12th-CENTURY CHURCHES IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN LADOGA (OLD LADOGA): HISTORY AND RESULTS OF RECENT ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH

In the 12th century, a series of six stone churches were constructed in Ladoga (presently the village of Staraya Ladoga, situated within the Volkhovsky District of the Leningrad Region) over a brief period, attesting to the city's distinctive status within North-Western medieval Rus. The chronology of the construction of these ecclesiastical edifices remains a subject of considerable scholarly debate. Two churches (St. George's and the Assumption Cathedral) have survived to the present day in their original form, while another (St. Nicholas Church) has been preserved with major alterations from the modern period. The remaining three churches are in a state of disrepair and are preserved to varying degrees. For a period of 150 years, the churches have been the focus of repeated attention from researchers in the fields of architecture, archaeology, and art history. The extant and ruined churches are considered monuments of both architecture and archaeology and are formally listed in the unified state register of cultural heritage sites of the Russian Federation. All work pertaining to the monitoring of the church foundations and earthworks in their immediate vicinity requires mandatory oversight by archaeological specialists. This is particularly pertinent given the accelerated development of the contemporary Staraya Ladoga settlement, the restoration of monasteries, and the adaptation of temple complexes for contemporary use.