The final city in the pilot tour of the team for the development of the international youth cultural tourism “Pearl Necklace of Holy Russia” was Veliky Novgorod, to which the team members devoted two days on October 27 and 28.

Among the objects of cultural and historical heritage visited by the team in Veliky Novgorod is the legendary monument “Millennium of Russia”, which can be safely called a textbook of Russian history of the 1862 model. The authors of the project showed that our history is the great personalities that led our state to greatness and glory, but the most important hero of the monument is hidden from a superficial look at him, he does not seek fame, recognition, but modestly holds his Fatherland and this hero is a simple Russian a peasant immortalized by the authors on the upper tier of the monument. A pedestrian bridge overlooking the Novgorod Detinets in the historical center of the city, a monument on the site of the find of the first birch bark letter “Boy Onfim”, the architectural complex Yaroslavovo Yard, on the territory of which there is a monument-museum the St. Nicholas Cathedral. The team also visited the Vitoslavlitsy Museum of Folk Wooden Architecture for the first time, where it was able to feel the atmosphere of life of the local residents more than a hundred years ago. In addition to the pages of textbooks and monuments, history also has its own melody, and to make sure of this, we went to the V.I. Povetkina. ” Orthodox shrines also entered the Novgorod route of the “Pearl Necklace”: St. Yuriev Monastery, Perynsky Nativity of the Virgin Virgin Monastery and, of course, the main Orthodox church in Novgorod, one of the oldest churches in Russia – Hagia Sophia. The ancient temple is considered a pearl not only due to age. The construction of the cathedral in that historical period expressed the ambitions of the young Russian state and, no less important, demonstrated the spiritual viability in the eyes of Constantinople, the construction of the Hagia Sophia is the creation of a powerful pedestal on which the monument to the Millennium of Russia grew. The excursion in Veliky Novgorod for the project team participants was conducted by Demyan Valerievich Valuev, PhD in History, associate professor of the Department of General History of Smolensk State University.

During a visit to Veliky Novgorod, the project team held a presentation of the “Pearl Necklace” at Novgorod State University named after Yaroslav the Wise. The presentation was attended by 46 people.

The vice-rector for social development and educational work of Novgorod State University named after N.G. Yaroslav the Wise Daniil Evgenievich Krapchunov, then the project manager, the head of the Department of the Smolensk diocese for the relationship of the Church with society and the media, Archpriest Valery Ryabokon made a report on the project. The curator of the project, Maria Sergeyevna Zhukova, introduced the technology for developing tourist routes by students. As part of the presentation, a video was shown about Vitebsk, students of Smolensk State Medical University Sofya Karalevich and Anastasia Bavrina shared their impressions of working in the project. Students of Smolensk State University Ilya Losev and Yulia Morozova presented work on the case of Veliky Novgorod and showed a video about the city. The meeting was moderated by a student of the Smolensk branch of the Moscow Energy Institute, Vladislav Shankeev, and a graduate of the Smolensk State Institute of Arts, Evgenia Orlovskaya.

All participants in the presentation received presentation kits with the symbols of the project and answered the questionnaire.

At the end of the presentation of the project, Archpriest Valery Ryabokon presented Daniil Evgenievich Krapchunov with a certificate confirming the partnership of the university in the implementation of the project “Pearl Necklace of Holy Russia”. The event was completed by the students of the College of Humanities and Economics who contributed to the project by compiling six walking routes in Veliky Novgorod under the guidance of the college teacher Danilova Elena Anatolyevna.

The project “Pearl Necklace of Holy Russia” is being implemented with the support of the Presidential Grants Fund.