Torzhok is an old trading town on the Tvertsa river, about sixty kilometres from Tver, and its name simply means the market. It was the grain gate of medieval Novgorod, a place where supplies from the Volga lands were assessed and taxed before moving north to the great city. That strategic role made it a target, and it was burned and sacked several times, once by the Mongol army in the thirteenth century. The town survived and grew, and in the eighteenth century it found a role on the road between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, hosting travellers who needed a change of horses.
That road gave Torzhok some of its fame. Pushkin stayed here more than once, and the town is known for a dish of minced chicken cutlets named after the family of innkeepers called Pozharsky, who, according to the legend, served them to Tsar Nicholas I on a journey. Whether or not the story is true, the cutlets are on every local menu and are delicious, tender and crispy at once. The town is also famous for its gold embroidery, made with metallic thread on velvet or silk in elaborate designs, a craft that goes back centuries and was used for church vestments and slippers. The museum shows beautiful examples.
Walking the old centre, you can see a number of historic churches and the walls of the Boris and Gleb Monastery, which has a cluster of white buildings and a tall bell tower overlooking the river. Torzhok has a gentle, lived-in air, with wooden houses, merchants' mansions and a riverside promenade where people stroll in the evening. The river is lined with willows, and in autumn the leaves float down the current.
For a rider, the landscape here is a gentle one of low rolling hills, fields and woodland, with the Valdai Hills rising to the west. The old main highway passes close by, and traffic can be heavy and fast, with trucks, though quieter local roads lead into the countryside. Surfaces are variable, and potholes and frost heaves appear in places. The light in September, with gold fields and clear air, is a pleasure.
Torzhok is large enough to have fuel, supermarkets and cafés, so it is a convenient place for a longer pause. The cutlets are the obvious choice for lunch, and some bakeries sell sweet pies. Mosquitoes in summer and snow in winter are the main inconveniences.