Staritsa (Старица) is a town in the Tver Oblast, Russia, center of the Staritsa District. The town stands on Volga River, 77 km from Tver.

The town was established in 1297 under the name of 'Gorodok' (a small town). In 1365 the town was moved from the more elevated right to the lower left bank of the Volga River. The new settlement was called 'Novy Gorodok' (new little town).

Since 15 century the town is called Staritsa. In 1485 the town was annexed by the Muscovy. In 1775 Staritsa became a local center. From October 1941 till January 1942 (during WW2) the town was occupied by the German army.

The town is split by the river into two parts: the bigger left (Town part) and right (Moscow part). There are a lot of old abandoned limestone quarries in the neighbourhood, so there are a lot of old limestone buildings in the town. 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 a river stands the 'Assumption cloister' (limestone cathedral 1530, refectory with a hipped roof 'Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Church' 1570). There are also several 18-19 century churches in the town.

Main industries of Staritsa are: clothes factory, flax-manufacturing factory, mechanical and vegetable food factories.

Caves

Staritsa is also famous among Moscow speleologysts for it 18-19 century quarries. The quarries were created by local people, without any general plan, so they are sometimes very tangeled and can be used as a smaller model for horizontal caves labyrinths. The greates quarries have a total length of passages about 3-5 km. The passages are clean and dry, which is unusual for Moscow region. It takes about 3 hours to reach these quarries from Moscow.

Currently volunteers try to force local administratin to treat the quarries as a local heritage and to organize their visits. While in wild usage the quarries are gradually degrading due to carelessness and vandalism of visitors.