Attention! Open: May 7, 14. Closed: May 17, 25.

The Museum of Writing is a new object of Novgorod State United Museum opened on May 25, 2021, in the Likhud building of the Novgorod Kremlin. One of the first higher education institutions in Russia - Likhud brothers' school was here at the beginning of the 18th century. The building got its name in honor of the first teachers of this school, the Greek monk brothers Ioannikios and Sophronios Likhud. The exposition presents the history of the emergence and spread of writing and books in Veliky Novgorod that was the largest center of chronicles, education and literacy in Ancient Rus.

The Museum of Writing contains about two hundred items from the funds of Novgorod State United Museum. Among them are:

• the oldest known book of Ancient Rus - the Novgorod Psalter (XI century)
• the Gospel of Andreichina (1575), an outstanding example of a manuscript book decoration
• the Anonymous Gospel (1563-1564) is one of the first Russian printed books published several years before the well-known editions of Ivan Fedorov

Novgorod original items from the collections of the State Historical Museum, the Russian National Library, the Russian State Library are exhibited as copies.

Multimedia materials (videos, interactive games, animated drawn books) help to know how the first alphabet appeared, what counting systems were used by the ancient Novgorodians, what they wrote in birch bark letters. The visitors will find out what the ancient codes looked like and who were the customers and contractors.

Novgorod made a unique contribution to the spread of writing in Ancient Rus, and the complex of Novgorod birch bark letters is of outstanding importance for the Russian and world culture. One third of the oldest Slavic and Russian books is of Novgorod land origin. The Museum of Writing presents the history of ancient Russian books, demonstrates the art of calligraphy and book decoration and tells about the development of book printing in Russia and the fate of Novgorod libraries. Visitors can see the inscriptions made by the ancient Novgorodians on household items, art and craft objects. The exposition also represents the ancient Russian coins and seals, stone crosses and fragments of the ancient graffiti with Cyrillic and Glagolitic inscriptions. A special hall is dedicated to a unique ancient Russian medieval writing – birch bark letters. The final theme in the museum exposition is the history of Likhud brothers' school.

Another important theme of the project is the person – the creator of written works: a chronicler, a calligrapher, a scribe, a translator, an artist, a keeper of the book heritage. The museum exposition recalls the names of the 11th century scholars:

• Ghoul Dashing (Old Russian: Oupir Likhyi), the first famous Old Russian scribe and priest
• Kirik, the first Russian mathematician
• archbishop Vasily Kalika, the author of the “Epistle about Paradise”
• Karion Istomin, the creator of the first Russian illustrated primer, and his co-author, the artist Leonty Bunin
• Fedor Maksimov, the author of one of the first Russian grammars, director and teacher of Likhud brothers’ school.