Veryassko on the Lovat was a fortified settlement and is classified as a hillfort. West of the village is a cemetery for Soviet soldiers. The historic settlement form and a nearby memorial site thus stand side by side as distinct local points of reference. Nature and cultural destinations in Novgorod Oblast offer a further, explicitly regional perspective.
Memorial site west of the village
About 900 m west of the village of Veryassko lies a cemetery for Soviet soldiers who died in the Great Patriotic War between 1942 and 1945. The cemetery has a rectangular brick stele with a metal relief of a soldier and a star. Metal plaques bear the names of the fallen; a portrait of N. P. Tyutyugin is engraved on a marble plaque. There are also two mass graves for comrades.
The remains of soldiers who fell in battle were also reinterred at the cemetery from a military burial site near Lipno. The memorial site therefore encompasses both visible forms of remembrance and a historical connection to this burial site. Access is considered difficult; take this into account when planning your trip.
Nature and landscapes in Novgorod Oblast
Valdai National Park covers 159,100 hectares and extends across the Valdaysky, Demyansky and Okulovsky districts of Novgorod Oblast. Mount Ryzhokha is the highest point in the park. A 25-metre-high observation tower stands on it, offering views of the taiga, Lake Velyo and other bodies of water.
In the Bor area, a circular trail leads through typical taiga forests on hilly terrain and through diverse marshes in the hollows between the hills. The observation tower and the circular trail offer different landscape highlights: the tower provides views of the wider surroundings, while the trail passes through forests, hills and marshland. These nature destinations are part of the regional context of Novgorod Oblast.
Culture in Valday
Valday’s cultural attractions are also located in Novgorod Oblast. The Bell Museum Centre displays bells from around the world, ranging in form from the 3rd century BC and the Middle Ages to modern souvenir bells. The collection thus offers a broad view of bells across time and geography. Staff demonstrate bell-ringing techniques that visitors can try for themselves.
Opened in 1998, the exhibition at the Museum of the County Town covers the daily lives of the town’s residents, the development of local trades, and the lives of individual Valday families and well-known summer visitors. In 2017, the “Kuznetsam i kolokolnym masteram Valdaya” monument was erected in Valday. The museum and monument cover distinctly different subjects, ranging from bell designs and town life to trades, family histories, and a monument to Valday’s blacksmiths and bellmakers.
Discover more destinations: Myasnoy Bor, Molochkovo, Pestowo, Anukhino, Veliky Novgorod, Pribrezhnaya, Zimogorye, Borovichi.
For the broader travel overview: Novgorod Oblast.
