Torzok

city Torzhok Торжок flag coat of arms Federal district Central Russia Oblast Tver Urban district Torzok mayor Yevgeny Ignatov First mention 1139 City since 1775 surface 59  km² population 47,644 inhabitants (as of Oct. 14, 2010) Population density 808 inhabitants / km² Height of the center 165  m Time zone UTC + 3 Telephone code (+7) 48251 Post Code 172000-172011 License Plate 69 OKATO 28 450 Website torzhok-adm.ru Geographical location Coordinates 57 ° 2 '  N , 34 ° 58'  E Coordinates: 57 ° 2 '0 "  N , 34 ° 58' 0"  E

Location in the western part of Russia

Location in Tver Oblast

List of cities in Russia

Torzhok ( Russian Торжок ) is a town with 47,644 inhabitants (14 October 2010) in the Tver Oblast in Russia . It is located around 260 km northwest of Moscow and 60 km west of Tver on the Volga tributary Tverza .

history

Torzhok is one of the oldest towns in Tver Oblast. It was first mentioned in writing in 1139 and is therefore at least eight years older than Moscow. At that time Torzhok was under the rule of the Suzdal Grand Duke and Moscow founder Yuri Dolgoruki . The name of the city could have emerged from its early importance for trade (Russian and Old Slavic torg ).

View of the old town of Torzhok in winter

Tverza waterfront

In the 13th century Torzhok was a border town of the Novgorod Republic and served as a military base. In 1238 it was devastated by the Tatars on their way to Novgorod, and the place was also a frequent target for the next centuries. In 1478 it came to the Grand Duchy of Moscow together with the Novgorod Territories and has since developed as a trading center with a shipping pier on the waterway between Novgorod and Moscow. Handicrafts have also gained importance in Torzhok since the 15th century.

The founding of the new capital Saint Petersburg and the laying of a road between it and Moscow, on which Torzhok lay, played a key role in the economic importance of the city . In 1775 Torzhok received city status, six years later a general plan was drawn up for urban development. In the following decades, Torzhok was increasingly built on in a classical style , which can still be seen in the old town today. Since Torzhok survived the two world wars largely unscathed, it still has a very dense inventory of historical, listed buildings by Russian standards.

The prison of war hospital 2501 for the seriously ill was located in the city . It was assigned to the two prisoner of war camps 41 , Ostashkow , and 384 , Kalinin , for German prisoners of war of the Second World War . Many mass graves were laid in the area around Torzhok. It is estimated that around 50,000 prisoners of war were buried there during and after the war.

Population development

year	Residents
1897	12,698
1939	29,309
1959	34,921
1970	45,443
1979	47.214
1989	49,982
2002	48,967
2010	47,644

Note: census data

Attractions

City and monastery

Bell tower

Torzhok is now a monument of Russian urban architecture. The variety of historical buildings in the city ranges from old Russian churches and monasteries to classicist residential and manor houses:

• Ascension Church made of wood (1653)
• Boris and Gleb Monastery (founded 1038)
  • Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary (early 1670s)
  • Catholic Church of Saints Boris and Gleb (1785–1796)
  • Bell tower (1804)
• City Church of Christ's Transfiguration (1815–1822)
• Resurrection Monastery (16th century)
• Classicist houses
  • Residence of Tsarina Catherine the Great (1770s)
  • City administration building
  • Trade rows
  • former merchants' houses

Economy and Infrastructure

In addition to its monumental character, Torzhok is now an industrial city with around 20 companies. Local operations include a wagon factory (which also supplies Russian Railways ), textile, shoe, wood and food factories. Flax is mainly grown in the surrounding area .

Torzhok is located on the M10 trunk road , which connects Moscow with Saint Petersburg, and has a train station on several branch lines, one of which branches off from the Saint Petersburg – Moscow railway line.

Twin cities

Melle in Lower Saxony has been a twin town of Torchok since 1994.

sons and daughters of the town

Torzhok (1914, Konstantin Juon )

• Tryphon of Pechenga (1495–1583), founder of the Pechenga monastery
• Alexander Woskressenski (1809–1880), chemist
• Alexej von Jawlensky (1865–1941), painter
• Gennadi Golusin (1906–1952), mathematician
• Juri Chochlow (1922-2010), musicologist
• Alexander Semjonow (1922–1984), painter

Web links

Commons : Torzhok  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• City website (Russian)
• Torzhok on mojgorod.ru (Russian)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Itogi Vserossijskoj perepisi naselenija 2010 goda. Tom 1. Čislennostʹ i razmeščenie naselenija (Results of the All-Russian Census 2010. Volume 1. Number and distribution of the population). Tables 5 , pp. 12-209; 11 , pp. 312–979 (download from the website of the Federal Service for State Statistics of the Russian Federation)
2. ↑ Maschke, Erich (ed.): On the history of the German prisoners of war of the Second World War. Verlag Ernst and Werner Gieseking, Bielefeld 1962–1977.
3. ↑ Entry about the twin town of Torzhok on the homepage of the town of Melle.Accessed on May 4, 2019, 5:30 p.m.