Pechory

Pechory is a town in Pskov Oblast, in the far west of Russia, and the administrative centre of Pechorsky District, close to the border with Estonia. It began as a trading settlement founded in the 16th century beside the Pskov-Caves Monastery, which the Orthodox priest Jonah established in 1473, and its name comes from the Russian word for caves. For centuries it was a border stronghold and was besieged and stormed repeatedly by Swedish and Polish forces. It was granted town rights in 1776. Under the 1920 Treaty of Tartu the town passed to Estonia, which called it Petseri and made it the centre of Petseri County, and in 1944 and 1945 it was transferred to the Pskov Oblast of the Russian Soviet republic. Its population was 11,195 in the 2010 census. Besides the monastery it holds St. Peter's Lutheran Church, noted for its historic organ.