Sebezh

 city, district center

Town and the administrative center of Sebezhsky District in Pskov Oblast, Russia, located in a picturesque setting between Lakes Sebezhskoye and Orono 189 kilometers (117 mi) south of Pskov, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 6,375 (2010 Census).

Sebezh was first mentioned in 1414, when Vytautas of Lithuania sacked it. Prince Ivan Shuisky built a wooden fortress there in 1535. In the 16th century, the fortress defended the Western approaches to Tsardom of Russia. The Poles captured it during the Livonian War and held until the First Partition of Poland. The fortifications of Sebezh, now dismantled, were reinforced at the behest of Peter the Great during the Great Northern War. The castle hill is still dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, built in 1625-1648 and reconsecrated as a Russian Orthodox Church in 1989.