BRIEF HISTORY

 

The ancestors of  Pskov's medieval inhabitants, the Slavic Krivichi  tribe, came to the land of today's Pskov in the 7th century, but the  land had been inhabited before that time by the Finnish and  Lettish-Lithuanian tribes. The ancient chronicles contain no mention  of when and by whom Pskov was founded. In "The Tale by Bygone Years"  - the first Russian chronicle - the town was mentioned under the  year 903 as already in existence for a long time. In the 12th-14th  centuries Pskov formed a part of the Novgorod feudal republic.

Pskov was not invaded by the Tartar-Mangol hordes, as was nearly all  the rest of Russia in the 13th-14th centuries. However, Pskov's  location on the border caused the town to be constantly at  war with its western neighbors. As early as the 13th century a powerful enemy appeared - the order of German knights called the Sword-bearers. The order was founded in 1202 and centered in Riga. In 1237 it merged with the Teutonic Order and came to be called the Livonian Order, after the name given to the Baltic lands - Livonia - which it had conquered.
The Livonian Order began an energetic campaign against the Russian lands, including Pskov. In 1240 the Pskov boyars betrayed their land and let the Germans into the town.  Two years later the famous Russian commander, PrincЕ Alexander Nevsky, liberated Pskov, and on April 5, 1242, he defeated the knights on the ice of Chudskoye Lake. This battle has gone down in history as the Battle on Ice.

In 1348 Pskov officially separated from Novgorod and the principality of Pskov was founded. During the hundred years following that event, the town, one of the biggest not only in Russia but in Europe, carried on more than a hundred wars against the Livonian Order and Lithuania. The intervals between wars could hardly be called times of peace, for border raids, plundering, and killings continued.

Pskov needed a strong ally in the struggle against its powerful enemies. Moscow became that ally. For nearly two centuries Moscow gathered together the separate Russian lands, welding them into a powerful state. Pskov's union to Moscow was a historical necessity, and took place in 1510. The major event in the Moscow period of Pskov's history was the defence of the town in 1581 against an army sixty thousand strong headed by the Polish king, Stephen Bathory, during the Livonian war (1558-1583), waged by Ivan the Terrible to obtain access to the Baltic Sea.

In the early 17th century many areas of Russia were caught up in an anti-feudal peasant war, on the crest of which various pretenders to the Russian throne appeared in the role of "popular
tsars", opening the way to foreign intervention. In 1615 Pskov withstood a lengthy siege by the famous Swedish warrior-king, Gustavus Adolphus. The courage and fortitude of Pskov's residents contributed greatly to the expulsion of the interventionists forces from Russia, but
the town was destroyed and emptied of inhabitants.

Several decades passed and Pskov was rebuilt, becoming a major Russian trade   center with the West. But the beginning of the Northern War again made Pskov's border location a focal point of military action.  Peter the Great waged this war from 1700 to 1721 to gain access for
Russia to the Baltic Sea. His opponent was the Swedish King, Charles XII. In 1701 Pskov was made the base  for Russian troops fighting in the war. The victory over Sweden turned Russia into a sea power. The Russian border was now distant from Pskov. Trade
passed through the new capital, St. Petersburg, built on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. Pskov became a provincial city of the Russian Empire.

During the First World War, Pskov, which was only 300 km from the front lines, became a major military center. The headquarters of the Northern front was located here, as were many army establishments. During the February revolution (February 23-27, 1917), which also caught up Pskov, Tsar Nicholas II signed the manifesto of abdication in the royal car detained at the Pskov train station.

Pskov suffered greatly during the Second World War. On July 9, 1941, it was occupied and liberated on July 23, 1944. When Soviet troops entered Pskov, the city was in ruins. The liberation troops were met by 150 people out of the pre-war population of 60,000. A resolution adopted by the government on November 1, 1945 declared Pskov one of the fifteen cities scheduled for reconstruction in the first instance. In a relatively short period of time Pskov was rebuilt.

Now Pskov is in many respects a typical Russian city, a popular tourist center. What attracts visitors to Pskov? It is a city filled with historical memories. It is a city from which nature has not departed. Architecture and nature are fused indivisibly here. Pskov has a marvellous beauty that seems to emerge from the depth of the earth, from the depth of the people - a warm, kind-hearted, joyful beauty.

Contact info:
Joint Stock Company "Intourist"
22, Oktyabrsky Pr.
180000 Pskov
Russia
phone / fax: +7 8112 164565, +7 8112 165783
e-mail: turizm-1@ellink.ru (incoming department)