| Staraya Russa (English) Старая Русса (Russian) |
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The medieval Transfiguration Monastery |
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Location of Novgorod Oblast in Russia |
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Staraya Russa
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| Coordinates: | |
| Administrative status | |
| Country | Russia |
| Federal subject | Novgorod Oblast |
| Administrative center of | Starorussky District |
| Statistics | |
| Area | 18.54 km2 (7.16 sq mi) |
| Population (2010 Census, preliminary) |
31,809 inhabitants[1] |
| Population (2002 Census) | 35,511 inhabitants[2] |
| Density | 1,716 /km2 (4,440 /sq mi)[3] |
| Time zone | MSD (UTC+04:00)[4] |
| Postal code(s) | 1752XX |
| Dialing code(s) | +7 81652 |
| Official website | |
Staraya Russa (Russian: Старая Русса, tr. ˈstarəjə ˈrusə) is a town in Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located 99 kilometers (62 mi) south of Veliky Novgorod. It is a wharf on the Polist River in the Lake Ilmen basin. It serves as the administrative center of Starorussky District, although administratively it is not a part of it. Its population is 31,809 (2010 Census preliminary results);[1] 35,511 (2002 Census);[2] 41,538 (1989 Census).[5]
The town is served by the Staraya Russa Airport.
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Thought to have originated in the mid-10th century, Staraya Russa was first mentioned in chronicles for the year 1076 as one of three main towns of the Novgorod Republic, alongside Pskov and Ladoga. Its name is derived from the time of the Varangians, who called themselves Rus and settled in the vicinity to control important trade routes leading from Novgorod to Polotsk and Kiev. After Pskov became independent, Russa became the second most important town and trade center of the Novgorod republic after Novgorod itself; by the end of the 15th century it contained about 1,000 homesteads. Brine springs made the saltworks the principal business activity in the town, which was the biggest centre of salt industry in the Novgorod region.[6]
The wooden fortifications of Russa burned to ashes in 1190 and 1194 and were replaced by the stone fortress after the last fire. In 1478, it was incorporated into Muscovy together with Novgorod. The word Staraya (Old) was prefixed to the name in the 15th century, to distinguish it from newer settlements called Russa.
When Ivan the Terrible ascended the throne in 1533, Staraya Russa was a populous city. During the Time of Troubles it was held by Polish brigands and heavily depopulated. Only 38 people lived there in 1613.
In 1824, Tsar Alexander I created military settlements near Staraya Russa. In 1831, the area participated in the Cholera Riots.
The town was fictionalized as Skotoprigonievsk in Dostoyevsky's novel The Brothers Karamazov (1879–80). The Soviet authority in Staraya Russa was established on November 5(18), 1917. The city was occupied by the Germans between August 9, 1941 and February 18, 1944. Totally destroyed during the war, it was later restored.
Like much of Russia, Staraya Russa has seen its population decline since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Staraya Russa is a balneologic resort, celebrated for its mineral springs used for baths, drinking, and inhalations; medicinal silt mud of Lake Verkhneye and Lake Sredneye and mud from artificial reservoirs. A summer residence of the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky, who wrote his novels The Brothers Karamazov and The Possessed there, is open to visitors as a museum.
Monuments include the Transfiguration monastery, which includes a cathedral built in 70 days in 1198 and partly rebuilt in the 15th century, and several 17th-century buildings and churches. The principal city cathedral (1678) is dedicated to the Resurrection of Christ. Other notable churches are consecrated to St. George (1410) (which church was the family church of the Dostoyevsky family), Mina the Martyr (14th century), and the Holy Trinity (1676).
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