Nevel is a city in the Russian Federation, the district center of the Pskov region, located on the shores of Lake Nevel, 242 km southeast of Pskov. The railway junction. Population: 20,000 inhabitants (2001).
The city is located on the shore of Lake Nevel, in the place where the Emenka River comes out of it. The lake and the river winding around the city give Nevel a peculiar flavor, making it one of the most picturesque cities of the Pskov region. Nevel comes from one of the Russian porous fortresses, founded here in the 12th century. Nevel was first mentioned in the 16th century among the cities founded in the reign of Ivan IV the Terrible. Since 1580, he repeatedly passed from Russia to the Commonwealth. Since 1772, after the final annexation to Russia, it acquired the status of a city. After returning to Russia, Nevel became a county town of the Polotsk province of the Pskov province, from 1777 - Polotsk province, from 1796 - Belarusian, finally from 1802 - Vitebsk, in which it remained until the Soviet period.
There were many large landholdings in Nevel county. The large estate was granted to Catherine II Mikhelson, the pacifier of the Pugachev revolt. In the former estate of General E. A. Zhukovsky there were prominent figures of culture and art of the Silver Age, including Marina Tsvetaeva. Nevel is also known as the “capital of the carnival”, it was here that a circle of outstanding intellectuals formed around the philosopher Mikhail Bakhtin, who made up a bright page of Russian culture.
