Caves
Early in 1340 the
relationship with Russians deteriorated again. Provincial master Burchard von
Dreileben planned a campaign against Pskov and demanded the help of Tartu
bishopric. The provincial master began to build another belt of border fortresses.
On the Annunciation Day, March 25, 1342, the building of fortresses in Marienburg
and Vastseliina began. The latter was called the fortress of the Virgin Mary, but it
soon acquired the name of New (vastse) Town (Castrum Novum, Neuhausen,
Nyhusen, Nowogrodek). The name is probably the result of a chronological
comparison with the older Kirumpää fortress. The first written records of Kirumpää
fortress date from the year 1322. This is one of the possible explanations for the origin
of Vastseliina`s name. The fact that the communications of southern Old Livonia with
Pskov and other parts of Russia ran mainly through Vastseliina gives testimony of its
importance.
Vastseliina was not only remarkable as a border castle
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