Tikhvin District

Tikhvin is one of the historically significant towns in Russia, located in the Leningrad Region. The town's name comes from the combination of two words of the Veps language: "tikh" and "vin" which means "road-path" and "water", i. e. the waterway. The town is located on the ancient trade waterway. The lands adjacent to the modern town of Tikhvin were inhabited by people already in 3000-2000 BC as evidenced by archaeological finds, which date back to the Dyakovo culture (early Iron Age).

The first mention of these lands as about the Tikhvin churchyard refers to 1383, when the locals saw the miraculous icon of the Mother of God above the Tikhvinka River. Near that place a wooden church was built, around which a village grew - the precursor churchyard on the Tikhvinka. In 1560, there was founded the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery and the churchyard was renamed to the Tikhvin Posad. In 1773, Tikhvin was given the status of the chief town of a district. In this connection, the Tikhvin District was established as part of the Novgorod Province. In 1918, the town of Tikhvin and the Tikhvin district became part of the newly formed Cherepovets Province. Since July 23, 1930 the town of Tikhvin has been the center of the Tikhvin District of the Leningrad Region.

The collection includes archival documents, research works, illustrative materials of the 17th – 21st century (maps, postcards and photos), which reflect economic, religious, social and political life of the town and the district as well as the history of the Tikhvin Monastery.