57°49′N28°20′E / 57.817°N 28.333°E /57.817; 28.333
| Pskov Governorate Псковская губерния (Russian) | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governorate of theRussian Empire | |||||||||||||||
| 1772–1927 | |||||||||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||||||||
.svg) Location within the Russian Empire | |||||||||||||||
| Capital | Pskov | ||||||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||||||
• Established | 1772 | ||||||||||||||
• Disestablished | 1927 | ||||||||||||||
| Political subdivisions | eight uyezds | ||||||||||||||
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Pskov Governorate (Russian:Псковская губерния,romanized: Pskovskaya guberniya) was an administrative-territorial unit (guberniya) of theRussian Empire and theRussian SFSR, which existed in 1772–1777 and 1796–1927.[1] Its seat was located inOpochka between 1772 and 1776, and inPskov after 1776. The governorate was located in the west of the Russian Empire and bordered (after 1796)Saint Petersburg Governorate in the north,Novgorod Governorate in the northeast,Tver Governorate in the east,Smolensk Governorate in the southeast,Belarusian Governorate (since 1802,Vitebsk Governorate) in the south, andGovernorate of Livonia in the west.
In terms of modern administrative division ofRussia, the area of the governorate is currently split between thePskov,Tver, andNovgorod oblasts. The former border between Pskov Governorate and Governorate of Livonia still largely corresponds to the state border between Russia in the east andEstonia andLatvia in the west.
In 1772, as a result of theFirst Partition of Poland,Inflanty Voivodeship and easternBelarus were transferred to Russia. In order to accommodate these areas, Pskov Governorate was created, andVelikiye Luki andPskov Provinces ofNovgorod Governorate (with the exception of futureGdovsky Uyezd) were transferred to this governorate. In addition,Vitebsk,Polotsk, andDvina, taken over from Poland, were included into the governorate. The town ofOpochka was made the administrative center of the governorate.[2]
Pskov Governorate has proven to be too big to be administered properly, and in 1776, the decree of the empress,Catherine the Great, was issued. It divided the governorate into Pskov andPolotsk Governorates. Pskov was made the administrative center of Pskov Governorate.Gdov andPorkhov were transferred from Novgorod to Pskov Governorate.[2]
In 1777, Pskov Governorate was transformed into Pskov Viceroyalty, which was administered from Novgorod byJacob Sievers, who at the same time administeredNovgorod andTver Viceroyalties. In 1796, the viceroyalty was abolished, and on 31 December 1796 the emperorPaul I issued a decree restoring Pskov Governorate. At this point, the governorate consisted of the following sixuyezds (the administrative centers, which all had the town status, are given in parentheses),[2]
Izborsk was a town but not an uyezd center.
In 1802,Novorzhevsky Uyezd (with the center inNovorzhev) andKholmsky Uyezd (Kholm) were established.[2]
In 1920, the westernmost part of Pskovsky Uyezd were transferred toEstonia, and the southwesternmost part of Pskovsky Uyezd and 3 volosts of Ostrovsky Uyezd went toLatvia.
In 1924,Velizhsky,Nevelsky, andSebezhsky Uyezds ofVitebsk Governorate were transferred into Pskov Governorate.
On August 1, 1927 Pskov Governorate was abolished and transferred toLeningrad Oblast.
The administration of the governorate was performed by a governor. The governors of Pskov Governorate were[3]
