Ostashkov
Ostashkov () 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. Population: 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, known as the
Katyn massacre.
*
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
