Porkhov

Porkhov stands on the Shelon River east of Pskov. Its wooden fortress, traditionally attributed to Alexander Nevsky in 1239, defended an approach to Novgorod. After it was burned in 1387, Novgorod rebuilt the defences in limestone downstream. In 1428 the Lithuanian grand duke Vytautas breached the western wall with artillery and entered the town; the Novgorodians strengthened the fortress two years later. Following Novgorod's incorporation into Muscovy in 1478, the fortress lost military importance. Porkhov remained a small centre of the Shelon district, with a largely agricultural population in the fifteenth century. Its surviving churches include a fortress church dating to 1412 and the Savior church of 1670.