(Source: http://wikimapia.org/24094725/House-G-A-Karpov)

Yaroslav Court - a historical architectural complex on the Trade Side of Novgorod, where veche meetings were held from XI to XV century. The name of the complex is associated with Yaroslav the Wise who, according to the chronicles, reportedly lived in this place, on the right bank of Volkhov.

On the one side from Yaroslav Court and the Market (Torg) there is Bolshaya Moskovskaya Street, noisy, with heavy traffic, traffic lights and pedestrians. On the other side the Volkhov River glitters behind churches and towers, white vaults of the Shopping Arcade (Gostiny Dvor).

There are eight ancient churches on the small plot of land. Tourists turn their heads: a church on the right, a church on the left, domes, massive walls built to last for centuries. The trees are much younger than cathedrals. Surprisingly, the nature is younger than culture here.

There is a photo exhibition “Novgorod with the Eyes of the Past” inside the church of St. George built in 1356. Paraskeva Church built in the thirteenth century by Smolensk masters was once white, now the paint on the walls peeled off to the red brick. Only the dome drum is still white. In old times the girls came here to pray for getting to know their boyfriends. St. Nicholas Cathedral is the oldest building on the Court.

According to the legend, Prince Mstislav fell seriously ill in 1113. In his dream he saw Saint Nicholas who ordered him to bring a miraculous icon from Kiev. The prince sent his people for it, but there was a storm over the Ilmen Lake, so the boat with the envoys was brought back to shore. When the storm was over, everybody saw the icon of St. Nicholas near the boat. Mstislav was cured as he touched the icon. Then he built the St. Nicholas Cathedral.

The ensemble is complemented by the Church of Myrrh-Bearing Women (1510), the Church of Procopius “with a cellar” (XVI century), the Church of Assumption (1135, was rebuilt several times in later centuries), the Church of St. George on Lubyanitsa (the end of XVII - the beginning of XVIII centuries), the church of St. John the Baptist on Opoki ( 1127-1130) recently recovered from the dust of time, and two secular buildings – the Travel Palace of Catherine II and what is left of the Shopping Arcade.

The arcade was built by the order of Peter I: being a fan of symmetry, he did not like the randomness of Novgorod trade. The only things left from the arcade are the Gate Tower and the long transparent arcade, behind which we can see the flat bank and the river - something that was always there, before people, cathedrals, veche meetings and the ancient market.

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