Petseri County (Petserimaa) was a historical Estonian county that existed from 1918 until 1944. As a settlement, Petseri was built around a monastery founded in the year 1473. On the 26th of February 1918, German troops occupied Petseri until Estonia took control of the area during the Estonian War of Independence. With the signing of the Tartu Peace Treaty in 1920, Petseri officially remained the territory of the Republic of Estonia. Historically, Petseri is considered the cultural capital of the Seto people.
After 1944, most of the territory, including the town of Petseri (Pechory) was illegally incorporated into Russia and became part of the Pskov Oblast. Estonia retains a portion of the original territory, which is now part of Setomaa Parish in modern Võru County.
According to the 1934 census, out of 64,712 inhabitants of Petseri County, 65.06% were Russian, 32.36% Estonian, and 2.29% Latvian. Many of the ethnic Estonians who once lived in Petseri have since relocated to live on the Estonian side of the border. Today, under Russian administration the population of Pechory has been in steady decline. Population statistics reveal that figures have dropped from 13,056 inhabitants in 2002 to 11,196 in 2010 and 9,808 in 2023.
Historic photograph.
In early July 1939 a song festival concert was held at the exhibition
grounds in Petseri. 60 choirs with 2,500 singers took part. The event was attended by approximately twenty thousand people from all over Estonia. Guests of honour included the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces,
General J. Laidoner and his wife, Mrs. L. Eenpalu, Minister A. Oidermaa
and Minister of Roads N. Viitak and his wife.
Today, Estonians consider the centre of Setomaa to be Värska.