Staraya Russa

Staraya Russa is a city in the Novgorod region of Russia, the third in industrial importance and size of the cities of the Novgorod region, one of the oldest resorts in Russia. Population of 40.9 thousand inhabitants (2001). Old Russa is located on the banks of the Polisti and Porus rivers. Roads and river routes of local importance pass through the city. There are nine mineral springs on its territory. Two sources - drinking, the rest, forming mineral lakes, create in the resort park zones of increased air ionization - a special microclimate that has a beneficial effect on patients with any pathology. Near the mineral springs there are lakes, from the bottom of which a unique "Starorusskaya" sulfide-silk mud with biologically active substances is extracted.

Old Russa is one of the oldest Russian cities. The first mention of it was found in the Novgorod chronicle under 1167. The city, which arose in the second half of the 10th century, developed thanks to the salt industry. In 1424, state salt-making appeared in Rousseau. By this time, the posad and bargaining had already developed, their rich merchants appeared. The location of the city on the waterway "from the Varangians to the Greeks" ensured its connections with other countries. In the first half of the 15th century, 10 churches were built in Rousseau, of which 5 were stone. The city suffered damage and campaigns of Ivan IV the Terrible and Time of Troubles. After the turmoil of the Time of Troubles in Staraya Russa lived only 38 inhabitants instead of 8 thousand people. To restore Old Russa, the tsar issued a decree on settling it with residents of other cities. Visits to the city by Peter I in 1693 and 1724 contributed to the improvement of salt production and the creation of a fishery for harvesting oak wood for a local shipyard. In 1776, Staraya Russa was declared a county town of the Novgorod province. Under Tsar Alexander I, by order of Arakcheev, military settlements were established in the Old Russian district; everything was under the jurisdiction of the military authorities. In 1831, the county experienced a cholera epidemic and a cholera riot.

The oldest architectural monument of Old Russa is the Savior Cathedral of the Transfiguration Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1192 near the right bank of the Polisti River. At the same time, the first wooden temple was built. The complex of monastic buildings, formed as a whole by the 17th century, has survived to our days. The buildings of the monastery have been restored, fragments of frescoes of the 16th-17th centuries are exhibited in the cathedral, the exposition of the Old Russian Museum of Local History is located in the premises of the monastery. The Church of the Great Martyr Mina (14th century) is a small four-pillar building of cubic shape. Almost the entire height of the walls preserved ancient masonry of red shell. In 1371, the inhabitants of Russa put a stone church near the trading square to the “patron of trade” Nicholas of Myrlikiy. St. Nicholas Church was one-headed, but in the early 18th century it was rebuilt and made five-headed, and in the 19th century a bell tower was attached to the church. The Trinity Church was built in 1680-1684 on the site of its predecessor, burned by the Swedes 72 years earlier. In 1865, the temple was reconstructed by the architect K. A. Ton. At the confluence of Polysti and Porusia, the Resurrection Cathedral was erected (1692-1696).

Staraya Russa is the city of Dostoevsky; this is Skotoprigonyevsk from the novel The Brothers Karamazov. Dostoevsky came to Staraya Russa in 1872, and for eight years this city was a permanent holiday destination for him and his family. On the bank of Perorytitsa under the shadow of the willow stands a house; it contains authentic things, documents and books belonging to the writer. In this house were written novels "Brothers Karamazov" and "Demons".

There is a museum in the city that tells about the history of the resort "Old Russa". The resort appeared in 1828 on the springs of medicinal mineral waters and mud. In the second half of the 19th century, more than a thousand patients were treated at the resort. Among them are writer and critic N. A. Dobrolyubov, poet K. M. Fofanov, composer E. F. Napravnik, artist B. M. Kustodiev, Grand Dukes Vladimir and Alexei Alexandrovichi. The resort theater is associated with the beginning of the creative activity of actress V. F. Komissarzhevskaya. In July-August 1904 M. Gorky was treated at the resort. A park with lakes and fountains surrounds the resort buildings. The Muravyov fountain, opened in 1854, is a ten-meter pillar of mineral water, beating from the ground.