Archaeologists excavating the historic Mytny Market in Nizhny Novgorod have uncovered medieval property boundaries, building remains, coins, jewellery and hundreds of smoking-pipe fragments, revealing how this part of the Russian city developed over more than 700 years.
The excavations, which began in spring 2026, are being conducted by the Volga Expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Researchers have so far investigated more than 1,000 square metres at 2 Bolshaya Pokrovskaya Street, just 200 metres from the Nizhny Novgorod Kremlin and within the medieval settlement area of the city.
Despite later development, archaeologists have encountered remarkably well-preserved deposits. The site’s cultural layers measure between 1.1 and 2.8 metres thick, preserving evidence ranging from medieval occupation to the bustling market of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Medieval Nizhny Novgorod emerges
The earliest evidence uncovered during the excavation dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.
Archaeologists identified several medieval properties separated by trenches that once contained wooden palisade fences. The repeated appearance and similar orientation of these boundaries suggests that the basic layout of properties survived for a considerable period, even as individual plots changed in size.
Numerous pits have also been excavated within the properties. Some of the larger examples are thought to have served as cellars beneath buildings that once stood above them.
Around a quarter of the individual artefacts recovered during the excavation are associated with this early period. Finds include fragments of glass bracelets, knives, cylinder locks and personal devotional objects.
The archaeological record then changes significantly during the 15th century. Researchers found no substantial cultural layers or structures dating to this period, something they say corresponds with a broader contraction of Nizhny Novgorod at the time.
Revival of the city
Evidence of activity returns strongly during the 16th and 17th centuries, coinciding with the construction of Nizhny Novgorod’s brick Kremlin and a revival in urban life.
Deposits and structures dating from these centuries have been discovered across the excavation.
Among the more distinctive finds are a series of red-clay decorative stove tiles, including examples depicting the dramatic ‘storming of the fortress’ motif.
Popular during the first half of the 17th century, these elaborate tiles showed fortified walls and towers alongside archers, cannons, defenders and attacking soldiers. Multiple tiles could be combined to create a much larger battle scene.
Archaeologists have also recovered a substantial numismatic collection from this period, including more than 40 coins, as well as buttons, belt fittings, jewellery and other elements of clothing.
Remains of the historic Mytny Market
By the second half of the 18th century, the character of the area had changed again as it developed into a market square containing several brick buildings.
One of the most substantial discoveries is the surviving foundation of a structure measuring approximately 10 by 11.5 metres.
Historical maps from 1799, 1834 and 1859 identify a building in this position described as a ‘stone public house at Mytny Market’.
Although only parts of its boulder foundations and red-brick walls survive, archaeologists have been able to trace elements of the building, which appears to have been repeatedly altered and repaired during the 19th century.
It had disappeared by the time a city plan was produced in 1896, indicating that it was probably demolished towards the end of the century.
Nearby, researchers discovered another small brick structure measuring around 3.5 metres square internally. Its location and construction suggest it may have been a trading shop or stall associated with the market.
A six-metre-deep market well
One of the excavation’s most striking structures is a large well dating from the second half of the 19th century.
The feature extends to a depth of at least six metres and has an upper pit approximately six metres in diameter. At its base, archaeologists encountered the heavily damaged remains of a wooden structure measuring around two by three metres.
Its fill contained numerous fragments of pottery, glass and earthenware alongside waste associated with tanning.
Researchers believe the well was probably abandoned and filled in around the beginning of the 20th century.
Evidence of the market’s later appearance has also survived. A section of cobblestone paving discovered in the eastern part of the excavation has been dated through its stratigraphic position to the first half of the 20th century.
Hundreds of pipes and trading seals
The greatest concentration of artefacts recovered so far comes from the 18th and 19th centuries, when Mytny Market was an established commercial space.
Everyday objects include knives, cutlery, drills, shovels, nails and other tools, alongside glassware, ceramics, coins, clothing accessories and personal possessions.
But two groups of finds particularly reflect the site’s commercial character.
Archaeologists have recovered more than 100 lead trading seals, objects that could be attached to goods or packaging as part of systems for identifying, regulating or certifying merchandise.
More than 300 fragments of red-glazed smoking pipes have also been found. Among them is an unusually elaborate 19th-century pipe sculpted into the form of a woman’s head.
Pectoral crosses dating from between the 14th and 18th centuries, horse-harness fittings and numerous buttons add further glimpses into the lives of the people who occupied, visited and traded in this part of the city.
A 700-year record beneath the market
The excavations remain ongoing, and archaeologists stress that their interpretations are preliminary.
Nevertheless, the discoveries are beginning to reveal a remarkably long sequence of urban development: from medieval properties enclosed by wooden palisades, through the city’s revival in the 16th and 17th centuries, to the shops, public buildings and everyday commerce of Mytny Market.
Further analysis of the structures and thousands of artefacts recovered from the site is expected to provide a more detailed picture of how one of Nizhny Novgorod’s best-known historic public spaces evolved — and what existed there long before the market itself appeared.
Sources : Russian Academy of Sciences
