Kholm, town in Russia
Kholm is a small town in the Novgorod Region of northwestern Russia, sitting at the point where the Lovat and Kunya rivers meet. It is made up mostly of wooden buildings and wide streets laid out on a straightforward grid that reflects its modest scale.
Kholm first appeared in written records in 1144 as a fortified post along trade routes crossing the region. The town was almost entirely destroyed in 1942 during a prolonged encirclement battle, after which it had to be rebuilt from the ground up.
The name Kholm comes from an old Russian word meaning hill, which describes the slightly elevated ground where the town was built. Locals gather around the central square and along the riverbanks, and the pace of daily life here is slow and unhurried.
The town is best reached by bus from larger centers such as Veliky Novgorod or Staraya Russa, as there is no rail or air connection. Once you arrive, the whole place can be covered on foot since distances are short and the layout is easy to follow.
During the 1942 encirclement, the garrison trapped inside the town was supplied exclusively by parachute drops for several months, since every land route was cut off. A memorial on the edge of town marks this episode, which drew attention at the time for the scale and duration of the air supply effort.
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