One of the oldest cities in Russia, founded at the turn of the 10-11th centuries in the Tver region, is famous for its historical monuments and magnificent landscapes. Torzhok managed to maintain the atmosphere of a provincial Russian town - warm and cozy.
general review
The city is located in the foothills of the Valdai Upland, the European part of Russia, on high hills along the two banks of the Tvertsa River, the left tributary of the Volga. Torzhok forms an urban district and is the administrative center of the Torzhok region. The area of Torzhok is 58.8 km². The average height above sea level is 165 m. In the southeast, 64 kilometers is the regional center of Tver, 239 km is Moscow. Nearby runs the highway "Russia" connecting Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the city there is a railway station "Torzhok". The official name of the population of Torzhok: men - novotor, women - novotorka, citizens - novotors.
The territory of the city is located in the zone of temperate continental climate. The average temperature of the coldest month, January is minus 8.5-10.5 degrees, the hottest, July is plus 17 ° C. The average annual rainfall is 550-750 mm.
The city has a fairly developed industry, 25 large and medium-sized enterprises are operating. About 70% of industrial production is produced by the plants "Pozhtekhnika", "Torzhok Printing Plant" and "Torzhok Car Building Plant". A large enterprise in the electronics industry is the Mars plant. Several enterprises were built by foreign investors, including the Royal Dutch Shell lubricant plant and the Schiedel chimney and ventilation system factory.
Story
The exact date of the emergence of the city is unknown, it is believed that it was founded by Novgorod merchants around the beginning of the 11th century. The first reliable written record found in the Novgorod Chronicle dates back to 1139. In that year, the city was captured by the Suzdal prince Yuri Dolgoruky. The name of the city comes from the word "bargaining". In ancient times, merchants of the Russian principalities and foreign lands were engaged in trade in this area. Since about the 12th century, the names of the settlements "New Torg" and "Torzhok" are found in the annals. The shorter name has strengthened as official. At the same time, in modern toponomics such adjectives as Torzhsky, Novotorzhsky are used. The self-name of the townspeople, as already mentioned, remains - Novotory.
In 1238, the population of Torzhok city opposed the Mongol troops of Batu Khan for two weeks. In 1478, Torzhok, along with Novgorod land, was annexed to the Moscow Principality. In later times, the city was devastated by both foreign and troops of neighboring principalities. In 1775, Torzhok became a county town of the Tver province. In the 19th century, 21 factories worked in the city, there were 29 churches and 10 schools. In Soviet times, monasteries and churches were demolished in Torzhok, several industrial enterprises were built.
The population in the pre-revolutionary period
In ancient times, the city was repeatedly ruined both as a result of Russian civil strife and foreign invasions. The population of Torzhok was almost completely destroyed several times. However, accurate data on the number of inhabitants of that period are not available. The first official data of 1856 recorded the population of Torzhok - 10,200 people. It was a big enough city for those times. The population in 1897 increased to 12,700 inhabitants. The growth was caused by the rapid development of industry, especially leather. The influx of labor came mainly from the countryside of the region. According to the latest pre-revolutionary data of 1913, 14,000 people lived in the city.
Modern population
The first data in the Soviet period belong to 1931, then the population of Torzhok was 17,000 people. During this period, the number of inhabitants increased rapidly due to peasants recruited to new industrial enterprises. In 1939, 29,300 people lived in the city. In the postwar years, the population continued to increase from 34,921 people in 1959 to 43,000 in 1967. Rather high growth rates of the number of residents were associated with the attraction of labor resources from other regions. In 1986, the population of Torzhok for the first time reached 50,000 people, and in 1987 - 51,000. In the post-Soviet years, the number of inhabitants was gradually decreasing, due to the closure of many industrial enterprises or a decrease in production volumes. As in all small cities, young people leave for megacities without determining their life prospects. In 2017, the population of Torzhok was 46,031 people.