Ostashkov
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Ostashkov (Russian: Оста́шков) is a town in Tver Oblast, Russia, 199 km west of Tver. It sits on a peninsula at the southern shore of Lake Seliger, one of the purest lakes of Europe[citation needed]. Population: 19,700 (2006 est.); 20,660 (2002 Census).
The island of Klichen was first mentioned in a letter sent by Grand Duke Algirdas of Lithuania to the Patriarch of Constantinople in 1371. After the island was pillaged by Novgorod pirates several years later, two of Klichen's surviving inhabitants, Ostashko and Timofey, moved to the mainland, where they founded the villages Ostashkovo and Timofeevo, respectively. The former belonged to the Moscow Patriarchs, and the latter - to the Joseph Volokolamsk Monastery. In 1770, both villages were merged into the town of Ostashkov.
Ostashkov is commonly regarded as one of the finest Russian provincial towns. Its main streets were laid out in Neoclassical style after the plans of Ivan Starov (1772). Local landmarks include the Ascension Church (1689), the Trinity Cathedral (1697), the Monastery of the Sign (1673, 1730s, 1880s), and the mid-18th century Zhitnyi Cloister. There is also a fanciful column erected by people of Ostashkov in 1787 to mark a spot where a wooden fort (1587) used to stand. The town's pleasant architecture and attractive setting by the lake combine to make Ostashkov one of the most popular resorts in Western Russia.
The well known Nilov Monastery is located on Stolbnyi Island, about 10 km north from Ostashkov. It was the place where the Ostashkov Special Camp of the NKVD was located and where roughly 6,300 Polish policemen and prisoners of war were kept prior to their execution in Tver. Approximately 4,300 of their comrades, held in Kozielsk were around this time executed in the Smolensk region, in what is now known as the Katyn massacre.
[edit] External links
- Map of Lake Seliger
- History and monuments of Ostashkov
- Tourism in Ostashkov (in Russian)
- Web site of Ostashkov
- Photos of Ostaskhov in 1910 and 2003
- Satellite photo via Google Maps
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