Weekend in Novgorod, Part I

This weekend, the CIEE program took us to the ancient city of Novgorod, one of the most powerful Russian principalities during the Middle Ages. Also known as Velikiy (or Great) Novgorod, the city was one of the only ones to escape destruction by the Mongols, and later successfully resisted incursions by the Swedes and the Teutonic Knights. At the same time, Novgorod also became one of the major trading cities in the Baltic region, and established itself as a bastion of learning and culture in a relatively barbaric corner of the world. It was even semi-democratic, being ruled jointly by an elected Prince and a council of free men known as the Veche. Ironically, this prosperity came to an end not at the hands of foreign invaders, but fellow Russians. Tsar Ivan the Terrible, suspicious of the city's loyalty to Muscovy, had 3,000-12,000 of the citizenry massacred by his troops over a period of several weeks. (There's a reason they didn't call him Ivan the Huggable)

In any case, our trip to Novgorod was far less gruesome in nature. The bus ride took us about four hours, during which we saw the "real" Russia - endless stretches of field and forest, with the rare town flashing by on occasion. On Saturday, we saw the Court of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, as well as the Kremlin of Novgorod (not the same as the one in Moscow). Going inside the Cathedral of Saint Sophia was a particularly moving experience...outside, it's yet another large, white Kievan-style church, but inside...well, inside is completely different. Massive gllomy shadows abound, which makes it so much more shocking when you suddenly come across the bright golden gleam of the Russian icons. These, of course, are absolutely gorgeous, and there are hundreds of them, from floor to ceiling, throughout the cathedral. Sadly, I was not allowed to take photographs inside, but here's a picture of an icon from one of the other cathedrals I visited, just to give you a basic idea:

.....Yeah, you get the idea. The sheer splendour of the cathedral's interior, combined with the general feeling of extreme ancientness, is a potent combination; unlike a lot of the cathedrals I've seen in Italy, Saint Sophia had at least as many pilgrims and actual believers inside as it did tourists.

My computer battery is close to dead right now, so I'll have to sign off here. I'll continue this post tomorrow.