It is better to die than to allow one’s gods to be insulted,” the people of Novgorod stated, resisting attempts to convert them from their pagan beliefs to Christianity. In the face of this opposition, Prince Vladimir’s envoys resorted to brute force. With fire and the sword. It was in this way that Novgorod was brought round to the Christian faith in the 10th century. But a new strength was born out of that fire. Christianity united the different tribes and groups. Two centuries later, the majority of the churches in this medieval city were part of a vast monastery. Every community in Novgorod had its own church – the inhabitants of each neighborhood in the city, even streets, merchants working in the different trades, aristocratic families. The church signified heavenly patronage and affirmed the existence of the community within the sacral space of the city. The history and architecture of Novgorod’s places of worship in a film by RTG TV.