Zubtsov

Zubtsov stands at the meeting of the Vazuza and the Volga, on the southwestern approaches to Tver. A fortified town of the upper Volga, it belonged to the network of princely centres that guarded river crossings and the roads between the Tver and Smolensk lands. Its position also made it vulnerable during the wars that troubled this frontier.

After Tver was absorbed by Moscow in the late fifteenth century, Zubtsov became the centre of a district that included several neighbouring settlements. The Time of Troubles brought severe destruction to the town and its surroundings. In the eighteenth century, the development of the Vyshny Volochyok waterway gave Zubtsov new commercial importance: its landing served vessels carrying goods along the Volga towards Saint Petersburg. The town became the centre of a district in the Tver viceroyalty in 1775.