Early settlement People settled in the area from the 5th to 4th millennium BC, as evidenced by archeological findings of the
Narva culture, named after the Narva River. The fortified settlement at Narva Joaoru is the oldest known in Estonia, dated to around 1000 BC. The earliest known written reference of the toponym Narva is in the
First Novgorod Chronicle, which in the year 1172 describes a district in
Novgorod called
Nerevsky or
Narovsky konets (yard). According to historians, this name probably derives from the name of the then village of Narva, or from the Narva River, and indicates that a frequently used trade route went through Narva, albeit no evidence of the existence of a trading settlement in Narva at the time has been found so far.
Middle Ages Narva's favorable location at the intersection of both trade routes and the Narva River was behind the founding of
Narva castle and the subsequent development of the castle's surrounding urban settlement. The castle was founded during the
Danish rule of northern Estonia in the second half of the 13th century; the earliest written record of the castle is from 1277.
Narvia village is mentioned in the
Danish Census Book already in 1241. A town developed around the stronghold and in 1345 obtained
Lübeck City Rights from King
Valdemar IV of Denmark. The castle and surrounding town of Narva (
Narwa, in German) became a possession of the
Livonian Order in 1346, after the Danish king sold its lands in Northern Estonia. In 1492,
Ivangorod fortress across the Narva River was established by
Ivan III of
Moscow. Trade, particularly
Hanseatic long-distance trade remained Narva's ''raison d'être'' throughout the Middle Ages. In 1872, Krenholm Manufacturing became the site of the first
strike in Estonia. The first railway in Estonia, completed in 1870, connected Narva to
Saint Petersburg and to Tallinn. In August 1890, Narva was the site of a meeting between two Emperors,
Wilhelm II of Germany and
Alexander III of Russia.
Interwar period and World War II The status of Narva was resolved in a July 1917 referendum, when the district population, at that time roughly equally divided between ethnic Russians and Estonians, voted to attach itself to the newly autonomous, and soon to be independent state of, Estonia. Narva became part of the independent Republic of Estonia in 1918, at the end of
World War I. The town saw fighting during the
Estonian War of Independence. The war started when Russian
Bolshevik troops attacked Narva on 28 November 1918, capturing the city on the next day. The Russian bolshevik troops retained control of the city until 19 January 1919. Heavy battles occurred both in and around Narva during World War II. The city was damaged in the German invasion of 1941 and by smaller air raids throughout the war, but remained relatively intact until February 1944. However, as the focus of the
Battle of Narva, the city was destroyed by Soviet bombardment and fires and explosions set by retreating German troops. The most devastating action was the
bombing raids of 6 and 7 March 1944 by the
Soviet Air Force, which destroyed the Baroque old town.
1944–1991 By the end of July 1944, 98% of Narva had been destroyed. Only three buildings remain of the old town, including the Baroque-style
Town Hall. The civilian casualties of the bombing were low as the
German forces had evacuated the city in January 1944. The original native inhabitants were not allowed to return after the war. A 1950 governmental statement said this was done to avoid the return of
White Army "spies, and exploiters". The planned uranium factory and other large-scale industrial developments, like the restoring of
Kreenholm Manufacture, were the driving force behind the influx of internal migrants from other parts of the Soviet Union, mainly Russia. Russia failed to ratify it because, together with the ratification, the Estonian parliament approved a communiqué, which mentioned the Soviet Occupation. In February 2014 a new border treaty was signed by both countries. However the treaty was not ratified by the parliaments of either Russia or Estonia. Overall, by 2014, Russian residents were happy with their status as both Estonian and
European Union citizens and lived peacefully alongside their compatriots. Following the
Russian annexation of Crimea in early 2014, various political commentators such as journalists, political scientists as well as economic and military academia have referred to a potential Russian invasion of Estonia mirroring that of Ukraine – using
hybrid warfare tactics – as the
Narva scenario. Before the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, residents mixed relatively freely with the residents across the river in Ivangorod. (constructed 1890–1896) Those on the Estonian side mainly crossed to buy cheaper petrol,
groats, cleaning products, pasta and sugar. In August 2022, a Soviet
T-34 tank memorial was removed from a stretch of road between the city center and
Narva-Jõesuu, to mixed responses. It was moved to the
Estonian War Museum near Tallinn. In response to the tank's removal, the following month Russian authorities erected a similar T-34 tank monument in Ivangorod near the border crossing point with Narva. In April 2025, the
Headquarters of the Estonian Defense Forces confirmed plans to re-establish a military base in the city. By July of the same year, the planned location and size of the base was confirmed to be in Kadastiku area, and home to a thousand soldiers. ==Economy==