What is the oldest city in Russia? There is no exact answer to this question, there are versions. The most common of them, based on the first mentions in the annals, say that the oldest city in Russia is Derbent. There is much debate, but did Kievan Rus itself exist at the time when the first settlements of Derbent were already built?
The Great Silk Road passed through Derbent . There were a lot of fierce battles for the possession of this important strategic object. Enemies stormed and destroyed the Narrow Gate. Periods of prosperity alternated with periods of decline. The city survived, and its well-preserved stone structures can be seen in the State Historical and Architectural Museum-Reserve.
The oldest city in Russia. This is also called Veliky Novgorod. He is 1147 years old. In 862, he became the first capital of the Russian state. This city was not affected by the Tatar-Mongol invasion. Here was a center for the development of culture and painting, architecture and applied art. Now the sights of Veliky Novgorod are part of the UNESCO global cultural heritage.
Unfortunately, the oldest city in Russia did not keep records of its existence in the historical record. One can only guess what he was like. There are many cities and settlements that are more than 1000 years old in Russia. This is Staraya Ladoga, she is 1252, and Pskov - 1101, and Izborsk-1147. The numbers are rather arbitrary, no one will tell the exact date of the foundation. In those immemorial times, they could not write yet, literacy began to spread much later than these settlements were created.
A lot of trials fell on the share of ancient Russian cities . Many of them were destroyed and wiped off the face of the earth as a result of sieges and wars. Some cities were restored, starting from scratch, and some of them disappeared into oblivion. There are no more cities Vschizh, Verzhavsk, Zhizhets, Usvyat. After them there were only mentions in the annals and the remains of fortifications. Each of these cities, and another hundred destroyed, can claim this title - the oldest city in Russia.
There are cities with a long history that have managed to survive. They showed their strong resilience, passed the test of centuries, but as a result of repeated destructive wars they could not save the monuments of the ancient Russian past.
These cities include Medyn of the Kaluga region (1386) and Dorogobuzh of the Smolensk region (1238). Here specific princes were at enmity with each other, Batyu warriors were arbitrary, Polish-Lithuanian detachments passed, soldiers of the great Napoleonic army, Hitler’s twice passed through them. troops. It is not surprising that with such a military biography, there are almost no historical traces in the cities.
The oldest cities in Russia were built on the high banks of the rivers. Each acquired its own unique appearance. But for all its uniqueness and diversity, the cities have a similar architectural silhouette formed by churches with domes and belfries.
And in the Middle Ages, all Old Russian cities had defensive fortifications. Research is ongoing, perhaps historians will still answer the question: "And what is the oldest city in Russia?"
In ancient Russia, there was a high art of urban planning. Extant monuments testify to this.