Everything about Staraya Russa totally explained
Staraya Russa is an old
Russian town located 99 km south of
Veliky Novgorod. It is the administrative center of
Starorussky District of
Novgorod Oblast in
Russia and a
wharf on the
Polist River (
Lake Ilmen basin). It is the third largest town in Novgorod Oblast. Population: 35,511 (
2002 Census); 41,538 (
1989 Census). It is served by
Staraya Russa Airport.
History
Thought to have originated in the mid-10th century, Staraya Russa was first mentioned in chronicles for the year 1076 as one of three main towns of the
Novgorod Republic, alongside
Pskov and
Ladoga. Its name is derived from the time of the
Varangians, who called themselves
Rus and settled in the vicinity to control important trade routes leading from
Novgorod to
Polotsk and
Kiev.
The wooden settlement of Russa was burned to ashes in 1190 and 1194. In 1478, it was incorporated into
Muscovy together with Novgorod. The word Staraya (
Old) was prefixed to the name in the 15th century, to distinguish it from newer settlements called Russa.
In the 15th–17th centuries, the ancient merchant town changed into a prosperous industrial centre, with
saltworks as the principle business activity. When
Ivan the Terrible ascended the throne, Staraya Russa was the fourth most populous city in Russia, after
Moscow,
Pskov and Novgorod. During the
Time of Troubles it was held by Polish brigands and heavily depopulated. Only 38 people lived there in 1613.
In 1824,
Tsar Alexander I created the so-called
military settlements near Staraya Russa, which would be a stage for an uprising in 1831 as part of the
Cholera Riots. The town was fictionalized as Skotoprigonievsk in
Dostoyevsky's novel
The Brothers Karamazov (1879-80). The
Soviet authority in Staraya Russa was established on
November 5(18), 1917. The city was occupied by the
Germans between
August 9,
1941 and
February 18,
1944. Totally destroyed by them, it was later restored.
Like much of Russia, Staraya Russa has seen its population decline since the collapse of the
Soviet Union.
Attractions
Staraya Russa is a
balneologic resort, celebrated for its
mineral springs used for baths, drinking, and
inhalations;
medicinal silt mud of the Lake Verkhneye and Lake Sredneye and mud from artificial
reservoirs. A summer residence of the Russian novelist
Fyodor Dostoevsky, who wrote there his novels
The Brothers Karamazov and
The Possessed, is open to visitors as a
museum.
The ancient monuments include the Transfiguration monastery, with a cathedral built in 70 days in 1198, partly rebuilt in the 15th century, and several 17th-century buildings and churches. The principal city cathedral (1678) is dedicated to the
Resurrection of Christ. Other notable churches are consecrated to
St George (1410, family temple of the Dostoevsky family), Mina the Martyr (14th century), and the
Holy Trinity (1676).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Staraya Russa'.
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