Mysterious Charm of Old Ladoga

Old Ladoga is a small town in Leningrad region. After August 16 2003 many people in Russia if not all of them learned this name. 1250 years is a substantial age. For twelve centuries stands Ladoga on the steep bank of Volhov, the genesis and development of this city is connected to the Russian statehood. The Normanns and the Slaves, Ugro-Finnish tribes, the merchants form West and East, all nature lived in this land, visited it moving along the great trade routes, the most famous of which is a route “form the Varangians into the Greeks”.

The history of Ladoga is full of mysteries and enigmas. Most probably many of them will remain unsolved. However it’s so exciting to make the hypothesis and suppositions. Who was legendary prince Riurik a Dane or a Swede? Which mysteries do the burial hills and the tuffets keep? Where do the word “Russ”, a foretype of Russia come from? What kind of finds did the archeologists discover in Ladoga land where it makes sense to dig everywhere because too many evidences of the roared centuries hidden in its occupation layer. Ladoga is older than Veliky Novgorod (Great Novgorod).

The historical-architectural conservation area is situated on its territory now. The fortress was rebuilt several times on the basis of the ancient fortifications. Two churches of pre-Mongol period preserved: the pearl of Ladoga, St. George church and the church of the Assumption of holy Mother on the territory of Assumption convent. The ancient capital used to be a fortification post that protected Russian lands from at Northwest and the citadel of Orthodoxy. Many convents and churches are built, a part of them unfortunately was lost, however everything available to see today fascinates and generates a desire to come back here.

During the past few years the ancient village has been restored. The monuments are reconstructed, the orthodox shrines are given back to the church. At any times people who are interested in history and cultural inheritance came to Old Ladoga. Today Ladoga is turning into the tourist center, the infrastructure of the tourist industry is developing. However the charm of this place is in the beauty of nature and in the fascination of land where every piece remembers the events of the past centuries and keeps mysteries so much longed by the archeologists. An interview with one of them, the leader of Old Ladoga archeological expedition of the Institute of artefactual history of the Russian Academy of Sciences professor Anatoly Kirpichnikov we offer to your attention.





The Inheritance of Russia and the Whole World




In the year of 1250th anniversary of Ladoga it was said and written a lot about it. As any anniversary rhetoric, the speeches expressed many objectively valuable ideas but revealed a speaker as an amateur with the good intentions. Professor Anatoly Nikolaevich Kirpichnikov discovered a lot from the history of this ancient land. Not only he systematized the finds but built his own system of view about the Old Ladoga role in the history of Russian and World culture based on the many years research. An interview with a famous archeologist I started with the question which I ask those I interview about the city twelve centuries and a half old.



Corr.: Anatoly Nikolaevich, what does Old Ladoga mean for you?




A.K.: First of all it’s an enormous cultural layer of Russia and European world. For many centuries Ladoga absorbed the cultural values of different epochs and nations. Many of them are uncovered today in the process of archeological excavations. About 160 monuments of history, culture, architecture, art and archeology have preserved on the territory of Old Ladoga. A huge cultural fund is not estimated up to the end and in many cases unknown. That’s why the potential value of Ladoga as a cultural phenomenon will grow year after year. During the last 30 years since 1972 Old Ladoga expedition of the Institute of artefactual culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences is carrying out the research works here with the participation of the students of Leningrad Region Sate University of Pushkin and from other institutes. During this time the realization of the meaning of Ladoga has come. We tried to make new cultural estimations both objective and scientific. The meaning of the ancient city connected with a beginning of Russian statehood increased.


Corr.: The excavations of the Ground Town in 2003 are going on? What kind of results do you expect?


A.K.: What kind of finds we will discover and to which century will they refer is known. The excavations have been going on for many years and each year brings something unexpected. The excavations in Ladoga however are always promising and effective. Last year our research spanned the X century, this summer we hope to get the layers of the occupation layer of the IX century. The results will be clear in approximately a month.


Corr.: The frame of a wooden house is seen in the excavations. Is this a fresh find?


A.K.: No, the merchant’s hostel (the way such construction was called) we discovered last year and conserved with a layer of earth by the end of the field works. Wood preserves very well in a humid soil. The archeological traces are practically terminated during the excavations. It takes removing the found from the excavations to reach the next deep layers. The new details usually revealed after that.

     The size of the merchant’s house is 10x16 square meters. It consists of the tow parts: an internal heated room where the remains of the fireplace preserved and a loop-line outer gallery. It’s function is to isolate with the air-space the living space. Besides the gallery, the pass of which is about one meter was used as a stock for different things.

     This type of house was found in Ladoga by the expedition of Doctor Ryabinin. The construction was age-dated to the IX century. Evgeny Alexandrovich was disposed to consider this find to be a palace of Prince Oleg. The fact that we have dug out the same kind of construction denies this version. Perhaps, the merchants used such houses as hotels. Ibn Faldan (921-922) left a description of such complex. He informed that in the Middle Povolzhie (the region of the present Kazan) the Russian merchants built the big houses. The discoveries of Ladoga correspond to this description completely.

     We found plenty of beads, even a batch of 2500 beads most probably destined for sale, a cast for the silver ingots that used to be the second after dirhem international currency in the excavation. Such ingot is moulded in the shape of a bar. A ring with an Arabic ornament on the insert of rock crystal was also found here. The inscription on the ring is a sura from Coran: “So Allah will give me his help and only for this help I rest and hope”. The ring served as a seal (it sealed goods, shipments and documents) and could belong to an eastern merchant designating the Arab ornament; this is the evidence that the merchants from the remote countries came to Ladoga. The female slaves and beads were transported to East and the travelers form Iran and Iraq came here for their business affairs. The guests apparently got to the eastern countries from Scandinavia along the Great Volga route. The seal ring with an Arab ornament and some other finds are the meaningful things that prove long-distance international relations of Ladoga, evidence its international economical and trade role in the X century.

     The communities of ship owners, sailors that could sail the Volhov from south from the Caspian Sea and from north from Scandinavia existed at that time. The ships’ companies were formed in Old Ladoga as well. The local market attracted the merchants by the furs from northern forests that were considered to be the best in the world. They silver for the furs.


Corr.: Anatoly Nikolaevich, Ibn Fadlan mentioned the russ merchants, how did the name “Russ” itself appeared?


A.K.: There are as many opinions about the ruses origin as many minds exist. The scientists have not yet found a common denominator and perhaps will never reach an agreement on this question. The written sources name the ruses only on the territory of Eastern Europe, the Slaves are also mentioned there. Besides the chronicles say that the Slaves and the Ruses had a common language, this means that the main settlers of Eastern Europe spoke the common language. I think that the difference between the Ruses and the Slaves is not ethnic but social. The Ruses were an elite upper class of society. They traded, bought slaves and etc. The social function of the Slaves was to serve the Russ elite.

     Many researchers think that the Ruses are the Scandinavians. I think that it’s not for sure. Most probably the Ruses formed international merchant communities, ships’ commands. Such groups could include the Scandinavians, the Finns, and the Slaves. The Scandinavian sources do not tell about the Ruses as a determination of people that belong to the same ethnos. The peculiar features of Eastern Europe are the openness to all nations, the representatives of which could form a unified social community named “Russ”.

     The Ruses are mentioned in the chronicles during X-XI centuries. Than an evolution of the notion takes place: Russian land, Russ, Russia. Who are the preliminary Ruses remains an unsolved mystery. Whoever they were, undoubtedly these collectives became a Russian ethnos compactly living on the Russian land, in Kiev Russ. However in that trade epoch the separation to the Ruses and the Slaves had a wide social sense.



Corr.: Anatoly Nikolaevich, do you plan any other excavations in Old Ladoga besides those at Ground Town?


A.K.: Ladoga is 12 hectares of the occupation layer and only 2-3 per cent of this area is explored. The observations in different places while digging the trenches several dozens of meters long and everywhere the antiquities were found dated to different centuries. On the whole territory of the mediaeval city the soil is enriched with the finds. We decided to dig at Ground Town because the occupation layer was not touched but covered by the mounds of the bastion fortress of the time of Ivan the Terrible. Relevant humidity preserved the wooden constructions. Besides the excavations on one territory save funds. However it’s worth remembering that the land of Ladoga is full of the last centuries evidences that’s why when a certain area is given out for construction, this territory should obligatory be preliminary explored by the archeologists.


Corr.: Old Ladoga is not only a history but also a modern town that requires development. Do you think it is possible to keep the balance of interests between the new construction and the preservation of such a cultural monument as the territory of the conservation area?


A.K.: It is necessary to follow the rules of the law. The conservation area occupies 190 hectares of Old Ladoga territory. It’s a federal property, the inheritance of Russia of the universal importance. I have already told about the obligation of preliminary excavations on the lands destined for construction. I would like very much if the new houses will reflect the ancient Russian style. The recherché Alhambresque towers and concrete boxes are inappropriate there.



Corr.: How is it possible to animate the ancient Varyazhskaya Street?



A.K.: Varyazhskaya street was from the very beginning uptown and full of trade enterprises. Therefore following the above-mentioned rules, it is absolutely possible to find there some areas for the construction.



Corr.: Perhaps it would be efficient to re-edify several houses of ancient Ladoga and to set there, for example, a smithy or a jewelry shop?



A.K.: It’s a good idea and very attractive for the tourists. There’s no need to present such constructions as the authentic but they can create the look of Ladoga and the demonstrative continuation of the excursions. Tourism has just started to develop in Old Ladoga and it would be right to elaborate a joint program of the conservation area and the municipal authorities on its development. The partial recreation of the trade ancient street will bring income and offer new workplaces. The tourism infrastructure is also very important. One hotel is not enough for such a center.



Corr.: Anatoly Nikpolaevich, what is your attitude to the transfer of the convents of the conservation area to the Orthodox Church?



A.K.: I think it’s a good affair. First of all, the expropriated by the Bolsheviks property will return to its right owner. It was barbarously destroyed for centuries. It takes enormous funds to restore all the destroyed convents and churches. Such a business is beyond the power of not even one but several generations. The newfound owner will take care of the protection and the phase-in instauration of its property. It is an inheritance of not only the Orthodox Church but of Russian and world’s culture. The reconstitution of something that was partially destroyed or lost has a big moral importance.



Corr.: The research of Old Ladoga lasts about two centuries. Who, from your point of view has attracted attention to this historical monument by contributing their explorations into the realization of the role of the ancient Russian capital in the history of Russia?


A.K.: The beginning of the research works in Old Ladoga is connected with the name of archeologist Doleng-Hodakovsky who has explored at the beginning of the XIX century a presumable grave of Oleg the Oracular. Undoubtedly, N. E. Bradenburg gave a big tribute into the research of Ladoga land although he intended to explore Ground Town but carried out mainly the excavations of the mounds and burial hills of Pruladozhie and explored the stone fortress. Brandenburg gave very professional explanations to the finds forwarding in methodological sense its century. N. I. Repnikov started excavation at the Ground Town in 1909. It was considered that ancient Russia had disappeared without a trace but Repnikov found very well preserved traces of its existence. Professor Ravdonikas worked very effectually. Unfortunately he couldn’t finish his explorations. Last time he dug in Old Ladoga in 1959. His assistant O. Davidan consequently published the results of his research.

     Since 1972 an expedition has been working in Old Ladoga under my leadership. We started excavations from the search of the ancient fortress discovered on one territory the fortress of the XI and than of the XII century. The identification of the fortified Ground Town of the XVI century as a bastion fortress completed this unique museum of fortifications.



Corr.: Anatoly Nikolaevich, what is the meaning of the anniversary celebrations for the regeneration of Old Ladoga?



A.K.: First of all it’s a recovery of historical memory, the realization of the role Ladoga played in politics, economy and culture of the early mediaeval Russ and Russian statehood. The order of The Russian President about the celebration of the anniversary of the first Russian capital, his visit to Old Ladoga are the steps to the acknowledgement of the outstanding meaning of the ancient city in the Russian and global culture.




An interview by Ekaterina Korobova