Staritsa (Russian: Ста́рица) is a town and the administrative center of Staritsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River, 77 kilometers (48 mi) from Tver, the administrative center of the oblast.

As the Tsar suspected Staritsa's ruler of plotting against him, Vladimir and his children were forced to take poison.

[13] On 12 July 1929, governorates and uyezds were abolished, and Staritsky District with the administrative center in the town of Staritsa was established.

[13][14] During World War II, between 12 October 1941 and 1 January 1942, the town was occupied by the German army.

[5] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Staritsky District as Staritsa Urban Settlement.

A paved road connecting Tver to Rzhev crosses the district and passes through Staritsa, where there is a bridge over the Volga.

In the right part of a town a site of an old settlement can be clearly traced, with huge mounds and ground walls.

On the opposing left bank of the river stands the Assumption Abbey, with a limestone cathedral from 1530 and a tented refectory from 1570.

It replaced a many-tented cathedral built in the 1560s by the same masters as worked on the famous St.

It was said that Moscow and Staritsa cathedrals were two sisters, just like the rulers of two towns, Ivan and Vladimir, were two brothers.

The quarries were created by local people, without any general plan, so they are sometimes very tangled and can be used as a smaller model for horizontal cave labyrinths.