"Rostov Welikiy" a Rostov Travel Page by Pablos_new

Rostov Welikiy means Rostov the Great. There are two Rostovs in Russia and many of VTers mixed them up (shame on those who live in Russia). Bigger Rostov (about 1 mln people) on the south of Russia is called Rostov-na-Donu (Rostov-on-Don), smaller (less than 50 ths people) is called Rostov the Great. ;-))) That is because small but glorious Rostov is much much elder.

It is known in history starting from VII c. when Ugro-Finnic tribes lived around it and vikings 1 in the person of Kievan Rus princes have not come here yet. Old sagas tell us very interesting facts. Those tribes were rather reach and developed, but they do not have weapons (!), they just simply do not know what is war. When Kievan princes came here they've just said: "How can you defend yourself against anemies? Let us be your kings." And since that time till now-a-days local people pay taxes for police and defence ;-)) LOL!

Nothing left here from that far times. All walls, towers and churches were build up in XVI - XVII c. (i.e. after the Golden Ordo 2 fell).

Rostov is situated just 200 km from the center of Moscow to the north. This relatively short (for Russia) distance makes it convinient place for short weekend trips. (and even "Moscow" VTers meetings).

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1 - None can prove that first Russian princes were vikings, but this is settled opinion ;-)
2 - Actually I hold the opinion that Golden Horde was just another name of the country (like Soviet Union) during some period and should be spelled in English like Golden Orda(o). All talk about Mongols is a joke of historians.