Pavlovo (aka Pavlovo-na-Oke informally) is a Russian town of regional value in the Nizhny Novgorod Region. It is the administrative center of the Pavlovsky District and the Pavlovo municipality.

The population of Pavlovo makes 59 511 people (as of 2013) and it takes the overall area of 43 sq km.

The town stands on the slopes of the Peremilovsky mountains, on the right bank of River Oka, 78 km to the southwest of Nizhny Novgorod.

It has the Metallist railway station.

Varieties of potted lemon and tangerine plants bred in Pavlovo gained wide popularity.

History of Pavlovo

It was first time recorded in 1566 as Pavlovsky Ostrog. Subsequently it was known as the palace village of Pavlovo, or Pavlov Ostrog. The chronicles never reveal who was that Pavel after whom the village was named. According to a legend, it was founded at the road Moscow - Nizhny Novgorod by a carrier named Pavel. After the fortress was constructed the settlement was named Pavlov Ostrog (i.e. “stockaded town”).

It was presented to Prince Cherkassky in 1621, and then the village descended to Counts Sheremetevs in 1742.

In the 18th century Pavlovo was a rich commerce and industry settlement, with its dwellers mostly engaged in lock and knife making. Pavlovo locks and guns were used special popularity. Besides smithcraft the locals were also into leather industry, ropemaking and lacemaking.

The village of Pavlovo was part of the Gorbatovsky District of the Nizhny Novgorod Province.

It was a district town of the Nizhny Novgorod Province from 1919.

Architecture and Sights

The town has substantially preserved its historically developed planning and architecture, with a discernible historical center.

It has some old Russian churches kept intact, such as the Church of Resurrection (1778) and the Ascension Church (1795). There is the merchant V.I. Gomolin’s former estate that has been turned into a museum now, the manufacturer Terebin’s house, Sheremetev's patrimonial office, etc.