The residents of Pskov showed an example of true heroism and strength of spirit while defending their fortress from the troops of Stefan Batory. His army of more than 100 thousand men besieged the city from August 1581 to February 1582. At that time, there were only 20 thousand people in the Pskov garrison, including civilians…
The brave townspeople repelled more than 30 assaults by enemy troops and carried out many sorties into the enemy camp. Partisan detachments of peasants from neighboring settlements attacked Polish regiments beyond the fortress walls, and at night delivered food supplies to besieged Pskov.
Once, Batory managed to capture two fortifications by destroying part of the wall with artillery. But soon the people of Pskov drove the enemy out of the Kremlin, and the breach was bricked up. Much later it was dismantled, and now Kalinina Street passes through it. And next to the breach, a monument to Pskov residents for their courage during the siege of Stefan Batory was erected.
The minimalist and austere monument of a white obelisk with a solid-cast metal cross stands on a hill that became a mass grave for the defenders of Pskov, about 800 of whom fell in battle.
The monument was unveiled for the 300th anniversary of the defense of Pskov, in 1881. The first cross on this site was made of wood, but at the end of the 19th century it was rebuilt in stone and metal.
