Opochka

Opochka stands on the Velikaya River south of Pskov. Founded in 1414 as a fortress subordinate to that city, it guarded its southern approaches against attacks from the neighboring lands. Lithuanians besieged it in 1426 and Germans followed in 1427, but neither took the stronghold. Fire destroyed it in 1441. Its position made Opochka a useful outpost of Pskov's defenses long before the frontier was absorbed into a larger Russian state.

In 1510 Opochka passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow along with Pskov. The town again faced invasion during the Livonian War, when King Stephen Báthory captured it in 1581. Its administrative standing changed in the eighteenth century: when Pskov Governorate was established in 1772, Opochka initially served as its seat. Four years later the provincial capital moved to Pskov, and Opochka became the center of its own uyezd.