23 Facts About Novgorod Oblast

Two areas in Novgorod Oblast have been designated as protected natural areas of federal significance.

Novgorod Oblast is one of the oldest centers of Russian civilization.

Novgorod Oblast is indicated in the chronicles as the site where Rurik settled and founded the Rurik Dynasty in 862.

Subsequently, Rurik's successor, Oleg, moved the capital to Kiev, but Novgorod Oblast continued to play an important role until the 15th century.

In 1136, Novgorod Oblast evicted the prince and became the center of the Novgorod Oblast Republic, which included the major part of what is currently northwestern Russia.

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Novgorod Oblast was one of the few areas of Rus not affected by the Mongol invasions.

Towards the end of the 15th century Novgorod Oblast was defeated by the army of Ivan III, the prince of Moscow, and was included into the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

The present area of Novgorod oblast was a part of Ingermanland Governorate, which was renamed Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1710.

In 1775, Novgorod Oblast Governorate was transformed to Novgorod Oblast Viceroyalty, and in 1777, Pskov Governorate was transformed to Pskov Viceroyalty.

Between autumn of 1941 and spring of 1944, during World War II, western parts of the current area of Novgorod Oblast, including the city of Novgorod, were occupied by German troops.

Novgorod Oblast was an area of long and fierce battles, such as, for example, the Demyansk Pocket, or the Leningrad–Novgorod Offensive in 1944, when the Soviet troops crossed the Volkhov River.

The main industrial enterprises in the oblast are four chemical plants, all located in Veliky Novgorod and specializing mostly in production of fertilizers, a metallurgical plant, in Veliky Novgorod, producing copper, and a plant in Borovichi producing refractory materials.

Novgorod Oblast appeared as a site on one of the most important Middle-Age trade routes.

Additionally, Veliky Novgorod Oblast is connected by railway to Saint Petersburg and Luga.

Novgorod Oblast has the lowest population for any oblast in the European part of Russia.

Ethnic groups: Novgorod Oblast is relatively homogenous, with only five recognized ethnic groups of more than two thousand persons each at the time of the 2010 Census.

Novgorod Oblast is one of the oldest Russian cities and was an important part of the Old Rus.

The Saint Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod Oblast is the oldest Christian church in Russia with the exception of the Caucasus area.

Since Novgorod Oblast was not affected by the Mongol invasions, it keeps a fair share of pre-Mongol buildings, most of which are concentrated in the city of Veliky Novgorod Oblast and its immediate surroundings.

Novgorod Oblast has, furthermore, a large number of architectural monuments constructed in the 13th–14th centuries, of which the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street is a representative example.

Novgorod Oblast developed a distinct school of icon painting, which considerably affected not only the nearby Pskov and the Northern Russia which was dependent on Novgorod Oblast, but in general the old Russian painting.

Theophanes the Greek, one of the most notable old Russian artists, spent a part of his life in Novgorod Oblast, creating, in particular, frescoes in the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street.

Saint Sophia Cathedral of Novgorod Oblast was one of the first churches which introduced Onion domes.