Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Torshok

TORSHOK, a district town of Russia, in the government of Tver, on the river Tvertsa, 38 miles by rail to the south-west of the Ostashkovo station of the St Petersburg and Moscow railway. It dates from the 11th century, and the very name ("market-place") shows that this de pendency of Novgorod was a commercial centre. It was strongly fortified with a stone wall, which, however, only partially protected it from the attacks of Mongols, Lithuanians, and Poles. Torshok is now celebrated in Russia for its embroidered leather-work and manufacture of travel ling bags, and for its trade in corn and flour. The population in 1884 was 12,900.