The architectural and archaeological expedition of St. Petersburg State University conducted a large-scale archaeological research on the territory of the Novgorod Archbishop’s yard from 2006 to 2009, in 2011 and from 2018 to 2021. Although the main object of the research was the Vladychny (Faceted) palace built in 1433, the excavation also permitted to examine the extensions which adjoined the palace. All of these buildings have now been lost, and we can judge about them mainly by archaeological data. The archaeological evidence suggests that from the second half of the 15th to the 17th century, the Vladychny (Faceted) palace was gradually surrounded by the extensions with different functions, including residential structures, passageways, porches, and other elements. The construction of these additional buildings significantly changed the spatial configuration of the complex. Unfortunately, we do not have precise data on the dating of structures in most cases. However, it seems that the most significant construction at Archbishop’s yard took place in the middle – second half of the 17th century, under Metropolitans Nikon, Pitirim, and Korniliy. It is likely that many of the buildings that have been excavated belong to this period.

It is obvious that in the 15th –17th centuries the territory of the Archbishop’s yard was densely occupied with various structures. Due to the current level of knowledge, it is not yet possible to reconstruct the entire complex. However, the materials obtained through archaeological research allows to gain a better understanding of the development of some parts of the Archbishop’s yard.

The research was financed by the grant of the Russian Science Foundation, № 24-18-00228, https://rscf.ru/project/24-18-00228