The article is devoted to the analysis of the reports by the French and English authors about the economic potential of Pskov and Pskov land in the XVI-XVII centuries. Increased attention to this region in the West is noted precisely in the early modern period when the city and its surroundings played an important role in the trade of the Tsardom of Muscovy with Europe. As a result of studying the English and French written sources, the authors come to the conclusion that foreigners were highly interested in the city as a shopping centre, and in the goods produced and sold in Pskov. The economic potential of the city reached its peak on the eve of the Time of Troubles and persisted until the end of the XVII century when Pskov itself and its commercial significance gradually began to decline.