Kozmodemyansk
Encyclopedia
Kozmodemyansk is a town in the Mari El Republic, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, located at the confluence
Confluence
Confluence, in geography, describes the meeting of two or more bodies of water.Confluence may also refer to:* Confluence , a property of term rewriting systems...

 of the Vetluga
Vetluga River
Vetluga is a river in the Kirov Oblast, Kostroma Oblast, Mari El Republic and Nizhny Novgorod Oblast of Russia. It is a left tributary of Volga, confluence near Kozmodemyansk. The river is navigable....

 and the Volga River
Volga River
The Volga is the largest river in Europe in terms of length, discharge, and watershed. It flows through central Russia, and is widely viewed as the national river of Russia. Out of the twenty largest cities of Russia, eleven, including the capital Moscow, are situated in the Volga's drainage...

s. It serves as the administrative center of Gornomariysky District
Gornomariysky District
Gornomariysky District is an administrative and municipal district , one of the fourteen in the Mari El Republic, Russia. It is located in the western portion of the republic and is the only district on the right bank of the Volga. It borders with Yurinsky District in the north, Kilemarsky...

, although it is not administratively a part of it. Population:

History

Though not attested in any document, the town of Kozmodemyansk was likely preceded by a Mari wooden fortress controlling the confluence of the Volga (Jul) and the Vetluga. It was also an important resting and trading place for traders from the North who travelled along the river to Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria
Volga Bulgaria, or Volga–Kama Bolghar, is a historic Bulgar state that existed between the seventh and thirteenth centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama rivers in what is now Russia.-Origin:...

. The Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria
Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria
The Mongol invasion of Volga Bulgaria lasted from 1223 to 1236.-The Mongol campaigns:In 1223, after defeating Russian and Cuman/Kipchak armies at the Battle of Kalka, a Mongol army under the generals Subutai and Jebe was sent to subdue Volga Bulgaria. At that point in history Genghis Khan's troops...

 was a serious blow to the region.

The town of Kozmodemyansk was founded by Tsar
Tsar
Tsar is a title used to designate certain European Slavic monarchs or supreme rulers. As a system of government in the Tsardom of Russia and Russian Empire, it is known as Tsarist autocracy, or Tsarism...

 Ivan IV
Ivan IV of Russia
Ivan IV Vasilyevich , known in English as Ivan the Terrible , was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multiconfessional state spanning almost one billion acres,...

 in 1583 after his conquest of Kazan in 1552 and the Cheremis Wars in 1553-1557, 1582 and 1592 as a frontier fortress to guard the new border of Muscovy. The town was named after Sts. Cosmas and Damian. For many years there was nothing at the location besides a streltsy
Streltsy
Streltsy were the units of Russian guardsmen in the 16th - early 18th centuries, armed with firearms. They are also collectively known as Marksman Troops .- Origins and organization :...

 fortress, of which a sole tower from 1697 subsists.

As commerce along the Volga developed, a town gradually grew around the fortress, but the region remained largely populated by the Mari people. The town had a fair
Fair
A fair or fayre is a gathering of people to display or trade produce or other goods, to parade or display animals and often to enjoy associated carnival or funfair entertainment. It is normally of the essence of a fair that it is temporary; some last only an afternoon while others may ten weeks. ...

 specializing in wooden and wicker ware goods produced by local craftsmen. The town was very active during summer, but winters brought a halt to river traffic.

In the 19th century, Kozmodemyansk was a more important trading place along the Volga than the neighboring towns of Vasilsursk
Vasilsursk
Vasilsursk is an urban locality in Vorotynsky District of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia, located on the Sura River, not far from its fall into the Volga. Population:...

 and Cheboksary
Cheboksary
-Twin towns/sister cities:Cheboksary is twinned with: Eger in Hungary Antalya in Turkey Santa Clara in CubaAlso Partnerships are shown with: Rundu in Namibia -External links:****...

. It was a typical halfway "overnight" stop for the Volga River steamers between Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod
Nizhny Novgorod , colloquially shortened to Nizhny, is, with the population of 1,250,615, the fifth largest city in Russia, ranking after Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, and Yekaterinburg...

 and Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

. In the 20th century, the town developed industrially. According to the official Imperial Russian statistics on January 1 (14), 1913, the population was 5,500, of which 97.5% were Russians.

In 1918, there was a dispute between Mari and Chuvash representatives of Kozmodemyansk in the Idel-Ural Movement. It was not decided to which proposed state (Mariland or Chuvashia) the town, as well as the surrounding countryside, should be merged. A few rare mentions which have remained show that the Volga was to become the border between Chuvashia and Mariland, with considerable cultural and political autonomy (after the example of the status of the Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...

 in the Russian Empire) given to the Kukuk Mari minority on the south side of the Volga in Chuvashia (according to the preserved papers from the Meeting of Representatives of the Minority Peoples on May 15, 1917 and Idel Ural State].

Museums

A local museum was opened in 1919 which now contains paintings by many Mari and Russian artists. A regional museum to preserve artifacts of the Mari culture was opened in 1979. An open-air ethnographic museum opened in 1983. It contains over sixty varied buildings typical of Russian/Mari culture. They house over 2,000 exhibits of artisan craft and tools. Even the variety of fences around the grounds display typical Mari designs.

External links

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