Pochep, Russia

History

The origin of Pochep is unknown but it was mentioned in the 15th century as an important town of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. It fell into the hands of the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1503. Pochep was returned to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth under the terms of the Truce of Deulino. It was part of the Smolensk Voivodeship.

From 1654, the town became part of the Cossack Hetmanate, initially within the Nizhyn Regiment and later the Starodub Regiment. In 1668, during the Russo–Ukrainian War, the town withstood a month-long siege by Russian forces under Prince K. Shcherbatov.

Pochep remained of little significance until 1709, when Hetman Ivan Skoropadsky made a grant of it to Alexander Menshikov. The latter founded the fort of Alexandropolis in the vicinity and launched manufacture of sails for Russian ships in Pochep.

The industry declined following Menshikov's downfall and the town stagnated until 1750, when it passed to another Hetman, Kirill Razumovsky, who planned to build his summer residence there. The only monument to these plans is the Resurrection Church, built in the 1750s to a confident Baroque design and often attributed to Antonio Rinaldi.

During World War II, Pochep was occupied by the German Army from August 22, 1941 to September 21, 1943.

From the History section of Pochep, Bryansk Oblast on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.