NOVGOROD — A MUSEUM CITY

Duration: 2 days. Day 1: meet at the railway station, transfer to the hotel, check-in where possible, early breakfast. Sightseeing tour “Novgorod Past and Present” covers the Trade and Sophia sides, the modern city, Alexander Nevsky Bridge, Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod University, the site where the first birch bark manuscript was found, the Church of the Transfiguration on Ilyina Street (1374) with unique frescoes by Theophanes the Greek, the 17th-century Znamensky Cathedral, the Church of St. Theodore Stratelates on the Brook (1360–1361), the Nerevsky End, the Church of Sts. Peter and Paul in Kozhevniki (1406), and the former Zverin Monastery ensemble. The Kremlin complex includes the ancient walls and towers, the Likhudov Building, St. Sophia Cathedral (11th century), St. Sophia Belfry and its collection of bells from the 16th–17th centuries, the Millennium of Russia monument, and the Faceted Chamber. Visit the Vladychnaya and Cross Chambers with jewelry art from the 6th–19th centuries and more than 200 exhibits. After lunch, tour “The History of Novgorod from Ancient Times to the Present” with tools, weapons, jewelry, musical instruments, chess pieces, children’s toys and masks from the Neolithic to the late Middle Ages. Visit the Fine Arts Museum in the 19th-century Nobility Assembly building, with works by major Russian painters and sculptors, plus scheduled temporary exhibitions. Free time; dinner optional. Day 2: breakfast, check-out with luggage storage. Country tour “To the Source of the Ancient Volkhov”: the 11th-century Yuryev Monastery on the Volkhov River and its 12th-century St. George Cathedral; Vitoslavlitsy, the “World of the Russian Village” ethnographic museum with authentic 16th–19th-century wooden churches, houses and farm buildings, plus interiors and traditions of the 15th–17th centuries and craft stalls. Lunch. Interactive visit to the Cinema Museum, with cameras, projectors, editing tables and other film equipment from the USSR and other countries from the 20s–90s; a Soviet propaganda corner from the 40s; a Soviet shop cinema section; a chance to try working as a projectionist; and Soviet avant-garde films or rare footage on the birth of animation for its 100th anniversary. Optional: boat trip on the Volkhov River into Lake Ilmen, with views of Rurikovo Gorodishche, the Church of the Transfiguration on Nereditsa, St. Nicholas on Lipno, Peryn Skete and the wooden architecture museum (September–October). Free time; dinner optional; transfer to the railway station. Approximate route price: 4,100 RUB. Information: 8(8162)634801; stour_nov@mail.ru, servistur92@mail.ru.