Pskov Kremlin, Russia

Pskov is an ancient city of Russia, which for several centuries has been protecting and defending the approaches to the Russian land from Germans, Danes, Swedes, Lithuanians who have repeatedly tried to tear down the borders. When in 1581 the Polish army began a siege of a fortress city on the Great River, King Stephen Batory's personal secretary, Jan Piotrovsky, wrote in his diary: "We admire Pskov. Lord, what a big city. Exactly Paris." Unfortunately for Stefan Batory, he never had a chance to see Pskov from the inside, because the Pskovs gave the Livonian conquerors a decisive rebuff and did not let them out of the gate.

But Pskov meets tourists with open arms and will not only show you the most interesting things about the city, but also entertain you with interesting stories about the Pskov antiquity. You will visit the Pskov Kremlin, which is considered one of the longest preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, stroll along the walls of this ancient fortress and be able to photograph the most beautiful views.

The turbulent military past of the Pskov Posad was immortalized in defense structures. One of the oldest Pskov fortifications was the Kremlin. The first towers and ancient ramparts belong to the 10th century. The peculiarity of the Pskov Kremlin in the five lines of defense of stone walls, which were an excellent barrier to enemies.

Its shape, when viewed from above, resembles a triangle, at the corners of which protective gray towers with cone-shaped roofs are erected. The fortress walls were built along the river banks, and the third closing wall was built in the form of an arc. Each tower at the corners of the fortress had its name. Not far from the Trinity Gate in the center of the Kremlin, the Trinity Cathedral was erected, which practically cuts the courtyard in half.

The square in front of the cathedral was important. Here there were meetings or meetings of elders, where various problems and questions were solved. Not only neighboring Veliky Novgorod formed the boyar republic, Pskov also lived on the principle of the will of the people, albeit noble, but still. The Pskov Kremlin is not just a fortress, of which there were many in Russia.

For many centuries this was an independent city surrounded by a fortress, his own master and his own protector. The length of the fortress walls was more than nine kilometers. The walls were strengthened by thirty-nine towers, each of which had its own arsenal and a detachment of warriors. Walls, towers, temples and other important buildings were built of limestone.

Initially, the wall thickness reached two meters, but in the XV-XVI century, when cannons appeared and artillery guns, the walls thickened from three to six meters. The height of the walls of the Pskov Kremlin reaches ten meters, but if we add to this a 16-meter cliff of the coast, one can only imagine how the walls looked impregnable at that time. And today the Pskov Kremlin inspires awe with its greatness.

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