The oldest town of the north, on the Volkhov a few km above Lake Ladoga, where ships from the Baltic come in by the Neva and the lake and goods pass to river boats for the climb past the Volkhov rapids to Novgorod.
Paul, posadnik of Ladoga, laid its fortress in stone in 1116 (chronicle); Archbishop Nifont built the stone church of St Clement there in 1153; St George's church (painted about 1167) and the Assumption church are of the same century. In 1164 the Swedes came with their ships; the townsmen burned their outskirts and shut themselves in with posadnik Nezhata until Prince Sviatoslav and the Novgorodians came and routed them on the Voronaya. Ladoga burned in the fires of 1194.
Its men marched with Yaroslav in the winter of 1198-99.
Who holds it
- Name
- not named for 1200
- Title
- posadnik of Ladoga
- Confidence
- low
Novgorod chronicle under 6624, 6640, 6672.
Lord in 1200
Novgorod's posadnik of Ladoga (not named for 1200).
How things stand that morning
Novgorod's fortress town; posadnik not named.
Council
The men of Ladoga act together (they joined the Novgorodians against Prince Vsevolod in 1132 and 1136); no assembly is described for 1200.
Communities
Russians, Ves and Karelians; Scandinavian traders passing through.
Fairs and markets
None recorded.
Militia
The men of Ladoga, who once destroyed a Yem raiding party on their own.
Walls and castle
Stone citadel on the point between the Volkhov and the Ladozhka, laid in 1116; stone churches.
Trade and crafts
Transshipment of the Baltic trade; fishing; iron and boatbuilding.
Places of note
- Ladoga fortress: stone citadel of 1116
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Chronicle and archaeology; nothing for 1199-1200 itself.
On the map: Novaya Ladoga at the river mouth is a later town; it stands here only for the lower Volkhov.
Primary sources for Novgorod
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Chronicle of Novgorod (kept year by year; the Synodal manuscript written in the 13th and 14th centuries). Novgorod's own record, kept at St Sophia. Read online
- The Laurentian Chronicle (the Suzdal continuation kept in the late 12th and 13th centuries; manuscript 1377). The court record of Vsevolod III of Vladimir. Read online
- The Livonian Chronicle of Henry, Henry of Livonia (1225 to 1227). The chief source for the Baltic mission. Read online
- The birch-bark letters (11th to 15th centuries). Excavated letters and notes on birch bark, dated by the layer they lie in. Read online
- The law of the Gotlanders; The saga of the Gotlanders (Guta lag about 1220, Guta saga about 1220 to 1275; manuscript of about 1350). The law and the short history of the self-governing island. Read online
Sources and studies
- The Chronicle of Novgorod 1016-1471 (Novgorod First Chronicle), tr. R. Michell and N. Forbes (1914): entries for 1164-1215 read through the archive.org full-text search (scan pp. 76-106)
- Wikipedia (en): Staraya Ladoga
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.