Pskov is one of the best-known ancient Russian cities. Long ago this strongly fortified city-state stood guard over Russian lands in the northwest.
Pskov's historical destiny as a warrior and intercessor was reflected in its monuments, especially its architecture, an extraordinary, permanent, genuinely popular epic in stone.
The entire territory of ancient Pskov can be regarded as an open-air museum. The new city has made its way into the ancient city-more noticeably in some places than in others. There are some spots where monuments stand in clusters. However, each and every architectural monument taken in itself is also important. The churches in Mirozhsky Monastery (12th century) and Snetogorsky Monastery (14th century) are famous for their murals.
Pskov has a Museum of History, Art, and Architecture with branches in outlying towns-in Izborsk with its 14th-century fortress, in Pechory with its 16th-century fortress-monastery, and the Pushkin Museum near Pskov. The Russian composer. Modest Mussorgsky, was born in the village of Naumovo near Pskov. A museum has been opened there. Another famous composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, lived in the village of Vechasha, and a museum has been opened here in his memory.
Two museums in Pskov are linked with V. I. Lenin's visit to the city in 1900. Pskov was the birthplace of Lenin's newspaper Iskra (The Spark). The Red Army also came into being in the land of Pskov in 1918. From 1941 to 1944, during the Second World War, Pskov and its adjacent lands were part of the legendary partisan "forest republic", where Soviet laws were observed in the rear of the occupied territory.
Today Pskov is a large industrial city in the Russian Federation and a popular site for international tourism.
What is interesting about Pskov? Why should one visit it? What can be seen there? What will one gain by such a visit? We shall try to answer these questions in this guidebook, which we hope will not only serve as a guide for a visit today, but will also be read by future visitors to Pskov.
