Ловать
The Lovat River was a part of the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks, one of the oldest trading routes passing through Rus'. The settlement was first mentioned in 1144 as Kholmsky pogost (). During the Middle Ages, the town, then a seat of the Princes of Kholm, withstood innumerable sieges by Lithuanians, Poles, and Swedes.