Pushkarnoye and its history

The historic town of Bolkhovoy stood on a hill at the site of the present-day exit from Pushkarnoye in Belgorod District. The Bolkhovets fortress, with seven towers, was also located there. Three kilometers of the earthen rampart of the Belgorod Defensive Line remain preserved in this section. A mass grave commemorates 84 Soviet soldiers who died in 1943.

The historic town was called Bolkhovoy and was also known as Bolkhovets. It stood on a hill at the site of the present-day exit from the village of Pushkarnoye in Belgorod District. The Bolkhovets fortress was also located at this exit. It is helpful to distinguish between the names: Bolkhovets refers to both the historic town and the fortress, while Bolkhovoy is another name for the town.

Two aspects of the area’s history thus sit side by side: the location of a historic town on a hill and the fortress associated with the same place. Those interested in the names can distinguish the name of the town from that of the fortress, rather than reading Bolkhovets as a single name for both.

The historic Bolkhovets fortress had seven towers, three of which had passage gates. This number describes a subset of the towers: three of the seven had passage gates. This makes the description of the fortress more precise, without confusing the towers and their gates as two separate counts.

In addition, a three-kilometer section of the earthen rampart of the Belgorod Defensive Line remains preserved near the present-day exit from Pushkarnoye. The number of towers and the length refer to different features: the seven towers are part of the fortress description, while the three kilometers refer to the preserved earthen rampart. Together, these details provide a concrete overview of the two fortification-related features at the site.

The mass grave in Pushkarnoye holds 84 Soviet soldiers. They died in 1943 fighting the fascist occupiers; their names have been identified. The number of those buried, the year of the war, and the identified names are all part of the soldiers’ commemoration.

A memorial plaque stands beside the mass grave. Residents of Pushkarnoye erected it so that younger people, too, would learn about the deeds of their fellow countrymen. The plaque is explicitly intended to pass on their memory. The mass grave and memorial plaque connect the commemoration of those who fell in 1943 with this purpose.

The Cultural Development Center in Pushkarnoye opened on September 1, 2016. This specific date adds a clearly dated cultural landmark to the area’s historical points of interest. It can be distinguished from the information about the fortress and the commemoration of the war year 1943: this is about the opening of a center, while those refer to local history and wartime events.

Discover more destinations: Bobrovy Dvory, Nezhegol', Yastrebovo, Birjutsch, Maslova Pristan', Yakovlevo, Ziborovka, Beregovoye.

Where was the historic town of Bolkhovoy located?

It stood on a hill at the site of the present-day exit from Pushkarnoye in Belgorod District and was also known as Bolkhovets.

How many towers did the Bolkhovets fortress have?

The fortress had seven towers. Three of them had passage gates.

Whom does the mass grave commemorate?

It holds 84 Soviet soldiers who died in 1943 fighting the fascist occupiers. Their names have been identified.

When did the Cultural Development Center open?

It opened on September 1, 2016.

Go to the regional travel overview: Belgorod Oblast.