Staraya Ladoga: the Cradle of Russia and the Open-Air Museum

Big village Staraya Ladoga can be bypassed for half an hour. But its past is legendary. It was in these places on the banks of the Volkhov River that Mother-Russia was born. It is not accidental that Ladoga is called the first capital of ancient Russia. Here the founder of the ancient Russian state the chronicled Varangian Rurik began reigning before his reigning in Novgorod. It is worth to come here to visit the places where the famous Battle of the Neva occurred and see the ancient monasteries.

Favorable geographical position on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga, along which was passing the path «from the Varangians to the Greeks», allowed Ladoga to become a major political and trade center in the IX century. However, in 1703 after the founding of St. Petersburg, Peter the First laid the Novaya Ladoga at the mouth of the Volkhov River, and Ladoga was renamed into the Staraya Ladoga, lost its former importance and turned into a village.

Almost on the outskirts of Staraya Ladoga there is a Tract Sopka: on the bank of the river there are three burial mounds. According to a legend, in the highest of them rests close relative of Rurik Prince Oleg who united northern and southern Russia. This is the same warrior who was glorified by the Russian poet A.S. Pushkin in «The Song of the Wise Oleg.» It is also worthy to come to this historic place because it offers a magnificent view of the churches and bell towers of the monasteries.

Like many years ago today as well Staraya Ladoga is the center of the spiritual life of Russia. There are two monasteries here — the men’s St. Nicholas Monastery and the women’s — Assumption Monastery. On the territory of the nunnery there is the Church of the Assumption of the XII century, which is the oldest surviving example of the Novgorod stone architecture. The most famous novice of the Assumption Monastery was the first wife of Peter the Great, Eudoxia Lopukhina. She stayed at the monastery from 1718 to 1725.

There are always a lot of tourists in the historical Staraya Ladoga. Those who come here as part of pilgrim groups can often dine right in the monastic refectory. And other travelers will find institutions with local cuisine in the city. For example, here one can taste the baked sig fish, which is listed in the menu as «The Gift of Ladoga». Among other dishes are a roll of pork, boyar soup, self-made dumplings, pies and sauerkraut with cranberries. Rye bread is made from whole-grain flour without yeast. The Russian tea Ivan Chai, the tea of the last harvest (flowers growing in the vicinity of Staraya Ladoga), honey sbiten and mead, cooked according to the monastic recipes help to quench the thirst and at the same time to strengthen the health.

Stray Ladoga is a real open-air museum. Here one can visit the expositions of the Staraya Ladoga Archeological Museum Preserve in the Gate Tower, the houses of the merchant A.V. Kalyazin and in the Uspenskoye Manor. One can also visit the «Earthen City», that is, the earthen ramparts preserved since the XVI century. And finally, one can walk along the old Varyazhskaya Street, which «remembers» the first settlers from Scandinavia.

Get directions

There are three ways to reach the village of Staraya Ladoga. By car from St. Petersburg on the motorway M18 one needs to go 127 kilometers and turn right before the bridge across the Volkhov River. By train from Ladozhsky or Moskovsky stations to the station Volhovstroy, then by bus number 23 to the village of Staraya Ladoga. By bus from the bus station on the Obvodny canal heading to Tikhvin, Lodeynoye Pole to the bus stop «Yushkovo», then by bus number 23 to the city of Volkhov.