“Here is the Russian spirit, here smells of Russia …”
Here every stone keeps the radiant imprint
of your steps with the edge of feelings, native Russia!
A. S. Pushkin
Izborsk is one of the oldest Russian cities, it traces its official pedigree – no more, no less – from the “Tale of Bygone Years”, in which it was mentioned in 862. “From here the Russian land has gone,” Russian statehood was born here. There are very few such places where unique historical, cultural and natural monuments have been preserved, where life has never stopped, in Russia, and throughout the world.
According to some chronicle versions of the XVII century, the city was originally called Slovensk, after its founder Sloven, the son of the legendary Novgorod posadnik Gostomysl. According to legend, after the death of Sloven, the city passed to his son Izbor and became known as Izborsk. There are other versions of the origin of the name of the city. The opinion that has been occurring since the middle of the XVIII century about the Scandinavian (Norman) origin of Izborsk (“Isaburg”, i.e. the city on the Ise-Isse River) or the Finno-Scandinavian theory of the origin of this toponym (in the first part of its Isa the Estonian “father”, in the second the Scandinavian “borg” – city) cannot be accepted by modern science. The settlement was founded by Slavs, which is confirmed by many years of archaeological excavations. Therefore, it could only be called Slavs. Geographical names related to Izborsk are found in the East Slavic world, with their complete absence in the Northern European lands. It is most likely that the name of Izborsk is derived from the male name Izbor, which is common in the pagan Slavic world. It is also possible that the name of the city originated from the word “bor” – the settlement of the Slavs-Krivichi was surrounded by a dense impenetrable forest. Or from the word “gathering” – Izborsk has been a gathering place of the Russian army many times.
Труворово городище
The area of early Izborsk, located on the Truvorov settlement, was about 6 thousand square meters.m. Since its inception, the settlement has been fortified with two ramparts – an arc-shaped one made of very dense clay and stone, on the floor side, and a small one in the cape part. Izborsk in the first period of its history was not an ordinary settlement. The settlement had a distinctly artisan direction. Excavations have revealed traces of bronze casting, jewelry and blacksmithing crafts, bone and stone carving, woodworking. The manufactured products required sales markets, so Izborsk had developed trade relations. Moreover, these ties were intense and extended far beyond the borders of Russia. This is evidenced by coins discovered by archaeologists.
By the end of the 11th century, Izborsk was turning into a fortress city, an outpost on the northwestern borders of Russia – powerful fortress walls were being built for that time and a powerful defensive complex was being created. Such serious precautions were due to the border situation of Izborsk, as well as the growing aggression from the West. In the second half of the XI century , a powerful stone tower was built on the cape of the settlement.
In the XIII century, a powerful military-state formation appeared in the Baltic States – the Livonian Order, which took a hostile position against the Pskov and Novgorod lands and began attacks on the north-western borders of Russia. The struggle with the Livonians will last for centuries. It will begin in 1233, when Izborsk was captured by a “rogue” – a sudden attack. A military detachment was sent from Pskov to help Izborsk, which recaptured the city.
The year 1240 became fatal for Izborsk, when at least 600 Russian soldiers died as a result of a bloody battle. Pskov fell after Izborsk. Russian russians ruled Pskov land for two years, and only in 1242 the Russian army led by Prince Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky managed to liberate Russian cities and defeat the Livonians on the ice of Lake Peipsi. In the conditions of constant wars and military skirmishes between Pskov and Novgorod and Livonia, Izborsk, which found itself on the border of the warring parties, no longer met the requirements of the time in terms of fortification. The Izborsk settlement was poorly adapted for serious reconstruction of fortifications, its site was small, and on the western side the Slovenian field towered over it, which gave the enemy serious advantages.
In 1330, Pskov residents and Izborians began building a new fortress on Mount Zheravya, more suitable for the construction of fortifications that meet the combat conditions of the 14th century. We learn about the construction of the fortress from several chronicle mentions. The Pskov third chronicle tells about this event in the most detail under the year 1330: “The village of posadnik with Pskovichi and Izboryany put the city of Izboresk on the mountain on Zheravia; the same summer and the wall of Kamenou with the slab of ouchinish, and the moats of izrish under the city…”.
The fortress was a powerful defensive structure of its time, which played a huge role in the defense of the North-West of Russia, in particular the Pskov land, which from the middle of the XIV century became independent from Novgorod the Great. The location of Izborsk on the border between Russia and Europe determined its historical fate. The warrior city, the “stone shield of defense” of the Pskov land, Izborsk was one of the most important fortifications that served as symbols of the Russian presence in the Eastern Baltic States in the Middle Ages. From the middle of the XIV to the beginning and to the beginning of the XVI centuries, the fortress withstood at least eight sieges and was not taken by the enemy more than once during this period. The German poet Peter Suchenwirth, who took part in the military operations of the Livonian Order, called the city of Izborsk “iron city”.
Source: https://museum-izborsk.ru/history_izborsk/
