Likhudov Building is a beautiful building with a rich history, located in the oldest part of the Novgorod Kremlin, on Vladychny Dvor. This place used to house the chambers of bishops and the homes of priests.
Likhudov Building was erected in the 15th century and extensively rebuilt at the very beginning of the 18th century, for the opening of a new church school. The name of its architect was lost in the tangled history of the numerous reconstructions of the buildings in this courtyard. Almost every metropolitan considered it his duty to change the appearance of his residence by adding to, rebuilding, or demolishing the buildings left by his predecessor.
However, the chronicles preserved information about the Slavic-Greek school that opened in this building in 1706. Sofrony and Ioanniky Likhud, Greeks by origin, taught here. The brothers were outstanding teachers, translators, and writers, and both received doctoral degrees from the University of Padua. Back in 1685, at the invitation of Tsar Fyodor III, they moved from Constantinople to Moscow to open the first Slavic-Greek-Latin Academy there. But 9 years later, as a result of the intrigues of local clerics, who fabricated false accusations against them, the Likhud brothers were sent into exile.
Peter I freed them from imprisonment at the request of the Novgorod metropolitan, allowing the brothers to open a school in Novgorod. In memory of the teachers who had an enormous influence on the development of education in the city, this building is still called the Likhudov Building.
