The Archbishop of Novgorod is the head of the eparchy of Novgorod the Great and is one of the oldest offices in the Russian Orthodox Church. The archbishops have, in fact, been among the most important figures in medieval Russian history and culture and their successors (as bishops, archbishops, or metropolitans) continued to play significant roles in Russian history up to the present day. The medieval archbishops patronized a significant number of churches in and around the city (several of which can still be seen today) and their artistic and architectural embellishments influenced later Russian art and architecture; they also patronized chronicle-writing, a crucial source on medieval Russian history.