RU-2799469 Novgorod Kremlin 'Detinets'

Veliky Novgorod is one of the most important historic cities in Russia which serves as the administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast. UNESCO recognised Veliky Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The heart of Veliky Novgorod has always been the Novgorod Kremlin or ‘Detinets’.  The compound of the Kremlin was originally the site of a pagan burial ground upon which the first bishop of Novgorod built the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom upon his arrival in the area in 989 or so.

For centuries the Kremlin functioned as an administrative, civic and religious centre of Novgorod Land. The current fortress of Novgorod Kremlin  was rebuilt under Ivan the Third in the late 15th century. It is a large oval 1,487 metres in circumference. These days the Kremlin still astonishes its visitors with its thoroughly planned strength and defensibility. Nine out of twelve original towers have been preserved till these days. Kokuy tower (capped by a silver dome) is the tallest one, being 41 m high.

The main buildings in the Detinets are the Cathedral of Holy Wisdom and the archepiscopal /metropolitan compound in the northwestern corner. To the south of this, across the plaza in which stands the Monument to the Thousand Years of Russia, is the Novgorod Museum and the Novgorod Regional Library, housed in what had, in the imperial period, been the administrative building of Novgorod. There are several smaller churches and other buildings within the Kremlin.

This postcard came from Evgeniya (Direct Swap) 11 July 2014.