Staraya Ladoga
Staraja Ladoga (Russian: Старая Ладога) is a town near Lake Ladoga. Its old Russian name is Ladoga (Rus: Ладога). In 1703 Russian tsar Peter I the Great founded the town of Novaja Ladoga ("New Ladoga"), and renamed old Ladoga to Staraja Ladoga ("Old Ladoga"). Its Swedish name is Aldeigjuborg. Dendrochronology reports that it was found in 753.
It was one of the most important trading port for the Eastern Europe between the year 750-950. In fact, the oldest Arabic Middle Age coin in Europe (were the youngest has been dated to year 786) has been found from archeology remains.
A clearly Scandinavian living culture has been identified from its earliest settlements by archeology remains. However, from written source (Primary Chronicle), which identifies Staraja Ladoga with Aldeigjuborg and associates it with Ruriks first resident town, shows that the most part of citiziens was Slavic (people from Finland).
According to legend (written down, for example, in the Primary Chronicle), it was the first capital of Russia.
The heart of Staraja Ladoga is an ancient fortress where the Elena (Rus: Елена) River flows into the Volkhov (Rus: Волхов) River. In earlier times, it was a strategic site because it was the only possible harbour for sea-vessels that could not navigate through the Volkhov river.
In 2003 there was a celebration of Staraja Ladoga's 1250th anniversary, that was covered by the press and attracted the attention of powerful people (Vladimir Putin, Russian President, visited there). This may give at least minimal funding for the ancient Russian capital, forgotten for many hundreds of years. In the image one can see ancient mounds located in Staraja Ladoga (the shot was taken during the 1250th anniversary celebration, so people are in period clothes).
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