The Historical Museum Announces the Discovery of the Oldest Continuously Used Road in Russia

The Historical Museum has announced the discovery of the oldest continuously used road in Russia. The thousand-year-old road lies in the Smolensk region, 12 kilometres from Smolensk, on the territory of the Gnezdovo archaeological complex, which is also home to the largest Viking Age burial mound cemetery in Europe.

Until the age of the road was established, it was believed to have been laid through the barrow complex no earlier than the 17th century, and it was assumed that a considerable part of the site had been damaged in the process. However, LIDAR surveys and excavations have shown that the burial structures appeared only after the road, and that beneath it no destroyed mounds or traces of funeral pyres have been found.

The surviving stretch of road between the two archaeological sites of Gnezdovo and Novoselki is believed to be part of the ancient route from the Varangians to the Greeks.