On the southern shore of the lake there is a pretty, old-fashioned town of Ostashkov, which has not changed much since the 1700s. Ostashkov is a small town, perfectly planned on a beautiful peninsula, in which many constructions of rather interesting architecture are saved. The spacious streets of Ostashkov were laid under the general plan of the 18th century. The plan of the town was made by an outstanding Russian architect I. E. Starov.

Original feature of the town is the feeling that it stands directly on the water. In the 18th century it was named "Second Venice". Ostashkov is located in the southern part of the famous lake Seliger, which represents the whole system of interconnected lakes.

Ostashkov has a wonderful Museum of Local Studies located in the building of the Trinity Cathedral. You may also climb the belfry and take a marvelous look of the whole town.

When Ostashkov was founded, a wooden wall was built around it because of its proximity to the Russian border. In 1610, the fortress withstood an attack by Polish and Lithuanian troops but was badly destroyed. In 1711, all the wooden structures in the fortress were wiped out by a fire and never rebuilt. Then in 1770, Catherine the Great ordered the village to be called a town and stone buildings began to appear there.

Several beautiful buildings have been preserved, including white bell tower of the Resurrection Church (1689); the Trinity Cathedral (1697), and the Town Hall, which was built in 1720.

Ostashkov also boasts many old wooden houses. If you look carefully, you will notice that people still live in some of these 18th-century houses.