Title: Veliky Novgorod, a Hanseatic City: interactive dramatisation
Itinerary Medieval guide Posadnik Sbyslav / Agafya Melisentovna + two characters
Location:Yaroslav’s Court
Programme: Posadnik (Governor) Sbyslav or healer Agafya Melisentovna will guide guests around the Court, show them where Novgorod merchants traded with their German colleagues from Hanseatic cities, where ships loaded with foreign wares cast anchor, and where the German and Gothic trading houses stood.
Guests will learn about trade in expensive wares and how Lord Novgorod the Great prospered from those transactions, and admire the ancient Church of St Paraskevi on the Old Market built by foreign trade merchants and the Church of St John the Baptist on Opoki built by wealthy Ivankovo wax merchants.
They will be taken to St Nicholas Cathedral and the square where public assemblies (veche) were held, and the future of the Novgorodian Rus was shaped. They will learn about the laws and customs of the German merchants set out in the Novgorod Schra and will listen to the ancient stories about Olaf, the Varangian prince who lived in Novegrad (Novgorod) and performed many miracles.
Entertainers will amuse the guests, invite them to join in merry games, teach them how to get ready for the fair and tell them what to do there.
They will explain how to tell when wax is pure, how to distinguish good Ypres and scarlet fabrics from fakes, and how to hunt weasels and squirrels without damaging their fur.
Novgorod warrior Yury Aleksich will train guests to fight according to ancient traditions, shoot an arrow, throw darts, take off your hat to nobles, and quarrel the Novgorod way.
Tour cost 4,500 roubles per 1 hour and 20 minutes tour for a group of up to 45 people. Sampling of Novgorod spice cakes and honey: upwards of 800 roubles per group.
Tickets can be booked online at redizba.ru
Krasnaya Izba Tourism Development Centre
Address 5 Sennaya Square, Veliky Novgorod
Open 9:30 am to 6 pm daily, no lunch break
Phone +7 (8162) 77-3074, +7 (905) 290-8686
Email info@visitnovgorod.ru