Novgorod [antikvár]

)Kene3Hoaop05KHbii1 BOKiaji Railway station The city wliich is tlie subject of tliis story is one of tiie oldest in the country and a centre of Russian culture which was able to preserve to our day the unique specimens of architecture and monumental painting of the eleventh to eighteenth centuries. During the Second World War the ancient city lived through bitter days. The invaders barbarously destroyed thousands of buildings; they razed ancient buildings to the ground with special hatred. The damage suffered by Novgorod, according to the data of the Extraordinary State Commission for the Study and Investigation of Damage brought by the Nazi Invaders, was estimated at over one thousand million roubles. Through the efforts and care of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government, Novgorod has not only been restored during the thirty years since the war, but on its ruins a new city has arisen, far better than the one which stood here before the war. Almost all monuments of art and history have been restored. All this speaks of fresh achievements of the Soviet people, who value and cherish what was created by their forbears. It was their hands that raised the city from dust and ruins. And Novgorod continues to grow, and with every year adds new beauty to that of ancient days. Today Novgorod is one of industrial centres of the Soviet Union. The factories Volna, Leninsky Komsomol and The 50th Anniversary of October are large suppliers of electronic and radio-technical goods. Altogether there are over forty industrial enterprises in the city. The harvests of grain and fodder in the Baltic republics and the North-West region depend to a great degree on the much needed nitrogen fertilizers produced by the Novgorod Chemical Complex, the leading industrial enterprise of tht Azote Amalgamation. Novgorod is a developing scientific centre. The local Teacher Training and Polytechnical institutes, the Medical College, the Technical School of Electronic Industry, the Music School and many other educational institutions train specialists for the local offices and industrial enterprises. During recent years Novgorod has been turned into a large sports centre with rowing as the most successful branch of sport. The city has a regional drama theatre, an ensemble of classical ballet, the well-known Ilmen and Sadko amateur song and dance ensembles, and many libraries. The Novgorod Museum of Art and Ancient Monument is world-renowned. Its collection has over 150,000 exhibits which for most part are masterpieces, unique specimens reflecting Russian and Soviet history. Every year the museum is visited by over a million of Soviet and foreign tourists. The modern city greets the visitor with its tree-lined streets and beautiful squares. Its parks and many gardens keep the air fresh. The wide streets look silvery with their clean asphalt; they gleam with shop windows and please the eye with the cheerful colours of their houses. This ancient and new city is part of the pride and glory of the Soviet people, one of the strong roots of the millennium-long life of the country.