History of the St. Petersburg

Novgorod. St Sophia Cathedral (1045 – 1052). Detail of the eastern facade.

Early Russia’s foremost cultural and art centre, Novgorod was first mentioned in a scripture in 859. For the many centuries ever since Novgorod produced a large artistic school and preserved numberless monuments of the 11th-17th-century architecture, along with artistically outstanding works of early monumental painting. Novgorod remained unconquered throughout the hard times of Tartar invasion, so that its cultural monuments and artistic traditions survived until to-day. This explains the city’s special significance in Russian art.

Novgorod. Kremlin-citadel. Belfry of St Sophia Cathedral. Detail of the western facade

Novgorod. The Torgovaya Storona. Cathedral of the Annunciation-on-Torg (1466; rebuilt in 1530s; passageway with an octahedral belfry (16th century?) to the Church of the Archangel Michael (non-existent at present). General view from the East