Address: Russia, Pskov region, Pskov
Build date: XIII century
Coordinates: 57 ° 49'14.2 "N 28 ° 19'47.9" E
Cultural heritage site of the Russian Federation
Content:
Dovmont town today is a large open-air museum. It got its name from Prince Dovmont, who ruled Pskov for 33 years. From the 13th to the 18th centuries, the fortifications built here played the role of the administrative and spiritual center of the city. In addition to other buildings, there were 18 Orthodox churches on a small territory, so Dovmont's city was considered a cult symbol of ancient Pskov and was the only place in Russia where so many churches were concentrated.
Model of Dovmont's city
Prince Dovmont
Lithuanian prince Dovmont, together with his retinue, left their native lands due to the persecution of other Lithuanian rulers. The Pskovites greeted him very kindly and invited him to accept the princely throne. In order for the foreigner to be firmly attached to the Orthodox faith, a baptism ceremony took place in the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity of Pskov, during which the prince was given a new name - Timothy. And in 1266 Dovmont began to rule in the Russian city.
The prince took as his wife Maria, who was the daughter of Dmitry Alexandrovich Pereyaslavsky and the granddaughter of Alexander Nevsky. Dovmont was highly respected by the residents of Pskov for his honesty and desperate bravery. Many times, a small squad led by him won victories over superior enemies.
During the reign of the prince, Pskov gained independence from Novgorod, which was very important both from a political and economic point of view. In 1299 Dovmont fell ill and died. And in the 16th century, the Orthodox Church canonized him.
A bird's eye view of the city
Today the ruler's remains rest in a beautiful shrine in the Trinity Cathedral on the territory of the Pskov Kremlin. Once upon a time, the Dovmont sword was also kept in the altar of this temple, which, as a symbol of power, was passed from prince to prince. Today, a historical relic is located on the territory of the Pskov Museum-Reserve.
History of the ancient fortification
Until the 13th century, the territory at the foot of Krom, south of the fortress wall - Percy was part of the Pskov Posad. Then it was separated by the stone Dovmont wall and made the administrative center of the city. The city played the role of the church-state heart of the Pskov lands of Dovmont until the 18th century. In addition, it served as a necropolis for the Pskovites, and the most famous residents of the city were buried here.
Until the XIV century south of the new fortification, on the right bank of the Great, there was a swamp. Then they drained it, covered the pavement and set up a bargaining there. And in the city of Dovmont itself, thanks to the efforts of the Pskov stonecutters and architects, 18 churches appeared, dedicated to Christian saints and holidays.
View of the fortress walls of Dovmont's city from the opposite side of the Velikaya River
Why did it become necessary to build how many churches in one place? It turns out that this was not due to the whim of the then rulers, but to the peculiarity of the urban development of ancient Pskov. In the Middle Ages, the townspeople lived within the fortress walls, and behind the fortifications of Krom - the planters, that is, the inhabitants of Posad. The city occupied a border position on the northwestern outskirts of Russia, and was regularly raided by the enemy. During military conflicts, the prisoners suffered in the first place. Therefore, it was decided to build city churches in one place, near the Kremlin, so that in the event of an attack by enemies, they would be under its reliable protection.
The main temple of the city, the snow-white Trinity Cathedral, was separated from the churches of Dovmont's city by only a small section of the fortress wall or Percy. Therefore, the unique urban planning complex is considered an attempt by local architects to create here an earthly home for the Holy Trinity. During the period when there was a veche in Pskov, its spiritual center was located south of Krom, and there were always a lot of people in local churches.
Vlasyevskaya tower
The name "Dovmont City" has been used since the 1370s. In the 15th century, square towers appeared from the south of the Kremlin - Vlasyevskaya and Rybnitskaya. A secret underground passage led to the Velikaya River from the territory of the fortifications. By the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century, the churches of Dovmont's town had aged, and most of the churches were simply demolished.
In 1701, Tsar Peter I ordered to prepare Pskov for the Northern War. The Pskovites took up the construction of a powerful Christmas battery, filling the eastern part of the Dovmont town with earthen bastions. As a result, three churches with frescoes were buried in the ground up to the level of the vaults, and in the remaining temples the inhabitants of the city arranged an arsenal for storing ammunition and weapons. At the beginning of the 19th century, the remains of dilapidated fortifications were completely dismantled as unnecessary.
Since then, the territory of Dovmont's town has become a wasteland overgrown with grass and rare bushes. When, at the beginning of World War II, the Germans entered Pskov, they installed an anti-aircraft battery here, which protected the occupied city from air attacks.
Rybnitsa Tower
After the war, the city buried under the ground of the Dovmont was a sad sight. In many places it was pitted with craters from falling aerial bombs and shells.
The wealth hidden by the earth for several centuries did not appear immediately before the eyes of the townspeople and tourists. In order to unearth old churches and foundations of civil buildings, employees of the archaeological expedition of the State Hermitage worked for more than a year. Moreover, archaeological research of the ancient site continues to this day.
What can be seen in Dovmont town
Today, ancient buildings occupy an area of 1.35 hectares, and they are often called "Russian Pompeii". Archaeologists and restorers managed to explore an area of 0.9 hectares. They reconstructed the general view of the medieval city, completely uncovered the foundations of 10 churches and several civil buildings, increased the lower parts of the walls and brought them above ground level.
View of the city from the Vlasyevskaya tower
Among the excavated buildings in Dovmont town, one can see the foundations of ancient temples of various shapes and sizes, powerful fortress walls of the 13th century, several military buildings and the graves of Lithuanian soldiers, in which Prince Dovmont's warriors are supposedly buried. The best preserved churches of the Intercession of the Theotokos, the Nativity of Christ, St. Nicholas s Greblya and St. Timothy Haazky - the heavenly patron saint of Prince Dovmont. All of them were built in the XIV century.
It is curious that in one of the churches archaeologists found wall paintings. To preserve them, specialists had to move more than 150 sq. m of ancient frescoes on tablets. After careful restoration in restoration workshops, unique paintings are exhibited in the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg. According to their quality, we can conclude that the painting school of the Pskov isographers is of a high level.
Order chambers
An unusual find is the iron-smelting workshop, built here during the times of Pskov Posad. Swamp ore was smelted in an ancient forge in the 10th-11th centuries. Before the construction of Dovmont's city, there was also the temple of Dmitry Solunsky (1135), erected from plinths and limestone slabs, which then bore the name of Dmitry at Torgu. Outwardly, the large church resembled the cathedral of the Mirozh monastery. It was rebuilt in the 16th century and finally dismantled for dilapidation in the 1830s. When researchers dug up the remains of the temple, they saw on the plinth the princely sign of the Rurik dynasty.
Working on the territory of Dovmont town, archaeologists found many other curious objects that had lain in the ground for several centuries.These are plate armor of the XIV-XV centuries and fragments of chain mail of Russian soldiers, many tips of medieval arrows and spears, more than five hundred lead seals left over from the archival archives, spurs, cast iron and stone cannonballs, scraps of birch bark letters, bracelets and clasps.
From left to right: Church of the Nativity of Christ, Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos
You can get to the territory of Dovmont's town from the south, from the side of the Kremlin street. Here, between the Vlasyevskaya and Rybnitskaya towers, the building of the Order Chambers has been preserved, which adjoins the southern fortress wall (Kremlin street, 4). Nowadays, the white-stone building of the 17th century is used as an exhibition and museum center. A wide paved road is laid through the territory of Dovmont town, along which tourists go to the Great or Trinity gates leading to the very heart of the Kremlin.
How to get there
The territory of Dovmont's town adjoins Krom on the south side and is administratively considered part of the architectural complex of the Pskov Kremlin. It is located in the center of the city, to the north of the Olginsky bridge, laid across the river. Great.
Church of St. Nicholas on Grebla
The ancient fortification can be reached by buses No. 1, 7, 7A, 11, 15, 18, 19, 25, 30, as well as by minibuses No. 4A, 51, 51A (to the stop "Lenin Square").
