Ostrov is an old Russian town in the Pskov Region. It is located on the banks of River Velikaya (the basin of Lake Pskov), 53 km to the south of Pskov.

It is a railroad junction and a highway hub.

The town with the population of 20.629 people (as of 2014) takes the overall area of 19 sq km.

History of Ostrov

It was first time recorded in chronicles in 1342 as a stone fortress on the southern border of the Pskov land, on the island of River Velikaya, the fact determining its name Ostrov (i.e. Island).

In 1501 it was seized by the German knights of the Livonian Order. In 1510 it was attached to the Moscow state.

During the Livonian War it was a fixed pivot of the Russian armies. In 1581 after a long siege it was captured by armies of the Polish king Stefan Batory and in 1582 returned to Russia by the Zapolsky peace treaty.

From 1708 it was a town of the Ingermanland Province (St. Petersburg Province from 1710), and became a part of the Pskov Province in 1719. From 1796 it was a district town of the Pskov Province.

From the late 18th century it was a most important flax trading center. At the end of the 19th century it provided a considerable part of the Russian flax export.

In 1853 a suspension bridge over Velikaya River connected the banks with the islands.

Railroad connected the Ostrov town to Pskov in 1859.

In 1856 the district town of Ostrov in the Pskov Province had 4 churches, 272 houses, and 47 shops.

During the Great Patriotic War (1941-45) the town was occupied by fascist armies on July 6, 1941. It was released by armies of the 3rd Baltic frontline on July 21, 1944. The town was badly ruined.

Sightseeing

In the town centre on the island there have remained some fragments of walls and angular towers of the 15th century ancient fortress. Other architectural monuments include a one-domed St. Nicholas Church (1542), the Trinity Cathedral (1790), a chain bridge over River Velikaya (1850-53), etc.

At the 57 km distance from Ostrov town there is the settlement Pushkinskie Gory (i.e. Pushkin’s Hills) with the Memorial Estate of Alexander Pushkin (since 1922), which is a big tourist attraction.