Staraya Ladoga (in English) Старая Ладога (Russian) |
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- Rural locality - Selo |
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Location of Leningrad Oblast in Russia |
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Administrative status (as of October 2014) | |
Country | Russia |
Federal subject | Leningrad Oblast |
Administrative district | Volkhovsky District |
Rural settlement | Staroladozhskoye Rural Settlement |
Administrative center of | Staroladozhskoye Rural Settlement |
Municipal status (as of May 2010) | |
Municipal district | Volkhovsky Municipal District |
Rural settlement | Staroladozhskoye Rural Settlement |
Administrative center of | Staroladozhskoye Rural Settlement |
Statistics | |
Time zone | MSK (UTC+03:00) |
Founded | 753 |
Postal code(s) | 187412 |
Dialing code(s) | +7 81363 |
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Staraya Ladoga (Russian: Ста́рая Ла́дога); Finnish: Vanha Laatokka or the Aldeigjuborg of Norse sagas, is a rural locality (a selo) in Volkhovsky District of Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on the Volkhov River near Lake Ladoga, 8 kilometers (5.0 mi) north of the town of Volkhov, the administrative center of the district.
It used to be a prosperous trading outpost in the 8th and 9th centuries. A multi-ethnic settlement, it was dominated by Scandinavians who were called by the name of Rus'. For that reason, it is sometimes called the first capital of Russia.
Dendrochronology suggests that Ladoga was founded in 753. Until 950, it was one of the most important trading ports of Eastern Europe. Merchant vessels sailed from the Baltic Sea through Ladoga to Novgorod and then to Constantinople or the Caspian Sea. This route is known as the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. An alternative way led down the Volga River along the Volga trade route to the Khazar capital of Atil, and then to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to Baghdad. Tellingly, the oldest Arabian Middle Age coin in Europe was unearthed in Ladoga.