Kineshma (), the second-largest

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Ivanovo Oblast Ivanovo Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It had a population of 927,828 as of the Russian Census (2021), 2021 Russian Census. Its three largest types of inhabited localities in Russia, cities are Ivanovo (the administrat ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

, sprawls for along the

Volga River The Volga (, ) is the longest river in Europe and the longest endorheic basin river in the world. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchment ...

, 335 kilometers north-east of Moscow. Population:

Etymology

From a substrate Finno-Ugric language (cf. ('kine', < Proto-Finno-Permic ''*känз''), "hemp").

History

Kineshma was first noticed as a '' posad'' in 1429. In 1504, Ivan III gave it to Prince Feodor Belsky, who escaped to

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

from

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and married Ivan's niece. Later on,

Ivan the Terrible Ivan IV Vasilyevich (; – ), commonly known as Ivan the Terrible,; ; monastic name: Jonah. was Grand Prince of Moscow, Grand Prince of Moscow and all Russia from 1533 to 1547, and the first Tsar of all Russia, Tsar and Grand Prince of all R ...

gave Kineshma to Ivan Petrovich Shuisky, but after the latter's death it was returned to the

Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

in 1587. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Kineshma was a major fishing center, which supplied

sturgeon Sturgeon (from Old English ultimately from Proto-Indo-European language, Proto-Indo-European *''str̥(Hx)yón''-) is the common name for the 27 species of fish belonging to the family Acipenseridae. The earliest sturgeon fossils date to the ...

for the Tsar's table. In 1608, it was twice ravaged by the Poles. Throughout its history, Kineshma belonged to different Russian regions, including

Archangelgorod Governorate Archangelgorod Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia and the Russian Empire, which existed from 1708 until 1780. Its seat was in Archangel (Arkhangelsk). The governorate was located in th ...

, Yaroslavl Province of

Saint Petersburg Governorate Saint Petersburg Governorate was a province (''guberniya'') of the Russian Empire, with its capital in Saint Petersburg. The governorate was composed of of area and 2,112,033 inhabitants. It was bordered by Governorate of Estonia, Estonian and G ...

, and

Moscow Governorate The Moscow Governorate was a province ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, and the Russian Empire. It was bordered by Tver Governorate to the north, Vladimir Governorate to the northeast, Ryazan Governorate to the southeast, Tula Gove ...

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Kineshma serves as the

administrative center An administrative centre is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune, is located. In countries with French as the administrative language, such as Belgiu ...

Kineshemsky District Kineshemsky District () is an administrative and municipal district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Ivanovo Oblast, Russia.According to Law #145-OZ, the borders of the administrative and municipal districts are identical. Law #42-OZ lists the in ...

,Law #145-OZ even though it is not a part of it.Law #145-OZ stipulates that the borders of the administrative districts are identical to the borders of the municipal districts. The Law #42-OZ, which describes the borders and the composition of Kineshemsky District, does not list the town of Kineshma as a part of that district. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the

Town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

of Kineshma—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the

districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. As a municipal division, the Town of Kineshma is incorporated as Kineshma Urban Okrug.Law #124-OZ

Economy

Since the 18th century, the town's main industry has been textile manufacturing. Like all the textile centers in Russia, the town's prosperity declined after the

perestroika ''Perestroika'' ( ; rus, перестройка, r=perestrojka, p=pʲɪrʲɪˈstrojkə, a=ru-perestroika.ogg, links=no) was a political reform movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) during the late 1980s, widely associ ...

Architecture

Kineshma's principal landmark is the Trinity Cathedral, built in 1838–1845 to a typical Neoclassical design. There are also several 18th-century churches in the town. The neighborhoods of Kineshma contain estates and museums of Alexander Ostrovsky, Alexander Borodin, and Fyodor Bredikhin. In 2010, Kineshma was granted status of a town of historical significance.

Religion

Currently there are eleven churches, nine of which are active, and three chapels.

Notable people

* Alexander Borodin, composer and chemist * Fyodor Bredikhin, astronomer * Sergey Klyugin, Olympic high jumper * Alexander Ostrovsky, writer * Andrei Semenov, mixed martial artist * Kostromin, musical artist

Twin towns – sister cities

Kineshma is twinned with: *

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, Finland * Baranavichy, Belarus * Gudauta, Abkhazia (''De facto''; ''de jure'' part of Georgia)

References

Notes

Sources

* *

External links

Official website of Kineshma

''168 chasov''
city news {{Authority control Cities and towns in Ivanovo Oblast Kineshemsky Uyezd Populated places on the Volga