25.09.2015  The NovSU School of Humanities addressed to the common history of Novgorod and Riga

On September 23, at the round table at the Novgorod Museum of History of Journalism (The NovSU School of Humanities) the general pages of the two cities’ (Novgorod and Riga) history were discussed. The discussion was dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the evacuation of Riga diocese during the First World War. Among the guests, there were the historian Sergei Mazur (Riga, Latvia), the priest of the Presentation of the Lord temple in Antonovo Evgeny Zaytsev, and the author of the book about the history of Novgorod churches Lyudmila Sekretar.

During the war, on the territory of Novgorod there were about 40 thousand refugees, as Novgorod and Riga newspapers of that time wrote about it. For some of them our city became a haven, "font", as the historian from Latvia Sergey Mazur said. Nuns from Riga female monastery found a haven in Novgorod, when they had no choice for surviving near the outskirts of Pskov. Later, they became one of the novices of Novgorod churches. The historian also noted an active correspondence between Riga archbishop John (Pommer) and the abbot of Novgorod churches. This correspondence enables us to understand the true situation of the refugees.

 However, as the participants of the round table believe, many pages of the history are still unknown and it is necessary to carry out further observations to restore the lost pages of the history of that age. 

In addition, it is necessary to add that before the discussion, Sergey Mazur was handed a letter of thanks from the chancellor of NovSU for long-term cooperation with the Novgorod University in the field of humanitarian education and science.

The event was a part of the international scientific conference "Novgorodika -2015."

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