Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist

The church of the Nativity of John the Baptist stands on Malysheva hill above the left bank of the Volkhov — apart from the fortress, with a wide panorama of the river and flood meadows. It is the former cathedral of the John the Baptist monastery, and the church is known from records since 1276 — one of the earliest documentary mentions for the churches of the Russian North, reaching into pre-Mongol times. The present building was raised in 1695 — in an era when northern architecture was working out its own language: proportions, porches, roofs. The church is a rare local example of the late seventeenth century that has reached us without later layers: white stone walls, modest decor and that particular simplicity which northern masters mastered better than anyone. The monastery as an organisation was long ago abolished; the church stands in the quiet outskirts of Staraya Ladoga among greenery and old cemetery trees. The climb up Malysheva hill is short, and the view from the church — over the Volkhov in both directions, to the fortress in the distance and across the flood lands — is among the most open in the district. It is convenient to visit here after the fortress and the St George church: the three points of Staraya Ladoga fold into one route through pre-Mongol and early-Petrine history on the bank of a single river — from the twelfth-century ramparts to the church of 1695. In the evening the western light ignites the white walls — the best hour for photographs and for silence over the river.