Kleshchin (Клещин) was a

Merya Merya may refer to: * Merya people * Merya language, an extinct language * Merya (Tanzanian ward) See also * Meryan (disambiguation) * Merja (disambiguation), pronounced "Merya" * Meria (disambiguation) * Marya The Marya are a tribe in western Er ...

n (and later Slavic) town on the eastern shore of

Lake Pleshcheyevo Lake Pleshcheyevo ( rus, Плеще́ево о́зеро, p=plʲɪˈɕːejɪvə ˈozʲɪrə) is a glacial lake in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia. The historic town of Pereslavl-Zalessky is on the southeastern side of the lake. The lake, which is part ...

Zalesye Zalesye ( rus, Зале́сье, p=zɐˈlʲesʲjə, ''area beyond the forest'') or Opolye ( rus, Опо́лье, p=ɐˈpolʲjə, ''area in the fields'') is a historical region of Russia, comprising the north and west parts of Vladimir Oblast, t ...

. It is thought that the lake owes its name to the derelict town: the opening lines of the

Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

refer to the lake as Kleshchino (or Kleshcheyevo). In 1152, Grand Duke

George I of Vladimir Yuri I Vladimirovich ( rus, Юрий Владимирович, Yuriy Vladimirovich), commonly known as Yuri Dolgorukiy or the Long Arm ( rus, Юрий Долгорукий, Yuriy Dolgorukiy, meaning "Far-Reaching", c. 109915 May 1157) was a Rur ...

had Kleshchin transferred 4500 meters to the south, renaming it Pereslavl-Beyond-the-Woods. The site of old Kleshchin occupies about two hectares near ("former town"), a village that succeeded the deserted town.

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (russian: Ива́н Васи́льевич; 25 August 1530 – ), commonly known in English as Ivan the Terrible, was the grand prince of Moscow from 1533 to 1547 and the first Tsar of all Russia from 1547 to 1584. Ivan ...

presented it to the nearby

Nikitsky Monastery The Nikitsky Monastery (Никитский монастырь) is a walled Orthodox monastery founded in the 12th century by Nicetas (Nikita) Stylites in a field sprawling between the Kholmogory Highway and the Lake Pleshcheyevo several miles ...

in 1562. The site is fortified with a system of earthworks (about 3 meters high) that used to support a wooden palisade with four gate towers. The so-called Bald Hill in the vicinity of Gorodishchi is believed to have housed a pagan sanctuary from which the sacred Blue Stone of the Meryans was overthrown and broken to pieces. This boulder is a popular tourist attraction.

References

{{reflist Pereslavl-Zalessky Volga Finns Former populated places in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Yaroslavl Oblast