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The name of the city,
originally spelled Pleskov,
may be loosely translated as
"the town of purling waters".
Its earliest mention comes in
903, which records that Igor
of Kiev married a local lady,
St. Olga. Pskovians sometimes
take this year as the city's
foundation date, and in 2003 a
great jubilee took place to
celebrate Pskov's 1,100th
anniversary.
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Pskov (pəskôf') , city (1989
pop. 204,000), capital of
Pskov region, NW European
Russia, on the Velikaya River.
It is an important rail
junction in the heart of a
flax-growing area. Industries
include food processing and
the manufacture of metals,
machinery, building materials,
and linen. Known in antiquity
as Pleskov, it became (903) an
outpost of Novgorod. Its
large-scale stone
construction, almost equal in
extent to that of Novgorod,
shows that it was already a
rich town in the 12th cent.
Pskov became (1347) an
independent, democratic
city-state and a flourishing
commercial center that traded
with the Hanseatic League. It
was capital of Pskov Republic
from 1348 to 1510 and had a
form of government similar to
that of Novgorod. With its
annexation (1510) by Moscow,
Pskov lost its democratic
institutions. Its importance,
except as a strategic
fortress, soon declined. The
railroad station at Pskov was
the scene (1917) of the
abdication of Nicholas II. The
historic core of Pskov is the
inner walled city, containing
a kremlin (12th–16th cent.),
with towers in the Byzantine
style, a cathedral, and
numerous medieval churches and
monasteries. The country
around Pskov is rich in
architectural monuments from
the 14th to the 18th cent.
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