Old Ladoga in Moscow

     On June 2 an exhibition will open in the Russian historical museum “Leningrad region: yesterday and tomorrow”. The exhibition is dedicated to the 1250th anniversary of Old Ladoga. The exposition includes about 500 items presenting lifestyle, housekeeping, everyday life and the believes of people of the early Middle Ages. These finds are collected by the generation of the archeologists enchased and processed in the funds of the Hermitage and Old Ladoga museum. They reveal a certain kind of window to the past world.

     The exhibition is a part of the official anniversary events plan elaborated by the Leningrad region authority according to the order of the President of Russia “About the celebration of the 1250th anniversary of the foundation of Old Ladoga in Leningrad region” from October 9 2002 and is organized by the regional culture committee and Old Ladoga conservation area.

     Such attention to the anniversary of the ancient capital is not accidental. Old Ladoga is a superstar among the historical cities of Leningrad region. The Russian statehood was born here, the people and cultures of east and west met here, the world’s trade routes “from the Varangians into the Greeks” and “from the Varangians to the Arabs” ran through the city. This settlement used to be one of the ten most ancient cities of Russia and served for a long time as a northern port and the certain kind of window into Baltic. Being the embodiment of the aspiration of the Russians to the Baltic Sea and international relations Ladoga is truly a predecessor of St. Petersburg.

     The first mention of Ladoga in the Russian chronicles “Notes of the past times” is referred to 862. It related to the calling of prince Rurik by the citizens of Novgorod who turned Ladoga into his capital. However the settlement itself appeared long time ago before this event. The celebrated date is based on dendrochronological (The determination of the wood age on the rings of its cut) exploration of the logs. The earliest date determined by such a method is the year 753 conditionally taken as the year of Ladoga foundation.

     The archeological research of Ladoga ‘s antiquities goes on almost for two centuries. Although the burial and architectural monuments attracted the attention of the researchers yet in the XII century, the occupation layer of the early medieval settlement systematically was explored in the beginning of the XX century. In 1909-1910 a series of works were carried out on the territory of so-called Ground Town of Old Ladoga in the area of the most ancient settlement; since 1911 the stationary excavation were launched. They were the first systematic explorations of the occupation layer in Russia with the preserved organic relics. Since 1938 till 1959 Old Ladoga expedition (with the breaks) under the leadership of professor Ravdonikas continued the research of Ladoga. Still the main attention was paid to the Ground Town. During many years its central part, the core of the ancient mediaeval settlement available for exploration was uncovered. The collected material made the archeologists to propound the hypothesis about the genesis and development of the settlement and the finds became a basis of Old Ladoga collection of the State Hermitage. In 1972 an expedition under the leadership of A. Kirpichnikov recommenced the exploration of Old Ladoga monuments. Its fruitful research is going on up to the present day. The materials of Old Ladoga settlement allow looking into the early centuries not only of Russian history but to the histories of those countries this ancient city was connected to by the great military and trade routes.



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