By 1240 Prince Alexander who was invited to Novgorod to protect it worked his money out. Swedish army tried to capture Novgorod, but army of the Alexander defeated them near the Neva River. Alexander got the new title Alexander Nevsky. And in 1242 Alexander Nevsky saved Novgorod one more time. State of Teutonic order, which bordered Novgorod republic, decided to get rid of the neighbors. Huge army of well-equipped skilled knights attacked Novgorod, but Alexander Nevsky defeated them near Chudskoe Lake.
Throughout middle Ages, the city thrived culturally. Most of the population was literate and used birch bark letters for communication. Novgorod was praised by foreigners for its paved embankments and clean streets. Some of the most ancient Russian chronicles were written in the city. The Novgorod merchant Sadko became a popular hero of Russian folklore.
Eventually Ivan III annexed the city to Muscovy in 1478. In this moment Novgorod became part of Moscow kingdom and republic was wiped off. Kingdom of Moscow was becoming more and more powerful; it had already joined many cities and towns all over Russia. Novgorod remained the third largest Russian city; however, until Ivan the Terrible sacked the city and slaughtered thousands of its inhabitants in 1570.
In 1611-1617 Swedish army controlled Novgorod. It was hard time for Russia there was a civil war, and at the same time Poland, Sweden and Turkey attacked it. Russia had lost Novgorod, but later managed to take it back. In 1727, Novgorod was made a capital of the Novgorod government. And in 1862 Novgorod was considered the oldest town and the first prince of Russia decided to build a monument in this city.
On August 15, 1941 it was occupied by the Nazi army. Its historic monuments were systematically annihilated. It was completely demolished, like many other cities in Soviet Union, when the Red Army liberated the city on January 19, 1944, out of 2536 stone buildings less than 40 were still standing and government included Novgorod in the list of the top 15 soviet cities to restore. After the Word War II, the downtown has been gradually restored. Its chief monuments are declared the World Heritage Site.
By 1992 the Historical part of Novgorod was included in the List of World's historical heritage and in 1998, the city was officially renamed Velikiy Novgorod, thus partly reverting to its medieval title "Lord Novgorod the Great".
Nowadays, Novgorod is a small, calm town in province, the main Russian port, with splendid Old Russian architecture, interesting museums and clean river next to the Kremlin, fresh air, many trees, and nice and helpful people.
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