Soltsy, whose name owes to the nearby salt water springs, was first mentioned in a chronicle in 1390 and in the following played an important role as an intermediate station on the trade route connecting Novgorod and Pskov. In 1471, the Battle of Shelon between Muscovite forces led by Ivan III and the army of the Novgorod Republic took place near Soltsy, which marked the end of political independence of the Novgorod Republic. Soltsy eventually became a part of the Moscow State.