Novgorod
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By plane
Novgorod Airport (IATA code: NVR) is currently not operational. It was a busy airport during USSR, but then, due to country's economical situation, had to cease its operations. It has reopened in 1998 with a daily flight to Moscow's Sheremetyevo I (on Yak-40 fleet). This charter flight also came to an end in late 1999. There were plans to open Krechevitsy as a civil airport for the 1150 Anniversary of the city, but the progress in not confirmed.
By train
Train is usually the cheapest way of getting to and from Novgorod. The station is located at the west end of the city center, within 15 minutes' walk of the Detinets (Kremlin). Note that for the elektrichka trains from/to St. Petersburg (train number begins with a 6), tickets can only be purchased on the day of travel, there are no assigned seats, and the cost is about 250 Rubles. For trains # 801 and 802 tickets can be purchased in advance. Two cars have soft seats, versus plastic ones in other cars and other elektrichkas.
By bus
Several buses run daily from Saint Petersburg Bus Terminal to Novgorod, with a travel time of about 3.5 hours. Buses to Moscow run only during the summertime, but the trip is long and inconvenient.
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Kremlin
Novgorod's Kremlin, or Detinets, is free to visitors and includes many of the main places of interest in the city. Admission is free, and two gates (one from the footbridge on the river; the other by Sofiyskaya Square and the Lenin Statue) are open to pedestrians. A beach along the bank of the river can be accessed from a gate inside the Kremlin wall.
St. Sophia Cathedral
This eleventh-century cathedral is the centerpiece of Novgorod's religious buildings. The iconostasis and frescoes inside are especially interesting. On the north-west exterior of the cathedral, see the Magdeburg Doors, a bronze twelfth-century German creation with reliefs of biblical scenes and, allegedly, the doors' sculptors themselves in one of the scenes. Free.
Monument of the Millennium of Russia
This iron statue is in the park in the center of the Kremlin. It was created in 1862 and is ringed by an interesting panorama of famous individuals in Russian history up to that time. Russian Tsars and Patriarchs appear on one half of the panorama, and cultural figures on the other half.
Yaroslav's Court
Across the footbridge from the Kremlin is the old commercial district, which is marked by a long arcade along the river bank. Within the commercial district are several churches, many of which are in typical Novgorod style: a square base topped by a dome. Some wooden houses in Yaroslav's Court also hold temporary museum exhibitions.
Fine Arts Museum
A collection of Russian art, including Repin and other 19th and 20th Century artists
Yaroslav's Court
Yaroslav's Court was the princely compound in the city of Novgorod the Great. Today it is roughly the area around the Trade Mart, the Church of St. Nicholas, the Church of St. Procopius, and the Church of the Myrrh-bearing Women. The Trade Mart renovated and heavily modified in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, is all that is left of the princely palace itself. The prince also had a compound called the Riurikovo Gorodishche south of the Marketside of the city.
Millennium of Russia
The Millennium of Russia is a famous bronze monument in the Novgorod Kremlin. It was erected in 1862 to celebrate the millennium of Rurik's arrival to Novgorod, an event traditionally taken as a starting point of Russian history.
March - September
November - September
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