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59-496: It used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries. It was dominated by Varangians who became known as the Rus' . For that reason, Staraya Ladoga is sometimes called the first capital of Russia, and is regarded as one of the original centers from which the name Rus ' spread to other territories inhabited by the East Slavs . Dendrochronology suggests that Ladoga

118-581: A citadel with five towers and several churches. After the town of Novaya Ladoga (New Ladoga) was founded in 1704 by Peter the Great , Ladoga became known as Staraya Ladoga and its importance decreased. The heart of Staraya Ladoga is an old fortress where the Ladozhka flows into the Volkhov. In earlier times, it was a strategic site because it was the only possible harbor for sea-vessels that could not navigate through

177-405: A base zone for rest and creative work. The restoring works continued 15 years from 1946. But Leningrad artists began to arrive to Staraya Ladoga from 1940s. It became a source of inspiration for Sergei Osipov , Gleb Savinov , Nikolai Timkov , Arseny Semionov and many others for many years. The House of Creativity «Staraya Ladoga began to operate permanently in the beginning of the 1960s after

236-519: A compound of vár 'pledge' or 'faith', and gengi 'companion', thus meaning 'sworn companion', 'confederate', extended to mean 'a foreigner who has taken service with a new lord by a treaty of fealty to him', or 'protégé'. Some scholars seem to assume a derivation from vár with the common suffix -ing . However, this suffix is inflected differently in Old Norse. Furthermore, the word is attested with -gangia and cognates in other Germanic languages in

295-705: A red ruby set in the left ear and ornamented dragons sewn on their chainmail shirts. In these years, Swedish men left to enlist in the Byzantine Varangian Guard in such numbers that a medieval Swedish law, Västgötalagen , from Västergötland declared no one could inherit while staying in "Greece"—the then Scandinavian term for the Byzantine Empire —to stop the emigration, especially as two other European courts simultaneously also recruited Scandinavians: Kievan Rus' c. 980–1060 and London 1018–1066 (the Þingalið ). Composed primarily of Scandinavians for

354-493: A tradition of faithful, oath-bound service (to death if necessary), and after the Norman Conquest of England there were many fighting men, who had lost their lands and former masters, looking for a living elsewhere. The Varangian Guard not only provided security for Byzantine emperors but participated in many wars involving Byzantium and often played a crucial role, since it was usually employed at critical moments of battle. By

413-530: Is a town in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast , Russia, located at the point where the Volkhov River flows into Lake Ladoga , 140 kilometers (87 mi) east of St. Petersburg . Population: 8,838 ( 2010 Census ) ; 9,920 ( 2002 Census ) ; 11,310 ( 1989 Soviet census ) . The Nikolo-Medvedsky ( St. Nicholas ) Monastery stood on the site of the modern town since

472-565: Is also connected by a road to Volkhov , with a regular bus traffic. The Volkhov River is navigable within the district; however, there is no passenger navigation. In the beginning of the 19th century, a system of canals bypassing Lake Ladoga were built, which at the time were a part of Mariinsky Water System , connecting the Neva River and the Volga River . In particular, the Syas Canal connects

531-463: 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 youth in Ladoga, Stenkil and Inge I , and possibly also King Anund Gårdske . In the 12th and 13th centuries, Ladoga functioned as a trade outpost of the powerful Novgorod Republic . Later its trade significance declined and most of

590-498: Is estimated that between 90% and 95% of all Arab dirhams found in Sweden passed through Ladoga. Ladoga's next mention in chronicles is dated 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

649-536: Is incorporated within Volkhovsky Municipal District as Novoladozhskoye Urban Settlement . Industrial facilities in Novaya Ladoga include shipyards and food industry enterprises. The M18 Highway , connecting St. Petersburg and Murmansk , passes close to Novaya Ladoga. In Kiselnya , close to Novaya Ladoga, a highway heading to Vologda via Tikhvin and Cherepovets branches off. The town

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708-509: The Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988. Coinciding with the general decline of the Viking Age , the influx of Scandinavians to Rus' stopped and Varangians were gradually assimilated by East Slavs by the late 11th century. Medieval Greek Βάραγγος Várangos and Old East Slavic варягъ varjagŭ ( Old Church Slavonic варѧгъ varęgŭ ) are derived from Old Norse væringi , originally

767-517: The Curonians of Grobin faced an invasion by the Swedes at about the same date. It has been argued that the word Varangian , in its many forms, does not appear in primary sources until the eleventh century (though it does appear frequently in later sources describing earlier periods). This suggests that the term Rus ' was used broadly to denote Scandinavians until it became too firmly associated with

826-731: The Danes , he incarcerated them. In 860, the Rus' under Askold and Dir launched their first attack on Constantinople from Kiev. The result of this attack is disputed, but the Varangians continued their efforts as they regularly sailed on their monoxyla down the Dnieper into the Black Sea . The Rus' raids into the Caspian Sea were recorded by Muslim authors in the 870s and in 910, 912, 913, 943, and later. Although

885-721: The Greece Runestones . These were raised by former members of the Varangian Guard, or in their memory. A smaller group consists of the four Italy Runestones which commemorate members of the Varangian Guard who died in southern Italy. The oldest of the Greece runestones are six stones in the RAK style , which dates to the period before 1015 AD. The group consists of Skepptuna runestone U 358 , Västra Ledinge runestone U 518 , Nälberga runestone Sö 170 and Eriksstad runestone Sm 46 . One of

944-595: The House of Creativity was widening, new buildings were built. They used it a whole-year. A dwelling there for 1–2 months was without any payment for the artists. All commitments on housing, food and travel were taken on by the Art Foundation of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic . The paintings created there were exposed in first-rate art exhibitions. It completed the collections of

1003-506: The Ladoga Canal and Volga–Baltic Waterway in the 18th and 19th centuries. In 1719, Novaya Ladoga was included to St. Petersburg Governorate . In 1727, separate Novgorod Governorate was split off, and in 1773 Novoladozhsky Uyezd , with its seat in Novaya Ladoga, was established. In 1776, the area was transferred to Novgorod Viceroyalty and in 1781, it was moved back into St. Petersburg Governorate. On December 9, 1922,

1062-682: The Peredvizhniki group Vassily Maximov was born and laid to rest there. He portrayed scenes from an everyday life of peasants. Nicholas Roerich painted his studies there during the summer of 1899. He named this landscape the best of the Russian one. Valentin Serov , Konstantin Korovin , Boris Kustodiev also worked there. Alexander Samokhvalov was in Staraya Ladoga many times in 1924-1926. He took part in

1121-638: The Viking Age , and there are many associated with the Varangian Guards. These Varangian runestones commemorate various fallen warriors through carved runes , and mention voyages to the East ( Austr ) or the Eastern route ( Austrvegr ), or to more specific eastern locations such as Garðaríki (what is today Russia and Ukraine). The losses that the Varangian Guard suffered are reflected by the largest group of runestones that talk of foreign voyages, such as those known as

1180-755: The Volga trade route (between the Varangians and the Muslims), connecting the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and the Dnieper and Dniester trade route (between Varangians and the Greeks) leading to the Black Sea and Constantinople . Those were the main important trade links at that time, connecting Medieval Europe with Abbasid Caliphates and the Byzantine Empire . Most of the silver coinage in

1239-528: The 15th century, but the nearby sloboda was long overshadowed by the first Russian capital, Staraya Ladoga , located just a few miles upstream. In 1702–1704, during the Great Northern War , Peter the Great established a shipyard there, fortified the monastery, and ordered the population of Staraya Ladoga to relocate to the nearby village. Town rights were granted to it in 1704. The newly founded town grew in importance in connection with construction of

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1298-695: The 750s, Norse colonists played an important role in the early ethnogenesis of the Rus' people and in the formation of the Rus' Khaganate . The Varangians ( Varyags , in Old East Slavic ) are first mentioned by the Primary Chronicle as having exacted tribute from the Slavic and Finnic tribes in 859. It was the time of rapid expansion of the Vikings in Northern Europe; England began to pay Danegeld in 859, and

1357-658: The 9th century, traveling as merchants along the Volga trade route, selling furs, honey, and slaves, as well as luxury goods such as amber, Frankish swords, and walrus ivory. These goods were mostly exchanged for Arabic silver coins, called dirhams. Hoards of 9th-century Baghdad -minted silver coins have been found in Sweden, particularly in Gotland. Variations in the size of the coin hoards show that there were phases of increased importation of coins and sometime decades during which very few coins were imported. The economic relationship between

1416-508: The Byzantines to re-arrange their trading arrangements; militarily, the Varangians were usually defeated by the superior Byzantine forces, especially in the sea due to Byzantine use of Greek fire . The Varangian Guard ( Greek : Τάγμα των Βαράγγων, Tágma tōn Varángōn ) were a part of Byzantine Army and personal bodyguards of the Byzantine emperors from the 10th to the 14th centuries. Initially

1475-579: The Early Middle Ages; examples include Old English wærgenga , Old Frankish wargengus and Langobardic waregang . The reduction of the second part of the word could be parallel to that seen in Old Norse foringi 'leader', correspondent to Old English foregenga and Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌰𐌲𐌰𐌲𐌲𐌾𐌰 fauragaggja 'steward'. There are raised stone memorials called runestones throughout Scandinavia of which almost all are found in Sweden . Many date to

1534-626: The Islamic world in the 9th and 10th centuries and the Rus merchants who went there to trade their goods for silver interacted with cultures and goods from the Islamic World, and also from China, India, and North Africa. The trade between the Rus and the lands south of the Black and Caspian seas made it possible for cultural interactions to take place between the Rus and the Islamic World. The account written by Ibn Fadlan about his 921–922 travels from Baghdad to

1593-465: The Rus and the Islamic world developed quickly into a network of trading routes. Initially the Rus founded Staraya Ladoga as the first node from the Baltic to the Caspian Sea and Black Sea. By the end of the 9th century, Staraya Ladoga was replaced as the most important center by Novgorod. From these centers the Rus were able to send their goods as far as Baghdad. Baghdad was the political and cultural center of

1652-611: The Rus and the Muslims were interested in and fairly knowledgeable about each other's cultures. The geography of the Volga region and the relative lack of physical wealth available for stealing (compared to targets of Viking raids in the west) made raiding a less important aspect of the Rus/Varangian activities in the East. Some raiding was necessary to gain initial control of the towns and regions that they developed into centers of economic activities. The first small-scale raids took place in

1711-524: The Rus' had predominantly peaceful trading relations with the Byzantines, the rulers of Kiev launched the relatively successful naval expedition of 907 and the abortive campaign of 941 against Constantinople, as well as the large-scale invasion of the Balkans by Sviatoslav I in 968–971. In 1043, Yaroslav sent his son Vladimir to attack Constantinople. The Byzantines destroyed the attacking vessels and defeated Vladimir These raids were successful in forcing

1770-835: The Rus' may have been written prior to 842. It is preserved in the Greek Life of St. George of Amastris , which speaks of a raid that had extended into Paphlagonia . Contemporary Byzantine presence of the Rus' is mentioned in the Frankish Annals of St. Bertin . These relate that a delegation from the court of the Byzantine emperor visited Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious at his court in Ingelheim in 839. In this delegation were two men who called themselves Rhos ( Rhos vocari dicebant ). Louis enquired about their origins and learnt that they were Swedes. Fearing that they were spies for their brothers,

1829-478: The Rus' might have ruled an earlier hypothetical polity known as the Rus' Khaganate . Rurik's relative Oleg conquered Kiev in 882 and established the state of Kievan Rus', which was later ruled by Rurik's descendants . Engaging in trade, piracy, and mercenary service, Varangians roamed the river systems and portages of Gardariki , as the areas north of the Black Sea were known in the Norse sagas . They controlled

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1888-601: The Syas and the Volkhov. The New Ladoga Canal connects the Volkhov and the Neva. It replaced the Old Ladoga Canal, built by Peter the Great , which thus became disused and decayed. The canals collectively are known as the Ladoga Canal . The district contains seven cultural heritage monuments of federal significance and additionally five objects classified as cultural and historical heritage of local significance. The federal monuments are

1947-466: The Volkhov River. The fortress was rebuilt at the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries. 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 Staraya Ladoga (Old Ladoga), in order to distinguish it from the new town. The reconstruction of one of the towers of Staraya Ladoga's fortress

2006-792: The West came from the East via those routes. Attracted by the riches of Constantinople, the Varangian Rus' began the Rus'-Byzantine Wars , some of which resulted in advantageous trade treaties. At least from the early 10th century, many Varangians served as mercenaries in the Byzantine Army , constituting the elite Varangian Guard (the bodyguards of Byzantine emperors ). Eventually most of them, in Byzantium and in Eastern Europe, were converted from Norse paganism to Orthodox Christianity , culminating in

2065-459: The administrative center located in Novaya Ladoga was split off Volkhovsky District. On February 1, 1963, Novoladozhsky District was abolished and merged into Volkhovsky District. Within the framework of administrative divisions , it is, together with four rural localities , incorporated within Volkhovsky District as Novoladozhskoye Settlement Municipal Formation . As a municipal division , Novoladozhskoye Settlement Municipal Formation

2124-425: The administrative center of the uyezd was moved to the selo of Gostinopolye , which was renamed Volkhov and was granted town status. The uyezd was renamed Volkhovsky. In 1924, the changes were rolled back, the administrative center moved to Novaya Ladoga, and Volkhov was demoted to a selo (which was eventually renamed Gostinopolye). The name of the uyezd, however, remained Volkhovsky. On August 1, 1927,

2183-467: The capital of the Bulghar kingdom gives details which can reveal the cultural interaction between the two groups. Ibn Fadlan gives a vivid description of the daily habits of the Rus, as well as the only known first-person account of the complicated ship-burning funeral ceremony. Certain details in his account, especially the dialogue of the ceremonies and his personal conversations with Rus individuals, show that

2242-792: The finish of the restoration. It was an important center of the art life of Russia for 30 years. Such artists as Evsey Moiseenko , Alexander Samokhvalov , Vecheslav Zagonek , Dmitry Belyaev , Vladimir Ovchinnikov , Boris Ugarov , Boris Shamanov , Vsevolod Bazhenov , Piotr Buchkin , Zlata Bizova , Taisia Afonina , Marina Kozlovskaya , Dmitry Maevsky , Alexander Semionov , Arseny Semionov , Irina Dobrekova , Vladimir Sakson , Gleb Savinov , Elena Zhukova , Sergei Zakharov , Ivan Varichev , Veniamin Borisov , Valery Vatenin , Ivan Godlevsky , Vladimir Krantz , Lazar Yazgur , Irina Dobrekova , Piotr Fomin and many other Leningrad and other regions painters and graphic artists worked there. In 1970-1980 as

2301-458: The first hundred years, the guard increasingly included Anglo-Saxons after the successful Norman Conquest of England. By the time of Emperor Alexios Komnenos in the late 11th century, the Varangian Guard was largely recruited from Anglo-Saxons and "others who had suffered at the hands of the Vikings and their cousins the Normans". The Anglo-Saxons and other Germanic peoples shared with the Vikings

2360-493: The guard was composed of Varangians who came from Kievan Rus'. Immigrants from Scandinavia (predominantly immigrants from Sweden but also elements from Denmark and Norway ) kept an almost entirely Norse cast to the organization until the late 11th century. According to the late Swedish historian Alf Henrikson in his book Svensk Historia ( History of Sweden ), the Norse Varangian guardsmen were recognised by long hair,

2419-476: The late 13th century, Varangians were mostly ethnically assimilated by Byzantines, though the guard operated until at least the mid-14th century, and in 1400 there were still some people identifying themselves as "Varangians" in Constantinople. Primary sources Additional secondary sources Novaya Ladoga Novaya Ladoga ([Но́вая Ла́дога] Error: {{Lang}}: invalid parameter: |lit= ( help ) )

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2478-457: The late 9th and early 10th centuries. The Rus' undertook the first large-scale expedition in 913; having arrived on 500 ships, they pillaged Gorgan , in the territory of present-day Iran , and the adjacent areas, taking slaves and goods. On their return, the northern raiders were attacked and defeated by Khazar Muslims in the Volga Delta , and those who escaped were killed by the local tribes on

2537-601: The later runestones in the Pr4 style is Ed runestone U 112 , a large boulder at the western shore of the lake of Ed. It tells that Ragnvaldr, the captain of the Varangian Guard, had returned home where he had the inscriptions made in memory of his dead mother. The youngest runestones, in the Pr5 style , such as Ed runestone U 104 (presently in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford ), are dated to

2596-659: The main museums of Soviet Union and numerous private collections of Russia and abroad. Also it became a base of an extensive collection of painting, graphics and sculpture of the museum “Staraya Ladoga”. Financing of the House of Creativity stopped at the beginning of the 1990s on the breakup of the USSR and after the liquidation of the Art Foundation. It stopped welcoming artists and was closed. Varangians The Varangians ( / v ə ˈ r æ n dʒ i ə n z / ) were Viking conquerors, traders and settlers, mostly from present-day Sweden . The Varangians settled in

2655-406: The middle Volga . During their next expedition in 943, the Rus' captured Barda , the capital of Arran , in the modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan . The Rus' stayed there for several months, killing many inhabitants of the city and amassing substantial plunder. It was only an outbreak of dysentery among the Rus' that forced them to depart with their spoils. Sviatoslav , prince of Kiev, commanded

2714-711: The next attack, which destroyed the Khazar state in 965. Sviatoslav's campaign established Rus' control over the north–south trade routes, helping to alter the demographics of the region. Raids continued through the time period with the last Scandinavian attempt to reestablish the route to the Caspian Sea led by Ingvar the Far-Travelled in 1041. While there, Varangians took part in the Georgian-Byzantine Battle of Sasireti in Georgia (1042). The earliest Byzantine record of

2773-406: The period 1080–1130, after which runestones became unfashionable. The Varangians returned home with some influence from Byzantine culture, as exemplified by the Byzantine cross carved on the early eleventh-century Risbyle runestone U 161 , and which today is the coat-of-arms of Täby , a trimunicipal locality and the seat of Täby Municipality in Stockholm County, Sweden. The runes were made by

2832-405: The population engaged in fishing in the 15th century. After new fortresses such as Oreshek and Korela were constructed in the 14th century further to the west of Ladoga, the town's military significance also decreased. Ladoga belonged to Vodskaya Pyatina of the Republic and contained eighty-four homesteads in the 15th century; most of the land belonged to the church. The Novgorodians built there

2891-466: The powerful state of Kievan Rus' were laid. There are several huge tumuli , 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 Eric Haakonsson 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

2950-429: The restoration of the St. George's Church. That experience gave a great deal to the artist, he wrote. It helped him to understand the effect of joining a monumental painting with the architectural forms. In result of this dwelling in that place painter made his "Staraya Ladoga" (1924) and "Family of Fisherman"(1926, Russian Museum ) In February 1945 the ex-estate of the prince Shakhovskoy was given to Leningrad artists as

3009-570: The runemaster Viking Ulf of Borresta , see Orkesta runestone U 344 , in memory of another Ulf, in Skålhamra, and at the request of the latter's father. In the 9th century, the Rus ' operated the Volga trade route , which connected Northern Rus ( Garðaríki ) with the Middle East ( Serkland ). The Volga route declined by the end of the century, and the Dnieper and Dniester routes rapidly overtook it in importance. Apart from Ladoga and Novgorod , Gnyozdovo and Gotland were major centers for Varangian trade. Having settled Aldeigja (Ladoga) in

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3068-463: The south came from the area of modern Sweden. The Varangians left rune stones in their native Sweden that tell of their journeys to what is today Russia, Ukraine, Greece, and Belarus. Most of these rune stones can be seen today, and are a telling piece of historical evidence. The Varangian runestones tell of many notable Varangian expeditions, and even account for the fates of individual warriors and travelers. The Rus' initially appeared in Serkland in

3127-439: 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. According to the Hypatian Codex that was created at the end of the 13th century, the legendary Varangian leader Rurik arrived at Ladoga in 862 and made it his capital. Rurik later moved to Novgorod and subsequently his successors moved from there to Kiev where foundations for

3186-449: The subsequent elite of Kievan Rus who assimilated Slavic culture. At that point, the new term Varangian was increasingly preferred to name Scandinavians, probably mostly from what is now Sweden, plying the river routes between the Baltic and the Black and Caspian Seas. Due largely to geographic considerations, it is often argued that most of the Varangians who traveled and settled in the lands of eastern Baltic, modern Russia and lands to

3245-417: The territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine from the 8th and 9th centuries, and established the state of Kievan Rus' as well as the principalities of Polotsk and Turov . They also formed the Byzantine Varangian Guard . According to the 12th-century Primary Chronicle , a group of Varangians known as the Rus' settled in Novgorod in 862 under the leadership of Rurik . Before Rurik,

3304-430: The uyezds were abolished and Volkhovsky District, with the administrative center in the urban-type settlement of Zvanka , was established. The governorates were also abolished and the district became a part of Leningrad Okrug of Leningrad Oblast . On July 23, 1930, the okrugs were abolished as well and the districts were directly subordinated to the oblast. On March 20, 1946, Novoladozhsky District with

3363-405: Was constructed mainly in the 17th century. Staraya Ladoga's barrows, architectural monuments, and romantic views of the Volkhov River have always been drawing attention of Russian painters. There were the artists Ivan Aivazovsky , Orest Kiprensky , Aleksander Orłowski , Ivan Ivanov , Alexey Venetsianov and many others in the 19th century. A future member of the Imperial Academy of Arts and

3422-421: 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

3481-437: Was scheduled to be completed in 2010. 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. In addition, there is a mid-12th-century church of St. Climent, which stands in ruins. There is also the Assumption Nunnery/Monastery, and a monastery , dedicated to St. Nicholas which

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