Origin Dendrochronology suggests that Ladoga was founded in 753. Until 950, it was one of the most important trading ports of Eastern Europe. Merchant vessels sailed from the
Baltic Sea through Ladoga to
Novgorod and then to
Constantinople or the
Caspian Sea. This route is known as the
trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks. An alternative way led down the
Volga River along the
Volga trade route to the
Khazar capital of
Atil, and then to the southern shores of the Caspian Sea, all the way to
Baghdad. Tellingly, the oldest
Arabian medieval coin in Europe was unearthed in Ladoga.
Ladoga under Rurik and the Rurikids mounds along the
Volkhov River near Staraya Ladoga According to the
Hypatian Codex that was created at the end of the 13th century, the legendary
Varangian leader
Rurik arrived at Ladoga in 862 and made it his capital. Rurik later moved to
Novgorod and subsequently his successors moved from there to
Kiev where foundations for the powerful state of
Kievan Rus' were laid. There are several huge
tumuli, or royal funerary barrows, at the outskirts of Ladoga. One of them is said to be Rurik's grave, and another one—that of his successor
Oleg. The
Heimskringla and other Norse sources mention that in the late 990s
Eric Haakonsson of Norway raided the coast and set the town ablaze. Ladoga was the most important trading center in Eastern Europe from about 800 to 900 CE, and it is estimated that between 90% and 95% of all Arab
dirhams found in Sweden passed through Ladoga. Ladoga's next mention in chronicles is dated 1019, when
Ingigerd of Sweden married
Yaroslav of Novgorod. Under the terms of their marriage settlement, Yaroslav ceded Ladoga to his wife, who appointed her father's cousin, the Swedish
earl Ragnvald Ulfsson, to rule the town. This information is confirmed by sagas and archaeological evidence, which suggests that Ladoga gradually evolved into a primarily Varangian settlement. At least two
Swedish kings spent their youth in Ladoga,
Stenkil and
Inge I, and possibly also King
Anund Gårdske. In the 12th and 13th centuries, Ladoga functioned as a trade outpost of the powerful
Novgorod Republic. Later its trade significance declined and most of the population engaged in fishing in the 15th century. The Novgorodians built there a
citadel with five towers and several churches.
Later history After the town of
Novaya Ladoga (New Ladoga) was founded in 1704 by
Peter the Great, Ladoga became known as Staraya Ladoga and its importance decreased. ==Sights and landmarks==