Novhorod Siverskyi

Novhorod-Siverskyi stands on the Desna in the historical region of Severia. From 1098 it was the centre of a Rus principality, and a campaign by one of its princes inspired the Tale of Igor's Campaign. After Mongol destruction in 1239 it passed through the hands of Bryansk and Lithuanian rulers; Muscovy acquired the area in 1503 and later lost it to Poland.

King Sigismund III granted the town Magdeburg rights in 1620. From 1648 it was a Cossack sotnia town, later belonging to the Starodub regiment. Its monastery housed a printing house established by Archbishop Lazar Baranovych from 1674 to 1679. The town became the centre of a Russian viceroyalty in 1782 and gained a gymnasium in 1808.