Veliky Novgorod is an old city, for 12 centuries it has stood on the shores of Lake Ilmen. Sights to match the city: the red-brick tower Kremlin, the walls with loopholes are twice as old as the Moscow Kremlin. The open-air Vitoslavlitsa Museum, which contains wooden huts and houses from past centuries, the Yaroslav's Courtyard on the other side of the Volkhva River, the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior with immortal frescoes by the icon painter Theophan the Greek - these sights are where the art of Veliky Novgorod is concentrated.
The main attraction is St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, a white-stone masterpiece of church architecture. The temple has been standing in the middle of the Novgorod Kremlin since 1050, almost a thousand years, since it was built by Kyiv masters on the orders of Prince Vladimir of Novgorod, son of Yaroslav the Wise. The history of the creation of St. Sophia Cathedral is connected with a wooden temple with 13 domes, built of oak in 989, burned down in a fire. Vladimir called his father and Princess Irina immediately after the fire, waited for their arrival and, with his parents' blessing, laid the foundation stone for the future church, St. Sophia Cathedral in the GreatNovgorod.
The cathedral was built for five long years and the church was consecrated right away, without delay, although there was no interior decoration - no icons, no iconostasis. The paintings were made in 1109, and the icons were collected at different times. Basically, these were icons of the XIV-XVI centuries. Currently, there are three full-fledged iconostasis in the St. Sophia Cathedral, the main icon is “The Sign of the Mother of God”. Then three icons of the festive row: the Great Anthony, the Sanctified Savva and the Great Euthymius. A special place is occupied by Sophia - God's Wisdom, dating from the 15th century, and Ti
Khvin icon of the Mother of God of the 16th century.
Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is five-domed with one stair tower, which also bears the dome. The central dome is gilded, the rest are leaded. Their shape is traditional for Russian churches: it exactly follows the contour of the heroic helmet. The cathedral is surrounded by galleries from all sides, except for the eastern, altar side. There are three apses on the eastern side: a pentahedral one in the center and two lateral semicircular ones. The galleries have aisles: the southern one is of the Nativity of the Virgin, the northern one is of St. John the Theologian. In the western wing of the northern gallery there is another chapel - the Beheading of John the Baptist.
The upper part of the cathedral is combined, the roof is divided into semicircular tops - zakomara and gable, the so-called "tongs". As for the church interior, it is quite crowded inside because of the massive pillars, although crampedness in the temple is a conceptrelative. The cathedral gives the impression of a monolithic structure, and this is quite understandable, since all the walls of Sofia have a thickness of 1.3 meters, which you will not find in any Russian temple. St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is unique in many respects, but most importantly, it is the oldest surviving church built by the Slavs.
At the highest point of the temple is a dove cast in lead. He "sits" on the top of the central cross, at a height of 38 meters, and symbolizes the guardian of St. Sophia Cathedral. According to legend, the dove should not leave the cross, because then the well-being of the city will end. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod is the highest of all such temples.
There is no belfry in the cathedral. All the bells are located in the bell tower, which stands a little further away. The main bell weighs two hundred pounds, and the alarm bell weighs half as much, one hundred pounds. In addition to large bells, there are several small bells in the belfry, whose task is to ring on holidays.
