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| 2066 Pskov Kremlin |
Posted on 13.12.2014, 23.11.2015
Located on the Velikaya River, about 20km east from the Estonian border, Pskov is one of the oldest cities in Russia, its earliest mention coming from 903, when Igor of Kiev married a local lady, St. Olga. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the town adhered politically to the Novgorod Republic. In 1241 it was taken by the Teutonic Knights, but Alexander Nevsky recaptured it several months later. In order to secure their independence from the knights, in 1266 the Pskovians elected a Lithuanian prince, Daumantas (known in Russia as Dovmont), as military leader and prince. Having fortified the town (the core of the citadel, erected by him, still bears his name), Daumantas routed the Teutonic Knights at Rakvere and overran much of Estonia.
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| 1356 Pskov Kremlin and Trinity Cathedral |
By the 14th century, the town functioned as the capital of a de facto sovereign republic, mainly due to the merchants who brought it into the Hanseatic League. For Russia, it was a bridge towards Europe; and for Europe a western outpost of Russia. Importance of the city made it a subject of numerous sieges throughout its history (26 in the 15th century alone). A local school of icon-painting flourished, and local masons were considered the best in Russia. Many peculiar features of Russian architecture were first introduced in Pskov. In 1510 the city fell to Muscovite forces. As the second largest city of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Pskov still attracted enemy armies. Peter the Great's conquest of Estonia and Latvia during the Great Northern War in the early 18th century spelled the end of Pskov's traditional role as a vital border fortress and a key to Russia's interior.
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