians the Russian land was nicknamed.”
If we admit that Rurik ruled in Ladoga, then he was not a foreigner there, since Ladoga was not a Slavic city.
According to the ancient Scandinavian sagas preserved in Iceland, a long time ago a people lived in the city of Asgard and their leader was Odin. (The famous Norwegian traveler and explorer.
Odin was predicted that his offspring would inhabit the northern outskirts, and he set off on his journey. First he came to Gardariki (according to many authors, Gardariki is Karelia). Then he went to the Saxon Country, then to the island of Funen and Sweden. And in all places along the route he followed, he left his descendants to rule. Apparently this legend describes the origin of the northern Germanic tribes and their appearance on the map of Europe. http://norse.ulver.com
Having settled in Gardarik (Karelia), the descendants of Odin founded a new people - the Rus. L.N. Gumilyov wrote: “For the Slavs, it was a disaster to be in the neighborhood of the ancient Rus, who made raids on their neighbors their trade... The Rus robbed their neighbors, killed their men, and sold the captured children and women to slave traders... The Slavs settled in small groups in villages; It was difficult for them to defend themselves against the Russians, who turned out to be terrible robbers. Anything of value became booty. And furs, honey, wax and children were valuable then. The unequal struggle lasted a long time and ended in favor of the Russians when Rurik came to power.” http://gumilevica.kulichki.net/R2R/r2r01.htm#r2r01chapter1
Arab sources report that the Rus lived on the island and attacked the Slavs. According to one version, detailed in the book by Alexander Sharymov “Prehistory of St. Petersburg. 1703 Book of Research” - the island was located on the Karelian Isthmus. At that time it was an island washed by Ladoga, Vuoksa, and the Gulf of Finland. Since the island of the Rus was on the route “from the Varangians to the Greeks,” the Rus played a decisive role in trade.
So the modern territory of the Leningrad region can be considered the ancestral land of the Rus tribe, which in the 10th century defeated the Eastern Slavs.
As for Ladoga, it accounted for the first attack of “foreign” Varangians on Rus' recorded in history. After the calling of Rurik, until the end of the 10th century, the Scandinavians did not attack the northern regions, preferring trade relations. However, in 997 this tradition was broken.
In Staraya Ladoga there are traces of fortresses from the beginning of the 9th century. These are the oldest stone structures in Russian history. One of the fortresses was destroyed. Then Ladoga was attacked by the Varangian Erik Haakonsson, the future Norwegian king.
After this, Ladoga more than once found itself at the center of military conflicts. Thus, the Swedish army besieged the city in 1164. The Ladoga residents burned the settlement and locked themselves in the stone Kremlin, after which they sent to Novgorod for help. The Swedes tried to take the Kremlin by storm, but were repelled with heavy losses. The Novgorodians who came to the rescue lifted the siege and drove out the Swedes.
The raids on Ladoga did not stop there; it was captured and retaken several times. However, Ladoga has already lost its significance as the political and economic center of the region. This role passed to Veliky Novgorod. And further struggle for possession of the Ladoga lands took place between the Novgorod Republic and the Kingdom of Sweden.
“Old Ladoga, which has a history of more than 1260 years, is considered not only one of the oldest cities in Russia and the center of the first Rurikovichs, but also the first large shopping center. It was here that the foundations of the East Slavic state were laid. Throughout its existence, the city survived more than one invasion by external enemies, briefly became a defensive center in the north-west, was rebuilt more than once, was the first family estate of the Rurikovichs and even a wedding gift. Ladoga was finally forgotten in 1704, when the foundations of New Ladoga were laid at the mouth of the Volkhov River, and its ancient predecessor received the addition of “Old” to its name and lost the status of a city.”
Today it is a small village in the Volkhov district of the Leningrad region. The study of the historical past of the great trading center of the Slavs began in 1708, however archaeological excavations started only in 1972. During the research, more than 160 different finds were discovered: from archaeological buildings to written sources. The study of local mounds and hills, as well as certain layers of the cultural layer, helped determine the approximate date of foundation.
Ladoga was founded around the middle of the 8th century in the lower reaches of the river Volkhov. However, some scholars argue that the original small settlement is much older than the above date. The first inhabitants of the city, according to researchers, were North Slavic (primarily Krivichi) and Finno-Ugric tribes. Thus, it can be argued that the ethnic composition of the population was quite diverse. Due to its convenient location on trade routes leading from Scandinavia to Byzantium and the Arab Caliphate, the city quickly grew and prospered. Trade ships carrying furs, various textiles, precious jewelry and other goods passed through Ladoga. Thus, the city served as an intermediary in trade Scandinavians with the Greeks and Arabs, receiving benefits for every trade transaction. Exactly a century Ladoga grew and prospered. However, after the death of the Slavic prince Gostomysl, the situation turned out to be critical. The princely family was interrupted. Then it was decided to call a noble Varangian to rule Rurik.
In 862, a noble Scandinavian prince arrived here along with his brothers and a loyal army. For a while Ladoga was the capital of the East Slavic state founded by the Rurikovichs, a trade center and the initial point of unification of Russian lands. Even after the center of Rus' was transferred to Novgorod, and in 882 to Kyiv, Ladoga retained its strategic and political importance and, under the first Rurikovichs, remained their family possession. The origin itself Rurik and his brothers were subjected to detailed study, various hypotheses were put forward. However, the importance of the city itself for the Varangian prince and his descendants is not in doubt. From settlements similar in age to it Ladoga highlights the immutability of its location and the constant presence of the human factor. The favorable location on different banks of the Ladozhka River and across the Volkhov contributed to the development of agriculture here.
Original sources about Ladoga settlement date back to 997 and report an attack by a Norwegian prince Eric the Bloody along with his army. The city was plundered and burned. However, after 3 years, a new fortress was built on the site of the old stone fortress, this time made of earth and wood. In 1019, a Swedish princess Ingigerda, daughter of the first Christian king of Sweden, Olof, marries the Novgorod prince Yaroslav, later given the nickname Wise. The wedding gift for the Scandinavian bride, known in Rus' as Irina, was Ladoga. The city turned into the center of the Russian-Varangian jarlstvo (principality). Ladoga continued to be a center of brisk trade, but its main task was now to protect its northern borders Kievan Rus from the attack of the warlike Normans. The borders of the principality expanded throughout the century and the Finno-Ugric tribes, as a sign of submission, paid a large tax in kind, consisting of the furs of fur-bearing animals, various fabrics and metal products.
The expansion of the borders of the Kyiv state and the spread of Christianity to new lands continued. By the beginning of the 12th century, the centers of world trade moved far beyond Northern Europe and Ladoga begins to lose its position. After the death of Mstislav Vladimirovich in 1132, the influence of Kyiv weakened and the state fell apart into a number of principalities. The influence of Novgorod is growing. Ladoga and Pskov are part of the Novgorod Principality. The construction of stone structures is being resumed. These were mainly churches; a stone fortress is being restored. In 1164, the Swedes invaded the north of Rus'. However, the long siege of the Ladoga fortress did not produce results and the enemy retreated. In honor of the significant victory, a church is being built in the city Saint George the Victorious, which has survived to this day.
Taking advantage of the civil war between the Russian principalities, the Mongols, led by their grandson Genghis Khan Batu, made their ruinous campaign in 1237. Almost all Russian lands were occupied by invaders. Only Novgorod and the surrounding territories were unaffected by the Mongols. However, the northwestern lands faced a different misfortune in the form of the Swedes and Germans. Sweden, represented by the Livonian Order, entered Russian soil in 1240. The Swedes captured Pskov and Izborsk. Next in line was Ladoga, with its capture the road to Novgorod opened. However, the brilliant victory of the Novgorod prince Alexander Yaroslavich in Neva Battle ruined all Sweden's plans. In honor of the significant victory, the prince received the nickname Nevsky, and the Nikolsky Monastery was built on the banks of the Volkhov River. Ice massacre e 1242 stopped the advance to the northwestern Russian lands Warband- union of German knights. The dreams of the Swedes and Germans about capturing the Novgorod principality remained unrealized.
Further information about Ladoga date back to the second half of the 15th century. The new collector of Russian lands, Moscow, subjugated Novgorod and the adjacent territories to its power. Ladoga at this time is radically changing. Due to the constant threat from Sweden and improvements in artillery weapons, more powerful fortifications were required. The Ladoga fortress is being rebuilt and strengthened with 5 defensive towers, and the borders of the city itself are expanding. Until the beginning of the 17th century, construction work was carried out in the city. The hardest times for Ladoga came during the Time of Troubles, when foreign invaders ruled the country, robbing and killing the population. In 1610 Ladoga Fortress was captured by the Swedes and remained part of Sweden until the Truce of Stolbov in 1617. The last time the city's strategic position was used was Peter the Great. The future emperor was preparing to capture the fortress Nut. After the offensive defeat at Narva in 1700, the tsar announced the mobilization of the army and concentrated quite large forces in the Ladoga fortress. It was from here that the attack on Oreshek began. After the capture of this fortress, the security of the northern borders was ensured. The fate of Ladoga was a foregone conclusion. The city lost its strategic importance. Built at the mouth of the Volkhov, Novaya Ladoga replaced its eminent predecessor and the regional administration was moved here. Its ancient ancestor lost the status of a city, received the prefix “Old”, and the military garrison was removed from here. A small part of the population still did not leave Staraya Ladoga and continued to engage in her previous business affairs. About the once great center of the first Slavs was forgotten for a while. The cultural significance of the ancient city was remembered only in the 70s of the 20th century. In 1972, the Staraya Ladoga expedition led by A. Kirpichnikova began archaeological excavations. The result of long research was the discovery of a huge number of remains of early archaeological buildings, written sources, various decorations and products. A thousand years ago, Ladoga was an economically developed port city and harbor for merchant ships of different nations, as well as a unique place for the accumulation of the then world currency - the Arab silver dirham. A fairly large market was the center of lively trade. Ladoga was the main supplier of Arab money throughout Europe; the most important trade transactions took place through it. Local craftsmen were also skilled shipbuilders and made sea voyages.
The population of the city, despite its initial multinationality and multilingualism, was initially free, but social inequality was still present. However, the magnificent noble buildings that existed in Novgorod, in Ladoga were absent. In the 8th–11th centuries, the most important social problems were resolved at a national assembly. As for the dwellings of the local population, since 1972, an archaeological expedition has uncovered more than 100 remains of residential buildings, workshops and utility rooms. Mostly local residents lived in wooden huts and peculiar five-walled houses. Among the ruins of people's homes Ladoga A variety of household items and decorations, as well as various craft tools, were also discovered. Most likely, some houses also served as craft workshops. During excavations in 1997, carried out by an expedition led by E. Ryabinina, the remains of jewelry and bronze foundries and a large number of tools were discovered, with the help of which various products and decorations made in the Varangian style were made. Excavations 2002 revealed elements of a large merchant building, which is believed to have been the residence of foreign merchants. Among the remains of the structure, a huge number of different items were discovered: glass beads, green beads, slate bars and other items. Archaeological expedition V.Petrenko 12 burial mounds were discovered, in which, most likely, city residents were buried, mostly in a collective manner. Along with wooden and earthen buildings, Ladoga also had a stone fortress, which complemented the entire architectural ensemble. The first such fortress was built at the end of the 9th – beginning of the 10th century. In its place, at the beginning of the 12th century, a new fortress was built, which until the 15th century served as the main defensive system of the city. By the beginning of the 16th century, the Ladoga fortress was being rebuilt for the last time. Elements of Italian architecture were used in its construction. The fortress was adjacent to earthen buildings, later called by architects the Earthen City. However, the real decoration of Ladoga are the stone temples built in different periods. Along with the previously mentioned monasteries, 6 churches of different shapes and at a certain distance from each other were built on the territory of the city by the middle of the 12th century. The construction of monasteries continued in later eras, but the most significant of the temples were built under his son Vladimir Monomakh- Mstislav Vladimirovich. Most of them are built on the model of the Byzantine architectural school. Only 3 monasteries have survived to this day: the Cathedral of the Nativity of John the Baptist, the Staraya Ladoga Holy Dormition Convent, the Church of St. George the Victorious and the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Until the beginning of the 18th century, Ladoga remained an important port city, one of the centers of trade and craft, as well as an important northern defensive line of the strengthening state.
Along with Soviet and later Russian architects, foreign expedition groups have also taken part in the study of the ancient city since 1988. In 1984, a historical and architectural museum-reserve was opened, with an area of about 190 hectares, which today houses more than 150 different restored architectural buildings. It is planned to include this village-museum on the list of world heritage UNESCO.
Encyclopedic YouTube
-
1 / 5
The Scandinavian name for Ladoga is Aldeigya, Aldeigjuborg(Old Scand. Aldeigja, Aldeigjuborg), the first written mention of which in the original form of Old Scand. Aldeigjar appears in the poem "Bandadrapa" by Ejolf Dadaskald (Swedish), composed around 1010 in honor of Earl Eirik.
Name Ladoga carries a river, a lake and a city. However, until recently it was not entirely clear which of the names was primary. The name of the city was derived from the name of Lake Ladoga (from Finnish *aaldokas, aallokas “worried” - from aalto"wave"), or from the name of the river Ladoga(now Ladozhka, from Finnish *Alode-joki, where alode, aloe- "low terrain" and jok(k)i- “river”).
Story
In 2015, on the territory of the village, a site of an ancient man of the Neolithic era, dating back to the third millennium BC, was found.
After drilling at Zemlyanoy Gorodische, a thin peat bog and deposits of the Ladoga transgression were revealed under a cultural layer 4 m thick. About 2000 years ago, the water level in Volkhov dropped below 10 m abs. height. The territory of the future Staraya Ladoga became suitable for settlement after a further decrease in the water level no earlier than the middle of the 1st millennium.
Under the Zemlyanoy settlement, plowing of the surface was carried out at excavation site 4 no later than or slightly earlier than the 6th century, and at excavation site 3 - starting from the second half of the 7th century - the first half of the 8th century. The agriculture of the first Ladoga residents is confirmed by finds of grains of wheat, rye, barley, millet and hemp. A comb from the Merovingian era, found in Staraya Ladoga in 2013, presumably dates back to the 7th century. A rudimentary settlement could have arisen at Zemlyanoy Gorodische around 700 or even earlier.
In the first tier, three dwellings of a frame-and-pillar structure (the so-called “big houses”) with a hearth in the center have the oldest date of 753. Production and ship repair workshops on Zemlyanoye settlement probably built by immigrants from Northern Europe. Excavations show that the first settlement in Ladoga was founded and initially populated presumably by Scandinavians (according to E. A. Ryabinin, Gotlanders).
In the first half of the 750s, Scandinavian settlements appeared in the lower reaches of the Volkhov, but at the turn of 760-770 the Vikings were ousted by the Slavs.
The first settlement consisted of several buildings of a pillar structure, which has analogues in Northern Europe, and was placed 2 km south of the Lyubsha fortress, founded by representatives of the original Slavic culture of Central European origin. The area of the original Staraya Ladoga settlement did not exceed 2-4 hectares. It was then that the interests of the ancient Slavs, ancient Germans and local Finno-Balts intersected in the region. During excavations, an entire industrial complex was discovered in the layers of the 8th century. During this period, the settlement was already trading with local tribes. In a burnt barn from layers of the 8th century, wheat grains were found: 80% is emmer wheat, 20% is soft wheat. Spelled has never been grown in Scandinavia; moreover, the Old Ladoga spelled differs sharply from the European spelled, but is morphologically close to the Volga spelled.
In the 760s, the Ladoga settlement was destroyed by representatives of the early Slavic culture from the South-West: the Dnieper Left Bank or the Dniester region, the Danube region, the upper reaches of the Dnieper, the Western Dvina or the Volga (similar to the Prague, Penkovo or Kolochin cultures) and was built up with houses of log construction. The lack of continuity between the first inhabitants of Ladoga and the subsequent population, which had different cultural traditions, was noted. In Ladoga, as well as in other places in the north-west of Rus' (Izborsk, Kamno, Rõuge, Pskov) in the 8th-9th centuries, limestone molds became widespread as a result of the revival of the fashion for such jewelry, developed in the Prague culture of the early Slavs at the turn of the 6th century -VII centuries.
Judging by the available data on the diversity and scope of connections, Ladoga stood on a par with such trade and craft centers of Scandobaltia as Hedeby and Ribe in Jutland, Kaupang in Norway, Paviken in Gotland, Birka in Sweden, Ralsvik, Wolin (city) and others in the south of the Baltic.
As archaeological evidence shows, the majority of Ladoga residents were engaged not in trade, but in agriculture and crafts.
Since the 780s, beads have been boiled in Ladoga using Arab low-temperature technology. “Eyes”, that is, eyed beads, are the first Russian money. Ladoga residents bought furs for them. And the furs were sold to Arab merchants for full-weight silver dirhams. The first treasure of Arabic dirhams found in Ladoga dates back to 786. A 10th-century Arab traveler claims that one glass “peephole” could buy a slave.
In the 8th-9th centuries, the population of Ladoga ranged from several dozen to 200 people. In the 9th century, Staraya Ladoga was located on a small area of the Zemlyanoy fortification. This settlement existed until the end of the 830s and was captured by the Varangians, possibly under the leadership of the Svei king Eirik (died around 871).
A casting mold of a two-horned pendant in the form of a pelt (840-855 years) is known from the E2 horizon. Similar decorations come from Great Moravia and were also found in Chernigov, on Knyazha Gora near Kiev, in Galich, in Slovakia and Bulgaria.
Around 840, the settlement suffered a catastrophe as a result of an enemy invasion. In the period around 840 - around 865, a significant part of the settlement turns into wasteland. The other part is being built in the Scandinavian traditions of the Northern European hall. The Norman population brings its own traditions (Thor's hammers, etc.).
Further, Ladoga was a trade and craft settlement, which was once again destroyed in the 860s as a result of internecine wars, which are mentioned by PVL. After a total fire recorded at the junction of the Ladoga horizons E2-E1, which occurred ca. 860, for about a decade, the supply of silver to the island of Gotland and Sweden is interrupted. No later than 865, the settlement was again subjected to complete destruction. Among the finds of this period (865-890s) there are both items from the Northern European circle of antiquities of the Viking Age, and items from the circle of antiquities from the forest zone of Eastern Europe. We can confidently state that at this time different ethnocultural groups lived in Ladoga, among which the Scandinavians clearly stood out. .
Around the 870s, the first wooden fortress was built in Staraya Ladoga at the confluence of the Ladozhka River and the Volkhov. In the layers of the last quarter of the 9th century, the remains of a bronze foundry were discovered. As a result, Ladoga developed from a small trade and craft settlement into a typical ancient Russian city with an area of 12 hectares. From the beginning of the 870s, the flow of silver from Eastern Europe to Scandinavia was steady and uniform, while until the end of the 10th century there is no information about Viking attacks on Ladoga.
The building density of the Zemlyanoy settlement at level VI (ca. 865-890) and VII (890-920) tiers is significantly lower than in previous decades. At the turn of the 9th-10th centuries, instead of wooden fortifications, a stone fortress was erected, similar to Western European defensive structures of that time. According to dendrochronology, in 881 the so-called “big house” was built; this house (like a number of other similar houses) as such is not a big house in the Northern European and Scandinavian sense, it is simply a manor larger than all the others, which is one of the first buildings of its kind type typical for the entire ancient Novgorod land.
Based on craniometric characteristics, anthropologists have identified the morphological similarity of Ladoga residents with material from 5 Liv burial grounds located in the Gauja and Daugava river basins and from the Siksali burial ground in south-eastern Estonia. The supposed similarity of those buried at the Zemlyanoy settlement and in the Shestovitsy mounds is not confirmed by the Student’s t-test. The ethnicity of medieval population groups cannot be determined using anthropological methods.
... and came to the word first · and cut down the city of Ladoga and the old man Rurik sat in Ladoza...
Although other versions of the story say that he sat down to reign in Novgorod. Hence the version that Ladoga was the first capital of Rus' (more precisely, the place of Rurik’s reign from 862 to 864). Archaeological research conducted in Staraya Ladoga (led by A. N. Kirpichnikov) proves close contacts between the Ilmen Slovenes, Finno-Ugric tribes and Normans (Urman) in this area in the 9th–10th centuries.
On Varyazhskaya Street, in the layers of the first quarter of the 10th century, fragments of ceramics with luscre painting were found, dating back to the earliest (Mesopotamian (Samarran)) stage of the production of this Middle Eastern tableware. A birch bark scroll depicting a rook was discovered in the 10th century layers.
The city was an important point on the trade route “from the Varangians to the Greeks.” According to the Novgorod Chronicle, the grave of the Prophetic Oleg is located in Ladoga (according to the Kyiv version, his grave is located in Kyiv on Mount Shchekavitsa).
In years · ҂ѕ҃·х҃·к҃·д҃
[…]
Same summer Pavel · mayor of Ladoga · founded Ladoga, the city of KamyanAs a result of changes in the system of urban land use and planning work, the construction of the stone Cathedral of St. Clement in 1153, in the 11th-12th centuries in Ladoga the frequency of fires significantly decreased and the area of ruderal habitats (weeds) decreased.
In 1718, the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Lopukhina, was transferred from Suzdal to the Ladoga Assumption Monastery.
In 1719, Staraya Ladoga became part of the Novgorod province (it was formed as part of the St. Petersburg province).
In 1727, Staraya Ladoga district of the Novgorod province was included in the new Novgorod province.
In 1770, Staraya Ladoga district was abolished.
OLD LADOGA - settlement belongs to Novoladoga merchants and townspeople, the number of inhabitants according to the audit: 54 m., 62 women. P.
It has stone churches: a) In the name of the Holy Great Martyr George. b) Maiden monastery in the name of the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. c) The abolished church in the name of St. John the Baptist. d) Monastery in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. (1838).OLD LADOGA - village of Novoladoga townspeople, along a country road, number of households - 30, number of souls - 57 m. (1856)
OLD LADOGA - petty bourgeois village, near the Volkhov and Ladozhka rivers, 43 yards, inhabitants 103 m., 264 zh. P.;
Orthodox churches 4. Monasteries 2. Ruins of a fortress called Rurik. (1862)In the 19th century, the village administratively belonged to the Mikhailovskaya volost of the 1st camp of the Novoladozhsky district of the St. Petersburg province, at the beginning of the 20th century - to the 2nd camp.
From 1917 to 1919 the village Staraya Ladoga was part of the Staroladozhsky village council of the Mikhailovsky volost of the Novoladozhsky district.
Since April 1919, it was part of the Oktyabrskaya volost of the Volkhov district. Since November 1919 the village Staraya Ladoga was taken into account by regional administrative data as a village Staraya Ladoga.
Since 1927, as part of the Volkhov region.
According to 1933 data village of Staraya Ladoga was the administrative center of the Staraya Ladoga Village Council of the Volkhov District, which included 17 settlements, villages: Akhmatova Gora, Valeshi, Green Valley, Ivanovka, Kamenka, Kinderevo, Knyashchina, Lytkino, Mestovka, Makinkina, Mezhumoshe, Nevazhi, Okulovo, Podol, Podmonastyrskaya Sloboda, Staraya Ladoga, Trusovo, with a total population of 2312 people.
According to 1936 data, the Staraya Ladoga village council with its center in village of Staraya Ladoga included 15 settlements, 410 farms and 13 collective farms.
In 1961 the population Staraya Ladoga was 1059 people.
According to administrative data of 1973, the central estate of the Volkhovsky state farm was located in the village. In 1997, 2,457 people lived in the village, in 2002 - 2,182 people (Russians - 95%).
Celebrations were widely held in 2003 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga as the “ancient capital of Northern Rus',” which was covered by the press and attracted the attention of the authorities. Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a decree on the preparation and implementation of the anniversary and visited Staraya Ladoga twice.
Geography
The village is located in the northern part of the district on the left bank of the Volkhov River, 8 km north of the administrative center of the district - the city of Volkhov.
A regional highway passes through it A115 New Ladoga - Volkhov - Kirishi - Zuevo.
Culture and art
The first image of Staraya Ladoga was an engraving of Adam Olearius, who visited the city in 1634 as secretary of the embassy of Frederick III to Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. Russian artists of the 19th-20th centuries were attracted by Staraya Ladoga with its romantic views of the banks of the ancient Volkhov, churches, monasteries and majestic mounds. Not far from the village there was the Uspenskoye estate of Alexei Tomilov, which was a local center of culture in the 19th century. Artists I.K. Aivazovsky, O.A. Kiprensky, A.O. Orlovsky, A.G. Venetsianov, I.A. Ivanov and others visited here. In 1844, in the village of Lopino, located opposite the fortress on the other bank of the Volkhov, V. M. Maksimov, a future academician of painting and an Itinerant artist who painted pictures from the life and everyday life of peasants, was born into a peasant family. He was buried here in 1911.
In the summer of 1899, Nicholas Roerich wrote sketches from life in Staraya Ladoga. " We climb up the hill, - Roerich wrote about his impressions, - and before us is one of the best Russian landscapes". V. A. Serov, K. A. Korovin, B. M. Kustodiev were here. In 1924-1926, A. N. Samokhvalov visited Staraya Ladoga several times, participating in the preparatory work for the restoration of St. George’s Cathedral. According to the artist, this experience taught him a lot, helped him understand how the compositional fusion of images of monumental painting and architectural forms “ created the pathos of polyphonic sound of the entire complex of influencing elements". The result of these trips was also the landscape “Old Ladoga” (1924) and the painting “Fisherman’s Family” (1926, Russian Museum).
In February 1945, by decision of the Leningrad Oblast Executive Committee, the Rest House in Staraya Ladoga (the former Shakhovsky estate, named after the last owner, Prince Nikolai Ivanovich Shakhovsky (1851-1937), Privy Councilor, member of the State Bank of Russia and his son, Vsevolod Nikolaevich (1874-1954), actual state councilor, the last minister of trade and industry (1915-1917) of Tsarist Russia, who emigrated to France in 1919). In 1946, repair and construction work began, which lasted for 15 years.
Already in the mid-1940s, Leningrad artists began to come to Staraya Ladoga. For
Several questions about the history of the ancient Slavic fortress Ladoga.
Ladoga, an ancient Slavic fortress city on the Volkhov River. The history of Ladoga raises many questions. In considering which, it is difficult to avoid the theme of Normanism, Rurik and the Varangians. However, these three topics are for separate study and description. But I will have to touch on them, at least in passing. Because they are inextricably linked with the history of Rus' and its fortified cities.
Question number one is Creation.
The first mention in the chronicles dates back to 862. “And the three brothers were chosen from their clans and girded all of Rus' around them, and came to the Slovenes first, and cut down the city of Ladoga. And the oldest one in Ladozi, Rurik, is grayer, and the other, Sineus, is on Bela Ozero, and the third, Truvor, is in Izborets..."
In this passage, what is most interesting is the mention that Rurik cut down (built) the city of Ladoga. According to archaeological research of Ladoga, the dendrochronological date of its foundation has been established - the 750s. The difference between the known chronicle date of 862 and the real history of Ladoga is at least 100 years. A. N. Kirpichnikov also speaks about this in his study “Ladoga and the Ladoga Land of the 8th-13th centuries.” Consequently, Rurik could not build a fortress on the cape of the confluence of the two rivers Volkhov and Ladozhka.
Then who? The answer is the Slavs. Why not the Finns? In the layers of the Ladoga Zemlyanoy settlement of the second half of the 8th-9th centuries. characteristic decorations stand out: ducks, trapezoidal pendants, temporal rings of semi-lunar outlines, a medallion - all having analogies, mainly among the finds of the Krivichi Smolensk long mounds. Reliable monuments of Slovenian burials - hills - were found in Ladoga. S. N. Orlov back in 1938 and 1948. in Staraya Ladoga, south of the Zemlyanoy settlement, during archaeological excavations, 9 corpses were found burned in ground pits. The identified burials are dated no later than the 8th century. and are compared with the ground burials of the Novgorod-Pskov long mound culture. True, on the territory of Ladoga in the Plakun tract, one burial ground belonging to the Scandinavians was discovered. The remaining burial grounds of Polaya Sopka, the Sopki tract, the Pobedishche tract and others containing corpses cannot be called Scandinavian. For the simple reason that the Scandinavians did not burn their dead. This ritual is inherent in the Slavs, both Eastern and Western.
True, this answer does not suit the Normanists. However, it does not stop them from asserting the Scandinavian origin of Ladoga. The same A. N. Kirpichnikov, at the beginning of the book, states, “The reliable foundations of the Ladoga version of the “Tale of the Calling of the Varangians” have been identified.” And then he refutes his statement based on the dendrochronological method. And even lower he agrees that the date 750 “specifies the time of the appearance of Slavic settlers in the Neva-Ladoga region.” Strange inconsistency. A kind of tossing and turning between Slavism and Normanism, yours and ours.
Archaeologists have also discovered houses with an area of 50-92 m2 - the predecessors of the posad five-wall buildings of the 10th-15th centuries. According to excavations by Ladoga researchers N.I. Repikov and V.I. Ravdonikas, house-building was initially determined by the needs of the estate development of a trade and craft settlement. Large houses had characteristic pan-European features, such as a pillar structure and a rectangular stove in the center of the room. But in terms of their type and planned structure (a heated room and a narrow cold compartment attached to it from the entrance side), these buildings can be considered the predecessors of later Russian city houses with five walls. Pan-European features also inherent in the Western Slavs, the Vendas-Vagirs-Obodrites. Scientists lacked either the courage or the opportunity to make such a statement. But others have made such a statement. True, according to archaeological data of Novgorod, built in 950. In the context of the issue under consideration, I think it would be appropriate to provide these data. Above-ground timber house construction, the construction of defensive structures of the Novgorod Detinets and the Polabian Slavs indicate connections between the Ilmen region and the Polish-Pomeranian region.” Back in the 19th century, A.F. wrote about this. Hilferding, and in Soviet times D.K. Zelenin also found common elements in the layout of Novgorod and “Wendish” villages in Hanover, Mecklenburg and along the Laba River.
Which also does not fit with the Norman creation of the city.
Ladoga also presented another surprise to scientists. On the site of the existing stone fortress of the late 15th century. its two stone predecessors from the late 9th and early 12th centuries were discovered. Ladoga was a construction achievement of that time. A construction on a cape formed by the Ladozhka and Volkhov rivers, a perimeter fortress stone wall with a tower (or towers). There is nothing surprising here. The Izborsk fortress, the patrimony of Rurik's brother Truvor, was surrounded in X-XI by a stone wall with a tower on the cape.
The stone stronghold was erected, based on the chronicle, not on the initiative of Prince Rurik, but by Oleg the Prophet, who in 882 “began to build cities.” But no matter which of them began such construction, both of them were of Varangian descent. By the way, in Scandinavia, stone fortresses began to be built in the 12th century. The Scandinavians had never created anything like this before.
Question number two. Where does your name Ladoga come from?
There are three known names for Ladoga - Aldegya - Aldeigyuborg. Historians are divided on the origin of the name of the fortified city. Some believe that the name of the city was given by the Ladozhka River. But excuse me, then the city would be called not Ladoga, but Ladozhka. Most likely, the river was named after the city. Ladozhka - near Ladoga.
In the history of Rus', cities are known that are derived from the names of rivers. But these names tend to be lengthened by adding a syllable rather than by decreasing it. Izborsk, according to legend from Prince Izbor. Kyiv, from Prince Kiy. Pskov (Pleskov) is a male derivative of the Pskova (Pleskov) river. And the tradition is preserved in the Russian language. An example of this is Volgograd.
If the name Ladoga comes from the river, then the name of the city should be Volkhov. The phrase “gray-haired Volkhov” is used quite often in legends and epics. Compared to Volkhov, Ladozhka loses. If we assume that the Ladozhka River was originally called Ladoga, then when did the name change? The fact that the name of the river is not always proven by its third name, Elena. The river was consecrated by the clergy in the 19th century in honor of the first wife of Peter I, Evdokia Lopukhina, who was exiled to a monastery and received the monastic name Elena. But the name didn’t stick. Ladozhka remained.
In Old Finnish, Aladegya (aladjogi) means lower river. It’s hard to believe that the Slavs, who built their city, would have given it the name of the ancient Finns. Why then did the Scandinavians, according to the Norman theory, give their names to the Slavs? Because, according to the same theory, they were higher in development than the Slavs. This means that the Scandinavians are allowed, but the Slavs are not. They should take the Finnish name. Most likely, the Chud Finns named the city Aladegya. Due to the fact that in order to trade with the Slavs, the Chud rafted along Ladozhka, from source to mouth.
“Most likely, the original hydronym is Finnish *Alode-jogi (joki) - “Lower River”,” says T.N. Jackson in the article "ALDEIGJUBORG: ARCHEOLOGY AND TOPONYMY". If we assume this, then Ladoga was founded and inhabited mainly by Chud Finns. And they prevailed over the Slavic population. There's just one catch. Chud didn’t build fortified cities, much less stone ones.
Further even more interesting is T.N. Jackson concludes: “The origin of the Old Russian name Ladoga is not directly from the substratum (Old Finnish italics) *Alode-jogi, but through the Scandinavian Aldeigja.” Here's how. It turns out that not only the Slavs were absent from the settlement of Ladoga, but also the Finns. Only Scandinavians, everything came from them. Through them both the formation of the city and the name came to the Slavs.
But the Swedes did not know the name of Ladoga, and the Danes had not heard of it at all. According to the account of the siege of Birka by the Danes in 852, described by Rimbert in the Life of St. Ansgarius. The Swedish king Anund managed to persuade the Danes, who captured the outskirts of Birka, to leave Sweden. And go to a certain city (ad urbem), located far from there, within the land belonging to the Slavs (in finibus Slavorum). Note that the Swedes did not indicate any of the three names. The Danes, retreating from Birka, and on 21 ships, headed where Anund indicated to them. “Suddenly attacking its inhabitants, who lived in peace and silence, they captured it by force of arms and, taking large booty and treasures, returned home.” Historians argue about which city we are talking about. According to A. N. Kirpichnikov, “During excavations at the Zemlyanoy settlement in Staraya Ladoga, horizon E2, dated 842-855, was identified. The buildings of the horizon were destroyed in a total fire, which can be dated not to the civil strife among the Slavs and Finns described in the Legend of the Calling of the Varangians, but to the Danish attack of 852.”
However, it is appropriate to note that the Finnish name of Ladoga is Aldeigja, similar to the Scandinavian Aldeigjuborg. Yes, the name does have the same Aldeigj part. But this only proves the connection between the miracle and the Scandinavians.
But how did the word come into the Scandinavian language? The Scandinavians borrowed Aldeigja. among the Finns-Chudis. How? Before reaching Ladoga, the Norman robbers had to sail through the lands of Chud and Vod. The villages of these tribes did not promise much booty; it was profitable to take tribute from them in furs. There's nothing to rob. Perhaps one of the Chud tribe pointed to the city of Ladoga. Calling him Aldeigja. And the Scandinavians took care to adapt the word to their language. And if the Swedish king allowed himself to redirect the troops of Norman robbers to a distant Slavic city. Then why couldn’t the Chud do the same. Directing the raiding Vikings to the Slavic city of Aldeigj -Ladoga. Chud communicated closely with the Slavs from Ladoga, exchanging much-needed weapons and more for furs. So they knew this city very well and even called it by their own name. Unlike the king of the Swedes, who didn’t even know the name of Ladoga. You may not agree with this statement, but it is also extremely difficult to dispute it.
The Scandinavians named Ladoga Aldeigyuborg. The earliest name for the toponym Aldeigjuborg is in the Saga of Olav Tryggvason by the monk Odd (late 12th century). By this time Ladoga was already a powerful stone stronghold. According to T. N. Jaxon, “The composite Aldeigjuborg used by the sagas is built using the root borg, and this is worthy of attention, since this root serves to design the Old Scandinavian toponymy of Western Europe and is not typical for designating the cities of Ancient Rus'.” Western Europe, where the Slavs lived, comes up again. Probably the root “borg” could have appeared when the Scandinavians encountered the Ladoga people. And they recognized them as the threat of the seas of the Vendian Vagirs. However, the Normanists stubbornly hush up the Vendian-Obodritic beginning. This is understandable, because then Rurik is not a Scandinavian.
According to the same T.N. Dzhakson and G.V. Glazyrina, the name of Ladoga Aldeigyuborg is connected, firstly, with the staged acquaintance of the Varangians with Russian cities, and secondly, it conveys an impression of Ladoga, which is not typical for Russian settlements, equipped with non-wooden , but a stone fortress. This is the conclusion. And where did they manage to see enough Russian settlements? The ancient Russian chronicler called Ladoga the city of the Slovenes - the first on the way “from across the sea” into the depths of Rus'. And besides, in the 12th century, Pskov and Izborsk were already dressed in stone. According to the Norman theory, Rurik was a Varangian Scandinavian. This is how it turns out. The Scandinavians came with Rurik and cut down the city of Ladoga. Note Ladoga, not Aldeygyuborg. And then other Scandinavians came, they named the city differently and marveled at the stone cities in Rus'. It turns out that Rurik spoke a different language, since they called the same city differently. And although the dating of the formation of Ladoga and its construction by Rurik differ, there is something to think about.
The leading Scandinavian E.A. Rydzevskaya noted “that not one of the large ancient Russian cities bears a name that can be explained from Scandinavian.” The historian M.N. Tikhomirov expressed himself more clearly back in 1962, “in all of ancient Rus' there was not a single city that would go back to the times of the first Russian princes and would bear a Scandinavian name” (in his words, “even the name Ladoga is not can easily be derived from Scandinavian roots"). The linguist S. Rospond completely agreed with him, pointing out the complete absence among the names of ancient Russian cities of the 9th-10th centuries. "Scandinavian names..."
Flaw, citizens of the norm.
The name Ladoga comes from the Slavic goddess Lada, which the Normans try not to consider. “This version can’t cause anything but a smile,” note A.S. Vlasov and G.N. Elkin in the book “Ancient Russian fortresses of the north-west”. This means that naming a city in honor of a Slavic deity makes Normanists laugh. But what about Kyiv, Lvov or Vladimir? Doesn't it make you laugh? The cities were named not by the names of gods, but by princes. So was the prince really revered in Rus' more powerful than the gods? From whom did the pagan Slavs ask for help and protection, if not from their gods? To whom should cities be dedicated with a bright name, if not to their gods? Lada – Ladoga, the Slavic root is pure and direct. And the name from the name lengthens.
Question three, did the Scandinavians rule Ladoga?
This fact took place. This only happened under Yaroslav the Wise. The prince gave Ladoga and its region as fief to his wife Ingigerd. Just how did it all turn out? N.A. Kirpichnikov writes “The activities of the Norman rulers of Ladoga, far from pressing state tasks, spending time in endless feuds and rivalries, absorbing a significant share of tribute, and not always, obviously, performing the functions of a military barrier from the Baltic, over time ceased to satisfy the central government . Attempts to divide the Ladoga region into different, sometimes random, owners also caused dissatisfaction.” Where is the Norman theory about the creation of the Scandinavian order in Rus'? Not only did they fail to organize the state, they even failed to manage the city. Just appropriate it, take it away by force, tear it into shreds, a piece for each. Do not agree? Re-read what A. N. Kirpichnikov writes again.
“All these circumstances ultimately led to the fact that in the last quarter of the 11th or the beginning of the 12th century, apparently, under Prince Mstislav Vladimirovich during his first (1088-1094) or second (1096-1116) stay in The reign of Novgorod in Ladoga replaced the foreign one with its own Russian administration.”
This is the truly Norman attitude towards the Russian city and its territory. Where can we draw a parallel with Rurik or Oleg the Prophet, who cared for the strength, power and glory of Rus' and its fortified cities? Yes, they had some kind of non-Scandinavian policy - the unification of Rus'.
The Ladoga stone stronghold ensured the safety of navigation and trade. The fortress city stood as a faithful guard, shielding Rus' from the Norman explorers, in case they approached the city with bandit and pirate purposes. And how eager they were to repair the destruction.
1164 Ladoga residents repelled the attack of the Swedes in the 12th century. “They burned their mansions, and they themselves shut themselves up in the city with the mayor and Nezhata.” After an unsuccessful attack, the Swedes retreat on ships to the Vorona-Voronega River (flows into Lake Ladoga between the Pasha and Syasya rivers), where they are finally defeated by the Novgorod troops.
1228 Yem fights along the coast of Lake Ladoga “on Isadekh and Olons.” The Ladoga fleet pursues the attackers off the coast of the Obonezh land and the Ladoga city volost. On the banks of the Neva at its source, where Orekhovy Island was located, it was completely destroyed.
1240 The Swedes and their allies are defeated on the Neva River by the troops of Prince Alexander; Novgorodians and Ladoga residents took part in the battle.
1283 Responding to the Swedes’ raid on Lake Ladoga, the Ladoga residents set out to intercept the robbers, “moving the Ladoga residents to the Neva and fighting with them.”
1293 A joint army of Novgorodians and Ladoga residents fight at the source of the Neva against the Swedes,
“they want to take tribute from Korel.”
1301 As part of the Novgorod army, Ladoga residents, as well as Suzdal residents, storm the “Svei” Landskrona on the river. Okhta in the Neva delta.
1348 In Ladoga - gathering of all-Novgorod troops for the arrival and liberation of Oreshek, captured by the Swedes.
And now Ladoga stands, reflected by its fortress walls and towers in the waters of Vokhov and Ladozhka. And while she stands, the name of the Slavic goddess Lada will not be forgotten. Ladoga stood guarding the lands of Rus' from the greedy Scandinavians. And for a long time it will remain a bone in the throat of the Normanists.