Veliky Novgorod

 city, capital city of state/province/region, former national capital, district center, City of Military Glory - Russian honorary title

Veliky Novgorod (russian: Великий Новгород - Novgorod the Great) is the foremost historic city of North-Western Russia, the administrative center of Novgorod Oblast. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the Volkhov River just downstream from its outflow from Lake Ilmen and is situated on the M10 federal highway connecting Moscow and Saint Petersburg. UNESCO recognized Novgorod as a World Heritage Site in 1992. The city has a population of 224,286 (2021 Census). At its peak during the 14th century, the city was the capital of the Novgorod Republic and was one of Europe's largest cities. The "Veliky" ("great") part was added to the city's name in 1999.

The city lies along the Volkhov River just below its outflow from Lake Ilmen.

Notwithstanding its name, Novgorod is among the most ancient cities among the Eastern Slavs. The Sofia First Chronicle first mentions it in 859; the Novgorodian First Chronicle mentions it first under the year 862 when it was allegedly already a major station on the trade route from the Baltics to Byzantium. Archaeological excavations in the middle to late twentieth century, however, have found cultural layers dating back only to the late tenth century, the time of the Christianization of Rus and a century after it was allegedly founded, suggesting that the chronicle entries mentioning Novgorod in the 850s or 860s are later interpolations.
The Varangian name of the city Holmgard (Holmgarðr or Holmgarðir) is mentioned in Norse Sagas as existing at a yet earlier stage, but historical facts cannot here be disentangled from legend.[3] Originally, Holmgard referred only to the stronghold southeast of the present-day city, Riurikovo Gorodishche (named in comparatively modern time after Rurik, who supposedly made it his "capital"). Archeological data suggests that the Gorodische, the residence of the Knyaz (konung or prince), dates from the middle of 9th century, whereas the town itself dates only from the end of the 10th century, hence the name Novgorod, "new city".
www.heritagedaily.com/2021/12/archaeologists-unearth-bi...

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