944, the city was a part of Leningrad Oblast, and then became the administrative center of the newly formed Novgorod Oblast.
On August 15, 1941, during World War II, the city was occupied by the German Army. Its historic monuments were systematically annihilated. The Red Army liberated the city on January 19, 1944. Out of 2,536 stone buildings, fewer than forty remained standing. After the war, thanks to plans laid down by Alexey Shchusev, the central part was gradually restored. In 1992, the chief monuments of the city and the surrounding area were declared to be World Heritage Sites, Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings. In 1999, the city was officially renamed Veliky Novgorod (literally, Great Novgorod), thus partly reverting to its medieval title "Lord Novgorod the Great"
