Ostashkov

Ostashkov stands on a peninsula at the southern edge of Lake Seliger. Nearby, the island stronghold of Klichen appeared in a 1371 letter from the Lithuanian grand prince Algirdas as a frontier town taken by Moscow. Chronicles record a Novgorodian attack on Klichen in 1393. On the neighbouring peninsula, settlements associated with Ostashkov grew under the ownership of Moscow monasteries, and in 1587 they were enclosed by a common fortified wall.

The town's position amid the waterways of the upper Volga made it a centre for the lake country. Its wooden fortress was rebuilt in 1651–1653 under Tsar Alexis. In 1716 a monastery was established on Zhitny Island; its stone cathedral and other buildings rose during the eighteenth century. Ostashkov became a district town in 1770 and acquired a regular plan for its streets, giving its peninsula a more ordered form while retaining its close relationship with the waters of Seliger.