Tver

Tver, city and administrative centre of Tver oblast (region), western Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the upper Volga and Tvertsa rivers.

The first mention of Tver dates from 1134–35, when it was subject to Novgorod. It became part of the Principality of Vladimir-Suzdal in 1209, and in 1246 it became the capital of the Principality of Tver. In 1327, with its kremlin large and well fortified, Tver organized an uprising against the Tatars but was defeated. The Principality of Tver was annexed by Moscow in 1485. In the 14th and 15th centuries Tver was well known as an important crafts centre. With the construction of the Vyshny Volochok canal system between the Tvertsa and the Msta rivers in 1703–08, river trade through Tver became important. Although this route is no longer used, Tver remains the major river port of the upper Volga and is linked by the Moscow Canal to the national capital. The city was laid out in a gridiron pattern in the 18th century, and a number of historic buildings survive.

Tver is now the centre of a major flax-growing region and is also an industrial centre, with emphasis on textile manufacturing and other light industries and on the manufacture of railroad rolling stock. It was renamed Kalinin in 1931 after Mikhail Kalinin (1875–1946), a revolutionary and ceremonial head of state of the Soviet Union, but it reverted to its old name in 1990. The city was severely damaged during World War II when it was captured and occupied by the Germans in 1941. Its buildings were subsequently restored. Pop. (2006 est.) 405,618.