Bezhetsk

Bezhetsk () is a town and the administrative center of Bezhetsky District in Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Mologa River at its confluence with the Ostrechina. Population: 20,618 (2024). It was previously known as Gorodetsk (until 1766).

==History== The settlement of Bezhichi was first mentioned in 1137, when it was owned by Novgorod. The original name, with the literal meaning of "refugees", suggests that early settlers were former Novgorodians. Historical Bezhichi was located north from the present-day town; the settlement was destroyed by raiders in 1272 and re-established on the present site as the fortress of Gorodetsk ().