Porkhov Fortress

Porkhov Fortress (Porkhov Kremlin) - a fortress in the center of the city of Porkhov, Pskov Region . Located on the right bank of the Sheloni River. Fortifications made of dark limestone have been preserved almost completely, but some areas are in disrepair.

Porkhov Fortress
Aerial photo of the fortress
City	Porkhov
Year of construction	1387
Number of towers	is unknown
The number of surviving towers	3

The first mention of the Porkhov fortress in the Novgorod Chronicle dates back to 1239 , when the Novgorod governor-prince Alexander Yaroslavovich (future Nevsky) strengthened the waterway along Sheloni from Novgorod to Pskov with the construction of small wooden "checkpoints", one of which was Porkhov. The first wood-earth fortifications were built on an elevated cape on the right bank of Sheloni and consisted of two rows of ramparts and ditches, the height of the highest of the ramparts exceeding 4 meters with a log wall on top.

In 1346 , the great Lithuanian prince Olgerd invaded Novgorod and took the fortress Luga and Shelon to the shield, and besieged Opoku and Porkhov. The fortress survived its first Lithuanian siege, although the Black Bor (indemnity) of 300 rubles still had to be paid. The reason for the war was the rudeness of a Novgorod posadnik, whom the Novgorodians themselves later “beaten” in the Meadow.

In 1387, at a distance of just over a kilometer from the old fortress, on the right high bank of Sheloni, a new stone fortress with four towers was built from a local flagstone. The thickness of its walls was 1.4–2 m, its height was about 7 m. The towers 15–17-meter high had from 4 to 6 battle tiers with wooden ceilings, protruded beyond the line of the fortress walls and could effectively flank the courts . All construction work was completed in one season.

Inside the fortress are: Nikolskaya Church (1412), a garden, the Museum of Local Lore, the Museum of the History of Porkhovskaya Post, a commemorative sign in honor of the opening of the museum post, a monument-bust to B. P. Kalachev , the leader of the Porkhov underground.