Sarskoye Gorodishche

Sarskoye Gorodishche or Sarsky fort (Russian: Сарское городище, literally "Citadel on the Sara") was a medieval fortified settlement in the Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia. It was situated on the bank of the Sara River, a short distance from Lake Nero, to the south of modern Rostov, of which it seems to have been the early medieval predecessor.

One of the excavators of Sarskoye was Nicholas Roerich. Illustrated is his painting The Town Is Being Built (1902).

Exploration

The site first attracted the attention of Russian archaeologists in the mid-19th century by its imposing dimensions which have no parallels in the region. Excavations begun by Count Aleksey Uvarov in 1854 revealed a number of superb Varangian objects comparable to the sites in Scandinavia, notably a Carolingian sword with the inscription "Lun fecit". Excavations have been undertaken intermittently since that period by many persons, including Nicholas Roerich in 1903. In his diary, Roerich complained that the site had been reduced drastically by road builders.

Interpretation

Major Varangian finds at Sarskoye date from ca. 800 onward, indicating that it was a major (perhaps the most important) trade station on the Volga trade route between Scandinavia and Baghdad. Traces of a bath, an iron foundry, a potter's workshop and a jeweller's shop were encountered. There were two hoards of early 9th-century dirhams. Another deposit was detected in the vicinity: it contained dirhams inscribed with Runic signs, interpreted as a thanksgiving to Thor.

Sarskoe vs Rostov
Rostov as seen from Lake Nero

The earliest pavement of Rostov is dated by dendrochronology to 963. These pieces of wood were uncovered in post-1949 digs, throwing much light on the earliest years of the city. At about the same period, the decline of Sarskoe Gorodishche started. Whether the town was simply transferred to a new place remains debatable. It is also not clear if the original Slavic name of Sarskoe Gorodishche was Rostov or something different. The original name of the settlement might have been Arsa (the capital of mysterious Arsania, according to Ibn Hawqal).

References
  • Леонтьев А.Е. Археология мери. (К предыстории Северо-Восточной Руси). М., 1996. (online)
  • Леонтьев А.Е. Сарское городище в истории Ростовской земли.(VIII-ХI вв.). Автореф. канд. дис. М., 1975.
  • Плешанов Е.В. К вопросу о происхождении города Ростова. (online)
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