Which city survived. The most ancient cities

The history of Russia is practically intangible. Despite the many facts and reliable sources, fully explore all important dates almost impossible. However, history covers many interesting events, cultural heritage and architectural heritage, due to various cities. We propose to consider the oldest cities in Russia. In this list you will see settlements that existed before the advent of our era. Many of these cities ceased to exist. Others received a new name.

TOP 10 Oldest Cities in Russia

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The current population of the city is 532 thousand people. The name appeared at the beginning of the 11th century in connection with the name of the principality, which was located on the right bank of the Oka River. Nowadays this city attracts many tourists due to its cultural heritage, history and land. The most ancient territory of the Russian Federation contains St. John the Theologian monasteries. There is the Trinity Monastery and, in fact, Ryazan. In addition, there are many museums and a nature reserve.

The population of this, one of the oldest cities in Russia, is 603 thousand people. The history of the city dates back to 1010. In the past, the city of Yaroslavl was called "the city of a hundred churches" in Latin. On the this moment The settlement includes 30 churches. But this does not diminish its cultural and historical value. To this day, many interesting cathedrals and amazing architecture have been preserved in this place. In 1516, the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior was built here, which still attracts tourists.

The population of this wonderful city is 1.2 million people. This settlement was founded in 1005. It stands on the border of the Volga region. It's about about the unique cultural heritage and heritage of Russia. Actually, for this reason the city is part of the UNESCO heritage. One of the main assets is the Kazan Kremlin, which was built from white brick. At the same time, the main property of the Republic of Tatarstan to this day is the Kul Sharif mosque.

Another oldest city in the Russian Federation is Vladimir, which includes over 362 thousand people. We are talking about a city-museum, about a city-ring Russian Federation. In this place you can find great amount various monuments and shops. For these reasons, this place is loved by tourists from different countries peace. This city also got into the top 10 due to the presence of old houses. Some structures are over three hundred years old. The list of assets includes the Dmitrievsky Cathedral, the Assumption Church and much more.

Currently, the population of this settlement reaches 110 thousand people. There are legends and various epics about this place to this day. In addition, this city is mentioned even in the story "Temporary Years". It is from this work that we can learn about the former greatness of the city. In ancient times, tribes of Finno-Ugric origin lived here. The first ruler of the city is Prince Vladimir. The throne later went to his son.

Suzdal opens the next five in the Top 10 oldest cities in Russia. Currently, the population reaches only 10 thousand people. It should be noted that in different sources the date of the foundation of the city is interpreted differently. Some prescriptions date back to 1024, others say that the city was founded in 987. It is known, for sure, that the city appeared as a result of the merger of two settlements. Today the city is considered part of the Golden Ring of the Russian Federation.

The population of the city is 330 thousand people. For the first time this settlement is mentioned in 946. It is about the city in the story "Temporary Years". It is believed that the settlement appeared thanks to the Krivichi tribe. And it all started like this. Prince Oleg got Smolensk and annexed it to Ancient Russia. Later, he made his son Igor the ruler of this city. He immediately could not cope with the management of the territory, which is why control over the city was carried out from Kyiv. The main attractions include the Borisoglebsky Monastery and the Church of the Theologian.

The number is 221 thousand people. We are talking about one of the oldest cities in the Russian Federation, which is rightfully considered unique. This is due to the presence huge number architectural objects. There are many monuments and amazing structures that are over 300 years old. For tourists, it should be said that this place has Saint Sophia Cathedral. We are talking about the heritage of an entire nation. In addition, the city is considered religious, because the center of the country includes many churches. At the same time, all buildings attract with exquisite design.

The first city in history is currently considered to be Eridu, founded in Sumer around 5400.BC e.Today it is only an archaeological zone in southern Iraq - the inhabitants left Eridu around the 6th century.BC e.But people still live in some ancient cities, and you can visit them.

Europe

The most ancient and still inhabited city in Europe is called the Greek Argos, which lies in the center of the country's driest valley on the Peloponnese peninsula. The first settlements appeared here as early as the 6th–5th millennium BC. e., and since then, that is, for 7,000 years now, the city, either shrinking to the size of a village, or growing to a city of the size of a regional center (now about 23 thousand people live in it), falls into chronicles, epic, tragedies. (Remember the kingdom of the Argives, which was headed by the hero of the Iliad, Agamemnon, who was killed on his return from Troy by his wife and her lover? So, he ruled right here.)

The ruins of the amphitheater on the hill of Larissa and the city of Argos

The Greek capital, Athens, competes with Argos (but, according to the available archaeological data, still loses). This city was founded about a thousand years later than Argos (although the first traces of people in the area date back to the 11th millennium BC), and by 1400 BC. e. Athens became the most important settlement in the region.

In present-day continental Greece and on its islands, there are still many contenders for a place in the top ten oldest cities in Europe, but if for a change we look at other parts of the map of the continent, we will also find Bulgarian Plovdiv, founded by the Thracians in 479 BC. e., and the Georgian Kutaisi, which appeared somewhere between the VI and IV centuries BC. e.

The ruins of the ancient Roman theater in Plovdiv

Asia

In addition to the cities of the Middle East mentioned above, there are several more contenders for the title of the most ancient in Asia. So, on the territory of present-day Iraq are Erbil and Kirkuk - Mesopotamian settlements founded in the 3rd millennium BC. e. Around the same time, the suburb of Tehran, Rey, appeared (and became famous under the name Arsakiy). Its population is now almost a quarter of a million people, and there is a subway service from Tehran. If we turn our eyes to other parts of the largest continent on the planet, we will find the Indian Varanasi, founded around 1800 BC. e., and the Afghan Balkh - once one of the greatest cities of antiquity, the center of the richest fertile Bactria (from where, according to N.I. Vavilov, wheat originated, which became the main bread grain crop peace). During the heyday of the Great Silk Road, about a million people lived in Balkh at the same time. Now, however, only about 80 thousand inhabitants remain here.

Early morning in Varanasi

It would be wrong not to mention here one of the four great ancient capitals of China - the city of Luoyang, standing in the western part of China where the Luohe River flows into the Yellow River. The first settlements, according to the chronicles, appeared here in 2070 BC. e., and after about 500 years the first city was built. Today, Luoyang is considered the cradle of Chinese civilization.

Figures of deities in the Longmen temple complex (495–898) near Luoyang

The nearest ancient and inhabited Asian city to us is the Uzbek Samarkand. It was built between the 8th and 7th centuries BC. e.

Africa

The oldest city in Africa that still exists is not entirely African - rather Middle Eastern. We are talking about Luxor, in ancient times known as the Egyptian Thebes (not to be confused with Greek). It was founded in the 3rd millennium BC. e., and around 1550 BC. e. became the capital of all Egypt, which it remained for the next five centuries. During the Ptolemaic era, Thebes was destroyed. And although the city turned into two villages (Luxor and Karnak), life in it did not calm down. And today there are almost half a million inhabitants, not counting the countless tourists who come from all over the world to see the famous temple complex of Ramses.

Sphinxes at Luxor Temple of Ramses

Relatively close (on a continental scale, of course), to the northwest of Thebes, is Tripoli, founded in the 7th century BC. e. Phoenicians and centuries passed from hand to hand (it was alternately owned by the Romans, Vandals, Spaniards, pirates, Turks, Italians, British and, finally, the Libyan Republic) and today is a millionaire city and the capital of Libya.

Sunset over Tripoli (Libya) - view from the sea

The oldest city in Africa south of the equator is Ife, located in Nigeria, founded in the 4th century BC. e. and became one of the most important centers of ancient civilization in West Africa. The Yoruba people consider it their ancestral home.

North and Central America

The peoples who inhabited the North American continent did not build cities - at least there is no evidence of this - until the time of the maximum flowering of the culture of the Pueblo peoples, which fell approximately at the turn of the 1st and 2nd millennia BC. e. The Pueblos created settlements - rather very large villages than cities in the usual sense for Europeans - mainly in the territory of the current states of Arizona and New Mexico. It is there that the oldest continuously existing settlement in the United States is located - the village of Oraibe, inhabited since about 1100 AD. e. You can look at how these settlements probably looked like in the village of Taos Pueblo in New Mexico on the territory of an Indian reservation. The complex of buildings preserved there, included in the list world heritage UNESCO, was erected between 1000 and 1450 AD. e.

Mud buildings of Taos Pueblo

But in Central America cities began to be built much earlier. Cholula is the oldest still inhabited. The first traces of human habitation appeared there 12,000 years ago, the village - by the 2nd century BC. e., but a large city and an important regional center- in the VI-VII centuries. n. e.

Probably at this time was built and great pyramid- the largest structure of its kind, not only in the region, but throughout the world. Its base is a square measuring 400 by 400 meters, which is almost twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The height of the pyramid is 55 meters (three times lower than that in Giza), and today it looks like a hill overgrown with trees, and on its top since the 16th century stands Catholic Church, built shortly after the appearance of the Spanish settlement of Puebla in the area, which turned into a city with a population of half a million people.

The Great Pyramid of Cholula with the Church of Our Lady of the Redeemer at the top

The first European settlement in North and Central America and in general in the New World - Santo Domingo, the capital and largest city occupying eastern part islands of Haiti. The city was founded by Bartolomeo Columbus four years after his elder brother Christopher discovered the island during his first voyage to the continent.

South America

The oldest city in existence today South America can be considered, apparently, the Peruvian Cusco, founded as the capital of the Inca Empire around 1100 AD. e. the first Inca, Manco Capac. True, people lived in this area long before that, but they did not build large settlements, and immediately before the foundation of the city they were completely destroyed by the Incas - so that nothing would interfere with the construction of Cusco.

View of Cusco

Translated from the Inca language, the name of the city means "navel of the earth", or "center of the world". It was from here that the Inca Empire spread to most of the western coast of the continent. On November 15, 1533, the conquistadors Francisco Pizarro arrived in Cuzco, and, as you know, the empire soon came to an end, and the Spaniards got the city.

View of Cumana from San Antonio Castle

The oldest settlement of the continent, founded from scratch by Europeans, is the Venezuelan city of Cumana, standing on the coast caribbean at the mouth of the Manzanares River since 1515, when an expedition of Franciscan friars arrived there. The city has survived numerous Indian attacks, earthquakes, and civil conflicts, and today is home to more than 400,000 people.

Australia and Oceania

The indigenous peoples of Australia and Oceania did not build cities and led a rather primitive way of life (especially those that settled on the Australian continent). Europeans first landed in Australia in 1606. These were Dutch explorers led by Willem Janszon. However, the first settlement on the Green Continent was founded by the British only in late XVIII century - in 1788, the first British ships with prisoners came here, and Sydney became the first city on the continent. At the same time, archaeological finds suggest that the first people appeared in Australia 30,000 years earlier.

The largest city of the Green Continent at sunset

The first European settlement in New Zealand is the village of Kerikeri, 80 kilometers north of the country's largest city, Auckland. Kerikeri was founded 26 years after Sydney as a mission station and today is a village of about 6,000 people. Here, by the way, the first grapes in New Zealand were grown.

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In scientific circles, to this day they argue about which are the most ancient, and which one comes first. The palm is shared among three cities of the Russian Federation: Derbent, Veliky Novgorod and Staraya Ladoga. Understanding this is quite difficult, because each version has undeniable arguments. In the most ancient cities of Russia, excavations are still being carried out in order to find evidence of the origin of the city. Staraya Ladoga is a city whose research began relatively recently, and therefore it is too early to put an end to the definition of the oldest city in Russia.

It is located in the south of Dagestan and is part of the Russian Federation. The very first handwritten references, on the basis of which it can be concluded that Derbent is the oldest city in Russia, were recorded by Hecateus of Miletus, the most famous geographer of antiquity. They date back to the end of the fourth millennium BC, when the first settlements arose here.

The name "Derbent" comes from the word "Darband", which means "narrow gate" in Persian. After all, the city is located in a place that connects the Caspian Sea and the mountains of the Caucasus, narrow corridor, which was called - "Dagestan corridor". In ancient times, it was a very significant part of the Great Silk Road, the significance of which is simply impossible to overestimate.

In order to own this tasty piece of the trade route, bloody wars have always been waged, and for the entire time of its existence the city has been destroyed many times almost to the ground, and the same number of times it has been reborn again. But despite all the destruction that Derbent suffered, many historical and architectural monuments of antiquity have been preserved.

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A historical architectural museum has been created here, located in a protected area. It includes the famous Naryn-Kala fortress, which for many centuries defended the city from enemy invasions. The fortress stretches for forty kilometers, and is the only such monument that has survived to this day.

Residents of Novgorod and some historians believe that it is the oldest city in Russia. And this version has every reason, because he began his history in 859. Here, from Kievan Rus, Christianity was brought to the Russian lands, which became the state religion. Here, in the tenth century, the wooden church of Hagia Sophia of the Wisdom of God was built, which was crowned with thirteen domes. This is unusual phenomenon explain by the fact that the pre-Christian idolatrous worldview was superimposed on the construction of the church.

After that, Novgorod became the center of Christianity in Russia and a gathering place for the clergy of all ranks.

The oldest and largest Kremlin in Russia is right there. Compared to Derbent, Veliky Novgorod has a clear and specific date of appearance, and not just the known century in which the chronology began. And of course, the indisputable fact is that Novgorod has always been Russian, unlike Derbent, which was annexed to the Russian Federation, and has a population of about 5% of Russians.

Staraya Ladoga

This is the most unexplored city by historians and archaeologists, but it also claims to be the oldest in Russia. To this version in recent times all bow down large quantity historians. Tombstones were found here, on which the date 921 appears. But the first mentions are found in the annals of 862. From the beginning of the ninth century, a port was founded here, where the Slavs and the Scandinavian peoples conducted a brisk trade. Now large-scale excavations are underway to confirm the status of the oldest city in Russia.

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The question of which city in Russia can be called the oldest is still open. There are various hypotheses, various studies are being conducted, but there is no exhaustive data.

According to some sources, I managed to compile a list of the ten oldest cities in Russia:

0. Derbent - A medium-sized city that is part of the Republic of Dagestan. Date of foundation - the end of the 4th millennium BC. e.
1. Veliky Novgorod - A regional center with a small population. The date of foundation is 859.
2/3/4. - Medium size city. It is part of the Vladimir region. Year of foundation - 862
2/3/4. Rostov the Great is the same age as the city of Murom, a small city included in the Yaroslavl region. In 1995, the Rostov Kremlin Museum-Reserve was included in the collection of especially valuable objects. cultural heritage peoples of Russia.
2/3/4. Belozersk (first name - Beloozero). The same age as Rostov the Great. Small town. Year of foundation - 862
5. Smolensk - Big City, the regional center of the Smolensk region. The date of foundation is 863.
6. Pskov - Small in number of the regional center. The year of foundation is 859.
7/13 Uglich - First mentioned in the annals in 1148, however, some local sources provide other information: 937, 947, 952 and other years.
7/8. Trubchevsk is a small city in terms of population. The year of foundation is 975.
8/9. Bryansk is a regional center. The city was founded in 985.
9/10/11/12 - Regional center. The date of foundation (one of the versions) is 990.
10/11/12 - A small town, which is part of the Vladimir region. Date of foundation - 999, or 1024.
10/11/12 Kazan - Regional center, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. The date of foundation is 1005.
11/12/13 Yaroslavl is a large regional center. The date of foundation is 1010.

It is believed that the most ancient city in Russia is Derbent. It existed when there was no Ancient Russia, and its approximate age is 5000 years. However, in the composition Russian state this city began to enter only in 1813. Now Derbent belongs to the Republic of Dagestan as part of the North Caucasian Federal District.

However, the oldest native Russian can rightly be considered a city of Russia Velikiy Novgorod . This city was founded in 859 and is the progenitor of the Christian faith. On the left bank of the Volkhov River in Novgorod is one of the most beautiful Kremlins in Russia.

The ten oldest cities in Russia include two cities that are part of the Vladimir region. According to some sources, Suzdal was founded in 999 and also claims to be among the ten most ancient Russian cities.

Murom It is considered the third oldest city in Russia, along with Rostov the Great and Belozersk. The first written mention of him gives "The Tale of Bygone Years". From the chronicle, it becomes clear that Murom got its name from the ancient Finno-Ugric tribe "Muroma", which once lived in the Oka basin. The first prince of Murom was Gleb. Back in 988, he received Murom as an inheritance from the hands of his father, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Murom Spaso-Preobrazhensky monastery is one of the oldest in Russia.

Vladimir - one of the most beautiful cities in Russia, which stands on the banks of the Klyazma River. According to recent studies by local historians, according to information from a number of chronicle sources, Vladimir-on-Klyazma was founded by Vladimir Svyatoslavich Monomakh in 990. The most ancient inhabitants of this region were the Finno-Ugric tribes (VI-VII centuries), some of which were subsequently assimilated by the Slavs.

Another ancient city Suzdal it is first mentioned in the chronicle when it speaks of the uprising of the Magi in 1024. According to other studies, Suzdal was first mentioned in written sources under the year 999. It is believed that the city arose on the site of the most ancient agricultural and trade and craft settlements, which, there is every reason to believe so, appeared here no later than the 9th century. Now Suzdal is a city-reserve, which is included in gold ring Russia. By the abundance of architectural monuments and the integrity of its appearance, he knows no equal.

If we talk not only about cities, then we can recall another ancient settlement - this is the village of Staraya Ladoga, which until 1703 was a city. In 2003, the 1250th anniversary of Staraya Ladoga was celebrated, during which the village was positioned as the "ancient capital of Northern Russia."

Speaking about the antiquity of the city, scientists are based on the first written references in the annals and chronicles about the emergence of the settlement. But archaeological finds allow us to push the city back a few centuries further into history. The deeper the history of the existence of the settlement, the more hardships befell the city. Therefore, many of them were often recreated practically from scratch after various pogroms, raids, conquests and epidemics. For example, in the west of the country, the ruins of ancient cities are found, which will be “older” than Pskov, Suzdal or Bryansk. We will consider the historical prescription of the currently existing cities of Russia.

The oldest cities in Russia. List

If you arrange all the current Russian cities on the time scale, taking into account their foundation, it turns out that about 56 cities were built before the arrival of the Tatar-Mongols to Russia, 111 settlements were founded during the Time of Troubles and the organization of a single state. The oldest cities in Russia are Novgorod, which in ancient times had the same status as Kyiv; Smolensk - connecting the trade, economic, military and political hub between Northern and Southern Russia; Murom, Rostov-Veliky, Beloozero and, of course, Derbent.

Velikiy Novgorod

The capital of the Novgorod Republic from the beginning of the 12th to the middle of the 15th century. The name of the city confirms the Old Norse sagas, which called Russia the "country of cities" - Gardarika. According to some reports, Novgorod was preceded by Staraya Ladoga, which was founded by Rurik before ascending the throne of Novgorod.

The location of the city was very advantageous from the economic point of view, as it connected the financial and trade flows of the West with the East. Crafts and trade actively developed in Novgorod, and its inhabitants were considered the most educated among the European population. This is evidenced by multiple birch bark letters dated 11-16th centuries.

Glorious Smolensk

This city is also included in the group "The Oldest Cities of Russia". There is an authoritative scientific assumption that Smolensk, which is mentioned in the chronicles in 862, located in the present place, was founded only in the 11th century, and before that it was located 12-15 km to the west, in the area of ​​the present Gnezdovoye village.

The city was the capital of the Smolensk principality, it is located in the upper reaches of the Dnieper, through it passed famous way"From the Varangians to the Greeks".

At all times, Smolensk was a major center that controlled a large territory. It was one of 8 provinces formed by Peter the Great in 1708. In the future, the city remained the main regional settlement during the formation of regions in the Soviet era.

Legendary Murom

The first written information about the city is found in the Laurentian Chronicle of 862. It got its name from the Finno-Ugric tribes living nearby - Murom. We know the city from this legendary hero like Ilya Muromets.

Nowadays, Murom is one of the main industrial centers of Russia, where the machine-building industry plays an important role.

Rostov Veliky

This city is not only one of the oldest settlements of Russia, but also the most Old city Golden Ring of Russia. He is mentioned in the same Laurentian Chronicle of 862. Rostov used to be the capital of the Rostov Principality. Since the 15th century it has been part of Muscovy. In the 17th century, the city became the largest religious center, in which many churches, monasteries and the Kremlin were built.

Since the 1970s, the city has had the status of a reserve.

Ancient Belozersk

This city was called Beloozero until the end of the 18th century. It is one of those settlements that have changed their original location. Its history is buried in centuries, which is why it is on the list of "the oldest cities in Russia." Initially ancient settlement located on the shore of Lake Beloe. And only in the 10th century it was moved to the coast of the Sheksna River. For more than a hundred years the city was the capital of the principality of the same name, after which it became part of the Moscow kingdom. After a devastating epidemic (plague), the city moved 20 km to the west.

Nowadays, Belozersk is an ordinary regional center with a small industrial potential. Architectural monuments, numerous monasteries and temples have turned it into a tourist town.

What is the oldest city in Russia?

Derbent is listed as the oldest urban-type settlement built on the territory of the Russian Federation. It was founded in 438 as a fortress guarding Russian state at the crossroads of Europe and Asia in the Caucasus. Long time it served as a border town, to which many Decembrists objectionable to the government were often sent into exile.

The famous writer A. Dumas spoke about Derbent in his memoirs as “the most beautiful and delightful place”.

At the present time, Derbent is the second most important and by the number of inhabitants among the settlements of Dagestan.

Thanks to historical monuments of antiquity and various sights, the town is one of the mass tourist centers of southern Russia. But in addition to tourism, woolen and canning industries are well developed in Derbent.

One of the oldest cities in the world

Recent events on political map world have made some adjustments to the category "the oldest cities in Russia". For a long time, the ancient territories of the once unified state were cut off from each other. It happened historically, following the political will of certain politicians, leaders and just traitors. But the "wheel of time" turned the other way, and another ancient city returned to its "native shores", built when Russia still did not really exist.

We are not now interested in which is the oldest city in the world. In Russia, this is Kerch, which is located on the eastern coast of the Crimean peninsula. According to various sources, it was founded 2.5-2.6 thousand years ago. On the territory of the modern city there were already settlements of the Cimmerians in the 17-15th centuries BC. But the story is better known, when in the 7th c. BC e. in these places the ancient Greeks organized their colony, whose goal was to resist the indigenous settlers of these lands - the Scythians. In the 4th c. BC e. the city is part of the Bosporan kingdom.

Kerch became a Russian city in 1783, entering the structure of the newly formed Taurida province.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the city received administrative self-government.

The oldest port in Russia

The Russian state, wishing to break through to sea trade routes, not only conquered certain coastal territories, but also built cities - ports on the coast of the Black, Caspian and Baltic Seas. Which city is the oldest port in Russia? Any student will answer that Arkhangelsk, and he will be right.

On the founding of a port city on the shores of the White Sea and the river. Dvina is mentioned in 1584 in the "Dvina Chronicle".

Three years later, its first inhabitants were resettled in Arkhangelsk - 130 peasants from the surrounding villages. Through this port, goods of Russian and foreign origin were transported along the White Sea. Also, the center of trade with overseas merchants was moved to the city.

With the advent of the reign of Peter the Great, Arkhangelsk is rapidly developing not only in terms of trade, but also in the construction of new modern marine ships.

Nowadays, this city seems to be one of the main ports of Russia, through which there is a trade turnover with dozens of countries of the world.