Staraya Russa

Staraya Russa is a town in the Novgorod region of Russia, south of Lake Ilmen, first recorded in the eleventh century. In the Middle Ages it was the second town of the Novgorod Republic and a centre of salt production. In 1456 the army of Vasily II of Moscow defeated the Novgorodians there, leading to the Treaty of Yazhelbitsy. Fyodor Dostoevsky later spent his summers in the town.