Shoptovo

Shoptovo stood on high ground above the Luchesa River in the country of Bely, a district long contested by powers to east and west. Also recorded as Shopotovo or Shoptovshchina, it was a parish centre for villages scattered across the surrounding countryside. A local church chronicle preserved a tradition of opposing Lithuanian and Russian camps on the two sides of the river, with the high bank near Shoptovo protecting one of the forces.