Great Lord Novgorod – thus did the city styled itself in the days when the Novgorod Republic was in its prime. This was no idle talk. The oldest city of Russia, the cradle of Russian democracy, medieval centre of trades and crafts, boundless field for research by historians, architects and archaeologists – all this is Veliky Novgorod. This is a place where you can see with your own eyes the ancient stone temples, a place where you can stand on the very place from which, according to the legends, a pagan god Perun was thrown into the Volkhov river; you can participate in the battles of contemporary warriors and read the famous birch-bark scrolls. Troops started for battles from these ancient Kremlin walls, legendary merchant and musician Sadko used to sing his enchanting songs while sitting on the bank of the Ilmen Lake, and the Volkhov river was busy with numerous ships following the trading route “from the Varangians to the Greeks” and laden with various goods from foreign parts. Novgorodians always felt rather superior compared to their neighbours – they wore leather boots instead of traditional Russian lapti (bast shoes), they summoned and expelled princes whenever they pleased; streets of Novgorod were paved with wooden slabs, and local builders and icon-painters were famous throughout the lands.

Today Veliky Novgorod is the largest center of archaeology of the present-day Russia , kind of a city-museum. In 1992, by the resolution of the 16 th Session of UNESCO General Assembly, the unique Novgorod monuments of architecture of the 11 th – 17 th centuries are registered in the World Heritage List. Dating back to the oldest times, the history of Novgorod , its monuments of medieval architecture, unique museum collections, virgin picturesque landscape and favorable geographic location create all the necessary conditions to develop tourism in the city and in the region.

For those who come for more than one day, the city offers a large variety of hotels of different quality and price levels, from a four-star hotel to a hostel. Each of them has available a parking space and a restaurant or cafe. Most of the lodging places are situated within 10 minutes of driving from the historical centre. Numerous restaurants, cafes and bars hospitably open their doors to the guests, and in summer-time the number of eateries doubles, when additional tables are taken out into the streets. There also are night-clubs and dancing-clubs, theatres and a modern movie-centre, billiard-clubs and casinos. You will not be bored in Veliky Novgorod, either during the day or at night!