Torzhok

a city under oblast jurisdiction and center of Torzhok Raion, Kalinin Oblast, RSFSR. Situated on the Tvertsa River (a tributary of the Volga), on the Moscow-Leningrad highway, 60 km west of Kalinin. Junction of railroad lines to Rzhev, Likhoslavl’, and Soblago. Population, 49,000 (1974).

Torzhok was first mentioned in 1139. It was the center of a volost (small rural district) of the Novgorod Feudal Republic and was part of the Derevskaia Piatina (seePIATINY). In 1238 the city was destroyed by the Mongol-Tatars. In 1478 it was incorporated into the Muscovite state, and in the early 17th century it was destroyed by the Poles. In 1708, Torzhok became part of Izhora Land, and in 1727, part of Novgorod Province. In 1775 it became a district center of the Tver’ Vicegerency (from 1796, Tver’ Province). Soviet power was established in the city on Oct. 27 (Nov. 9), 1917.

Torzhok has plants for the production of railroad cars, printing inks, machinery, leather goods, and wood products, as well as a creamery. A footwear factory and the Protivopozharnaia Tekhnika company are also located in the city. The ancient craft of gold embroidery has been preserved, with a branch of the Kalininskie Uzory company located in Torzhok.

Scientific and scholarly institutions in Torzhok include the all-Union scientific research institute of flax, a polytechnic school, an industrial-pedagogical technicum, and a pedagogical school. Torzhok has an A. S. Pushkin museum (the poet often stayed in Torzhok during his travels).

Among Torzhok’s architectural monuments are the wooden Church of the Ascension (17th century), the complex of the Boris and Gleb Monastery, the Spaso-Preobrazhenskii Cathedral (1822), the Excursion Palace (late 18th century), the residential buildings in the classical style. The monastery complex includes a cathedral (1785–96; architect N. A. L’vov) and a bell tower (1804; architect Anan’in), both in the classical style, and the father superior’s quarters (1714) and churches from the 17th and 18th centuries.