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Building of the Former Public Offices

At the present time the Public Offices building houses the main expositions of the Novgorod Museum: History of Novgorod and the Novgorodian Lands, Old Russian Iconography of the 16th and 17th Centuries, and Russian Painting of the 18th to 20th Centuries. But the building itself is also a museum item in a way.

In the lower parts of the construction one can still find vaulted cellars of the 16th century, which are remains of the Prikaznaya Palata, the main administrative building of Novgorod in the 16th - 17th centuries. During the fire of 1686, when the whole complex of the Voyevodsky courtyard located in the southern part of the Kremlin burned down, the Prikaznaya Palata suffered as well.

The present structure and the external design of the building took shape in the beginning of the 19th century, when the style of Classicism was at the height of its popularity. At that time the building acquired an air of ostentation and severity. The main facade now has three entrances. The central one is guarded by cast-iron statues of lions put in this place only after the end of World War II.

In the 19th century the space between the Public Offices building and St. Sophia Cathedral was occupied by a square paved with cobblestones, which was used for parades and other events of major importance. It was here that in 1862 the Millennium of Russia monument -- a symbol of unification of the old and the new Russia - was erected.