Tikhvin (; Veps: Tihvin) is a town and the administrative center of Tikhvinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located on both banks of the Tikhvinka River in the east of the oblast, east of St. Petersburg. Tikhvin is also an industrial and cultural center of the district, as well as its transportation hub. Population:
It was previously known as Predtechensky pogost, Tikhvinsky posad.
Etymology
According to one version supported by Max Vasmer, the name of the town originates from Old East Slavic тихъ (), which means "quiet". According to another version, it is derived from Finnish tihkua — "trickle out".
History
It was first mentioned in 1383 as Predtechensky pogost (), when a chronicle reported that a wooden Church of the Dormition was built here. Later, in 1495–1496, Y. K. Saburov, a clerk in the Novgorod Cadastre, mentioned the "...Tikhvin parish and in it, a wooden church..."
Its location at the intersection of trade routes which connected the Volga River with Lake Ladoga and the Baltic Sea ensured its rapid development. At the beginning of the 16th century, it was already a widely known commerce and trade center. In 1507–1515, funded by Vasili III of Russia, on the spot of the burned wooden church, Dmitry Syrkov of Novgorod constructed the monumental stone Cathedral of Dormition, which stands to this day.
In 1560, by order of Ivan the Terrible, the Monastery of Dormition was built on the left bank of the Tikhvinka River. Management of the construction project was entrusted to Fyodor Syrkov, the son of Dmitry Syrkov. Special importance was placed on the haste of its construction; therefore, the Tsar permitted the use of peasants from twenty rural divisions to assist in building it.
In the spring and summer of 1560, the large Monastery of Dormition and the smaller Vvedensky convent were simultaneously built, as well as two trade and industrial settlements with various buildings for residential, economic, and religious purposes. The monastery was initially surrounded by a stockade of sharpened poles. Later, in the mid-17th century, it was replaced by two parallel log walls, filled in between with earth and stones. A covered walkway with arrow slits went along the top of walls and above the walls nine powerful towers were raised. Thus, on the spot of an ancient settlement, an important fortified stronghold was created, which would play a large role in the defense of the northwestern borders of Russia.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Russian state underwent a deep internal crisis. During the Swedish-Polish incursion, the Swedes occupied and devastated the region around Novgorod. In 1613, Tikhvin was captured, ransacked, and burned. Tradespeople, sheltering behind the fortress walls of the monastery, survived a prolonged siege and numerous attacks before routing the Swedish army. The fight ended with the expulsion of the Swedes from the area, marking the beginning of the liberation of the Novgorod region from Swedish and Polish forces.
Tikhvin blossomed economically during the 17th and 18th centuries. The products of Tikhvin's blacksmiths enjoyed special demand and were bought not only in Russian cities but also abroad. Tikhvin became one of the points for foreign trade in Russia and Tikhvin Fair was one of the largest in the country. The bloom in trade and crafts in the 17th century contributed to an increase of the settlement's population, which grew considerably.
Stone buildings were permitted only on the territory of the monastery. In the 16th century, in addition to the cathedral, a stone refectory was built, and a church dedicated to the birth of the Mother of God was erected in 1581. In 1600, a five-roofed belfry was constructed. An especially intense period of stone construction took place in the second half of the 17th century, when all the wooden buildings in the monastery were replaced by ones of stone. As a result of these works, a highly artistic ensemble of historical and architectural monuments was created on the territory of the monastery, which is mostly preserved to this day, although in the 18th and 19th centuries some of the cloister buildings underwent reconstruction which altered their original appearance.
Since their construction in 1560, Tikhvin owed its allegiance to the monastery and convent. In 1723, after a prolonged fight, the inhabitants of Tikhvin were freed from monastery control and obtained their own administration, a magistrate who answered to Novgorod Province office. The settlement was not totally separated from the monastery until 1764, after an edict concerning the transfer of the monastery's property to the state. In 1773, Tikhvin was granted town status.