Spas-Demensk

First mentioned in the "Lithuanian Metrics" of 1446 as a parish Demena among the places given by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Casimir as a fiefdom to Fyodor Lvovich Vorotynskyi..

In the "Letter of Truce" of 1503, Grand Duke John - sovereign of all Russia, his sons and Alexander - Grand Duke of Lithuania, secured part of the land for Moscow, including the volost Demena. After the death of Ivan III in 1505, Demena went into the possession of his son, Yury.

In the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Spaskoje was part of the volost (Dvortsovaya) Deminskaya Serpeisky uyezd. On the map of 1782 the village was distinguished Spasskoe on the banks of the Bolva.

With the formation of the Kaluga viceroyalty in 1776 Spasskoe was transferred to it, within the boundaries of the Serpeisky uyezd. In 1797 Serpeisky uyezd was abolished and the territory where the present-day Serpeisky uyezd is located was abolished. Spas-DemenskThey were transferred to the jurisdiction of Mosalsk.

In 1818, a stone Transfiguration Church was built on the money and initiative of Lieutenant Colonel M. P. Naryshkin. It is believed that the architect of the temple at the Spassky could have been Matvey Kazakov or Konstantin Ton.. Later on, the village was also named Spas-Demensky.

April 30 (May 12) 1855 petition of the landowner Naryshkin was satisfied by the Minister of Internal Affairs of the Russian Empire D. G. Bibikov and the village was granted. G. Bibikov and the village Spas-Demenskoye renamed the placeand its inhabitants could be considered burghers.

In 1858, the locality (vl.). Spas-Deminsky (Spas-Demenskoye) 2nd camp, Mosalsky uyezd, with a pond and wells, 5 households - along the road from the border of Yelna uyezd to the place. Spas-Demenskoye and the v. Verkhulichi. There were 50 inhabitants, an orthodox church, a parish school, 6 fairs, 1 factory, weekly bazaars..

In 1899 a railroad station with a stone station and a steam locomotive shed was opened for passengers and freight work. At the beginning of the XX century Spas-Demenskoye was known in the Russian Empire as one of the centers for the production and sale of hemp and hornblende. There were 8 horn factories in the village and its surroundings.

By 1914. Spas-Demenskoye - village, (administrative) center of Morozovskaya volost, Mosalsky uyezd, Kaluga province. In 1913 the population was 921 people, 484 women and 437 men. There were church-parish and zemstvo schools, Gor. 4-class school.

In World War I. Spas-Demenskoye found itself in the center of the refugee flow. Refugees were coming from the direction of Yelnya, Smolensk and along the Moscow-Warsaw highway. With the funds and assistance of the Tatiana Committee, established on the initiative of Grand Duchess Tatiana Nikolaevna RomanovaFood and medical assistance was provided to asylum seekers.

Every day medical examinations revealed 10-15 infectious patients who were urgently sent to "contagious barracks", three of which were built at the railroad station. There was a "Special Bureau" dealing with travel documents and registration of refugees, as well as a medical and food station of the Society.

Spas-Demensk received the status of a town in 1917, and on March 3, 1921 Spas-Demensk district was formed as part of Kaluga province.

Since 1929 the town became a district center of Spas-Demen district of Sukhinich district of Western region (since 1944 - in Kaluga region).

The city was occupied by Nazi German troops from October 4, 1941 to August 13, 1943. It was liberated by the forces of the 49th and 33rd Armies during the Spas-Demen operation - a part of the Smolensk operation.

During the Great Patriotic War, Spas-Demensk was the location of the 2nd Army's assembly and transfer station and an infirmary for Soviet prisoners of war.