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Usvyaty (, ) is an
urban locality (a
work settlement) and the
administrative center of
Usvyatsky District of
Pskov Oblast,
Russia. It is located on the right bank of the
Usvyacha River, between Lake Uzmen and Lake Usvyatskoye, two biggest lakes in the area. Municipally, it is incorporated as
Usvyaty Urban Settlement, the only urban settlement in the district. Population:
History
The
Lovat River was a part of the
trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, one of the oldest trading routes passing through
Rus'. This branch of the route followed the Lovat upstream and then the Usvyacha and the Western Dvina. The area was populated since the Middle Ages, and Usvyaty (Vsvyach) was first mentioned in chronicles under 1021. The area was changing hands multiple times between Russia and
Poland, eventually went to Poland and stayed there until the
First Partition of Poland in 1772, when it was included into newly established
Pskov Governorate, a giant administrative unit comprising what is currently Pskov Oblast and a considerable part of Belarus. After 1773, the area was split between Nevelsky and Velizhsky Uyezds of Pskov Governorate. In 1777, it was transferred to Polotsk Viceroyalty. In 1796, the viceroyalty was abolished and the area was transferred to Belarus Governorate; since 1802 to
Vitebsk Governorate. Usvyaty was a center of Usvyatskaya Volost of Velizhsky Uyezd. After 1919, Vitebsk Governorate was a part of
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. In 1924, Vitebsk Governorate was abolished, and Nevelsky and Velizhsky Uyezds were transferred to Pskov Governorate.