Staritsa is shrouded in legends. According to one of them, the town near the mouth of the Staritsa (or Starchonka, how it was originally called) River was completely destroyed by the Tatar Mongols at the end of the 13th century, with only one old woman remaining alive. She took refuge in one of the white stone caves, for which the town is so famous. And as 'old woman' is translated as 'staritsa' in old Russia
