Russia: Novgorod

The family--Bill, Jean, Steve, Maria, Anna, and Kate--along with our St. Petersburg guide, Natasha, took a day trip to Novgorod. Leaving the city for the three-hour trip through the countryside was interesting in and of itself.

In Novgorod we experienced early Russian history with a very knowledgeable city guide. Novgorod is divided by the River Volkhov into two sections: The market side, Yaroslav's Cortyard, and the administrative side, the walled Kremlin, which is the center of government and religious authority. The churches constructed in the Middle Ages on the market side were built by merchants and provided storage for their merchandise.

On the same trip we visited the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of Wooden Architecture, an outdoor museum of historic traditional wooden buildings built without nails that had been moved from various places in Russia and reassembled here.

Our visit has been well chronicled on Steve and Maria's blog, so I will add just a few pictures. For the complete story, visit www.mariavittone.blogspot.com.

Steve loved spotting the distinctive Soviet-era Lada automobiles wherever we went. All the others I saw were in subdued hues, leading me to believe the owner of this one had given it a cheerful paint job. One might guess the same person chose the color for the house. We saw many of these little houses, called dachas, along the road. A dacha and a little plot of land for growing food was an entitlement during Soviet times, and the families still own them. Many owners have moved to cities and use the dachas as summer or weekend retreats, though for some the dacha is their only home.

 Part of the Market Area, Yaroslav's Cortyard

View over the Volkhov River toward the Kremlin

 

Crossing the Volkhov from the Market Side to the Administrative Side of Novgorod

The wind was fierce and cold, and I was grateful for layers of warmth, gloves, and a hat.

The wedding-day lock and kissing tradition I mentioned in the Moscow blog is carried out on this bridge, too.

I loved these old wooden buildings at the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of Wooden Architecture. We went inside some of the houses and could see how real people lived in them long ago.

This was the plain home of an ordinary family.

This was the home of a well-to-do family.

The Russian Orthodox Church, in all its forms, is part of the fabric of Mother Russia.