Narva - City of Estonia

Narva is the third largest city in Estonia. It is located at the eastern extreme point of Estonia, by the Russian border, on the Narva River which drains Lake Peipus.

People settled in the area during 5th to 4th millennium BC, as witnessed by the archeological traces of the Narva culture, named so after the city. The settlement was first mentioned in the First Novgorod Chronicle as Rugodiv under the year 1171.

Narva became part of independent Estonia in 1918 following World War I. On the The old town of Narva was completely destroyed by the bombing of Soviet Union on 6th of Msame year, the retreating Germans also blew up some of the houses. After the battle, most of the buildings could have been restored as the walls of the houses still existed, but the Soviet Union demolished those to make room for apartment buildings. Many Estonians who had fled Narva during war wanted to come back but they were not allowed. Instead ethnic Russians were brought in. The only remaining building of the old town is the Baroque-style Old Town Hall.

After Estonia regained independence in 1991, the border as per 1920 Treaty of Tartu was considered by Russia legally superseded by an administrative border between two former Soviet republics drawn later by the Soviet authorities. Ivangorod thus remained a part of Russia. Due to political tensions, a new border treaty between Estonia and Russia has not yet come into force.