In the north-west of Russia, a vast territory extends, which has been mentioned in chronicles since the 11th century as the Principality of Pskov. Since in those ancient times, when it was born and grew stronger, life flowed restlessly, it was customary to enclose the settlements with strong walls. Hence they began to call them cities, and where the walls were especially strong, fortresses. Only a memory remains of some of them, but those fortresses of the Pskov region, which were destined to survive to this day, still stand as majestic monuments of their era.
Birth of the walled city
The largest and most famous fortification in this region is the Pskov fortress, a photo of which can be seen in the article. The exact date of its laying in a strategically important place at the confluence of the Velikaya and Pskov rivers is unknown. Also erased from the pages of history and the years of foundation of the city itself. But the first annalistic mention of it dates back to 903. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler Nestor, talking about the marriage of Prince Igor, reports that his wife was brought to him “from Pskov.”
Over time, the Pskov fortress grew, and under Ivan the Terrible (XVI century) it was rightfully considered one of the mostlarge and powerful in Russia, which was also built according to all the rules of fortification. By that time, Pskov itself had also expanded its borders, becoming the third city of Russia, leaving only Moscow and Novgorod ahead. From the documents of those years it is known that in his district then there were forty monasteries and the same number of parish churches.
Impregnable Citadel
Initially, the Pskov fortress was surrounded by wooden and earthen walls built directly on bulk ramparts. In the middle of the 13th century, in connection with the beginning of the Tatar-Mongol invasion, they were replaced with stone ones, and when the role of artillery increased two centuries later, they were strengthened by four dozen towers.
The area of the fortress was more than two square kilometers and was surrounded by five belts of walls, which were nine kilometers long and cut through by fourteen gates. The impregnability of the fortress was also ensured by wall towers, and the viability - by numerous underground passages.
Miracle Solution
It should be noted that the Pskov fortress was built on the basis of advanced technologies for those times. Its walls and towers were built from limestone blocks, fastened with a particularly strong lime mortar, the secret of which was kept secret. Today it is known that lime for its production was extinguished for many years in special pits, and then mixed with sand in strictly defined proportions.
The result was a binding solution that did not lose its qualities even after five centuries. Additional strength to the buildings was given by the externalplaster, similar in technique to modern plaster, but made of a more durable material.
Stone belts of the fortress
The core of the Pskov fortress - the Holy Trinity Cathedral and the veche square adjacent to it - were surrounded by the first defensive wall, called Detinets, or Krom (Kremlin). This is the oldest part of the fortress. It was erected in the XI century.
The second fortress wall, named Dovmontova after the influential Pskov prince Dovmont, surrounded the territory that is now part of the Kremlin. In the 13th century, various administrative buildings were located on it, most of which were made of stone, thanks to which their foundations were revealed during archaeological excavations.
The wall of the posadnik Boris
As it often happened in the history of cities, settlements quickly grew around the fortress walls and under their protection, in which craft settlements and markets were set up. They were called settlements, and as they grew, they were also protected by lines of defensive structures.
It was for this purpose that the third fortress wall was built, which received the name of one of the initiators of its construction, the posadnik Boris. It was a very reliable structure, surrounded by a deep moat from the outside. The territory that was under its protection began to be called "zastene", and over time, the word "old" was added to this name.
The walls that completed the construction of the fortress
Stoppedthis wall until the middle of the 15th century, after which a significant part of it was demolished, since the settlement had grown by that time, and for its safety it was necessary to build another line of fortifications. This new building - the Wall of the Middle City (fourth in a row), was erected parallel to its predecessor - the Wall of the Posadnik Boris, and the entire territory surrounded by it became known as the "New Zastenye". The Pskov fortress was also reliably protected from the side of the Pskov River. Here it was covered by a wall, the beginning of construction of which dates back to 1404.
And, finally, the last - the fifth ring of bastions - was erected in such a way that not only a significant part of the city was inside it, but, what is very important, a part of the Pskov River. As a result, the Pskov fortress, whose history by that time already numbered almost five centuries, became practically inaccessible to the enemy. Her defenders were not threatened by either hunger or thirst, as the river provided them with fish and water.
End of the battle path of the citadel
The last stage of the active construction of the fortress took place at the beginning of the 18th century, when, by order of Peter I, it was hastily prepared for the Northern War. During these years, many redoubts and various external fortifications were erected.
Unfortunately, their construction was often carried out to the detriment of the previous buildings, since temples and towers were dismantled with a shortage of building materials. After the signing of the Treaty of Nystadt in 1721, which put an end to the war with Sweden, the Pskov citadel lost itsmilitary value and fell into disrepair over time.
Fortress turned into a museum complex
In the period of the fifties and sixties of the twentieth century, according to the project of the Leningrad Hermitage, archaeological excavations and restoration work were carried out on the territory of the Pskov fortress. Today Pskov and its fortress are among the most popular tourist destinations.
The high, truly European level of service for tourists is eloquently evidenced by the entries left in the guest book of the museum-reserve, as well as on its Internet sites. Most of them note the high professionalism and general erudition of the guides who conducted the excursions. Thanks to them, visitors were able to mentally become witnesses to the history of our Motherland, one of the main centers of which was once Pskov.
Reviews are also full of words of gratitude for the care that was shown to groups whose visits to the historical places of Pskov and its region were not limited to one day. They were provided with hotels that met the highest requirements, and transportation was carried out on modern comfortable buses.
Izborsk fortress (Pskov region)
Continuing the conversation about the ancient fortifications of the Pskov region, one cannot fail to mention the fortress, the construction of which is associated with the founding of the city of Izborsk, according to researchers, dating back to the 7th-8th centuries. When three centuries later it grew into a major trade and craftcenter, the wooden and earthen walls of the fortress were replaced with stone ones.
Izborsk fortress (Pskov region) has seen a lot in its lifetime, a lot of tragic pages have fallen to its share. In the first half of the 13th century, German knights captured it twice, and only the victory of Alexander Nevsky, won by him in 1242 on Lake Peipsi, helped to finally expel them from there.
A century later, the defenders of the fortress heroically resisted the siege of the Livonian knights, and in 1367 drove the Germans from their walls, who were trying to penetrate the city with the help of battle rams. During the Time of Troubles, the fortress turned out to be impregnable for the troops of the Lithuanian gentry Alexander Lisovsky, but after the end of the Northern War, it, like its Pskov sister, lost its military significance and gradually fell into decay.
Fortress of the city of Kaporye
Another interesting monument of medieval defensive architecture is located in Kaporye (Pskov region). The fortress, located in this city and bearing his name, was built in 1237 by the knights of the Livonian Order, but four years later it was recaptured from them by the troops of Prince Alexander Nevsky. It has been destroyed and rebuilt many times. This happened for the first time in 1282 as a result of the rebellion of the Novgorodians against Prince Dmitry Alexandrovich, who was trying to hide from them behind the fortress walls.
Subsequently, she was repeatedly captured by the Swedes, but each time she returned to the hands of her former owners. The last owner of the fortress was a noble princeAlexander Danilovich Menshikov, who received it as a gift from Peter I. However, after the death of his crowned patron, he fell into disgrace, the fortress was confiscated, and it passed into the treasury.
Unlike other fortresses in Russia, Kaporye has never been restored, and restoration work has never been carried out on its territory. As a result, today the fortress is in an extremely neglected state, but, on the other hand, according to art historians, this allowed many features of its architecture to be preserved in their original form.
