Everything about Staraya Ladoga totally explained
Staraya Ladoga, or
Aldeigjuborg of
Norse sagas, is a
village (
selo) in
Volkhovsky District of
Leningrad Oblast,
Russia, located on the
Volkhov River near
Lake Ladoga. 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 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 Ladoga's inhabitants were
Norsemen,
Finns, and
Slavs, hence different names for the city. The original Finnish name,
Alode-joki (for example, "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, in 862 the legendary
Varangian leader
Rurik arrived to Ladoga 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's 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 vital trade outpost of the powerful
Novgorod Republic. 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 couldn't navigate through the Volkhov River.
Apart from the churches mentioned above, there's 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.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Staraya Ladoga'.
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