Lyubytino, Russia

History

The Msta River was an important waterway connecting Novgorod to the lands in the north, at least from the 9th century. The chronicles mention that Olga of Kiev traveled up the Msta River in 947 and founded a pogost which is believed close to the current location of Lyubytino. Numerous ancient graves with tumuli were raised in Lyubytino and can be still today noticed in the several places around the settlement.

The area eventually went under control of the Novgorod Republic, and in the 15th century, after the fall of Novgorod, it was transferred to the Grand Duchy of Moscow.

In the end of the 19th century, Lyubytino, then known as the selo of Beloye, was the center of Belskaya Volost of Borovichsky Uyezd, Novgorod Governorate. On August 1, 1927, the uyezds were abolished, and Belsky District was established, with the center in Beloye. The district belonged to Borovichi Okrug of Leningrad Oblast. On July 23, 1930, the okrugs were abolished, and the districts became directly subordinate to the oblast. On March 11, 1931, the district center was renamed to Lyubytino, and the district was renamed into Lyubytinsky District. On July 5, 1944, Lyubytinsky District was transferred to newly established Novgorod Oblast and has remained there ever since, with a brief interruption between 1963 and 1965, when the district was abolished as a part of aborted Khrushchyov administrative reform.

From the History section of Lyubytino on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.