Murom (, ) is a historical

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Vladimir Oblast Vladimir Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Vladimir, which is located east of Moscow. As of the 2010 Census, the oblast's population was 1,443,693. The UNESCO World Heritage L ...

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 ...

, which sprawls along the west bank of the

Oka River The Oka (, ; ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, ...

. It borders

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast () is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the types of inhabited localities in Russia, city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,119,115 as of the 2021 Ru ...

and is situated from the administrative center

Vladimir Vladimir (, , pre-1918 orthography: ) is a masculine given name of Slavic origin, widespread throughout all Slavic nations in different forms and spellings. The earliest record of a person with the name is Vladimir of Bulgaria (). Etymology ...

. Its population as of the 2021 Census was 107,497.

History

In the 9th century AD, the city marked the easternmost settlement of the

East Slavs The East Slavs are the most populous subgroup of the Slavs. They speak the East Slavic languages, and formed the majority of the population of the medieval state Kievan Rus', which they claim as their cultural ancestor.John Channon & Robert Huds ...

in the land of the Finnic

Muromians The Volga Finns are a historical group of peoples living in the vicinity of the Volga, who speak Uralic languages. Their modern representatives are the Mari people, the Erzya and the Moksha (commonly grouped together as Mordvins) as well as spea ...

. The ''

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

'' mentions it as early as AD 862. It is, thus, one of the oldest cities in Russia. Circa 900 AD, it was an important trading post from

Volga Bulgaria Volga Bulgaria or Volga–Kama Bulgaria (sometimes referred to as the Volga Bulgar Emirate) was a historical Bulgar state that existed between the 9th and 13th centuries around the confluence of the Volga and Kama River, in what is now Europea ...

to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. Between AD 1010 and AD 1393, it was the capital of a separate principality, whose rulers included Saint

Gleb Gleb (; ) or Hlib (, ) is a Slavic male given name derived from the Old Norse name ''Guðleifr'', which means "heir of god." According to another version, the name Gleb comes from the name Olaf. It is popular in Russia due to an early martyr, Saint ...

, assassinated in AD 1015 and canonized in AD 1071, Saint Prince Konstantin the Blessed, and

Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom David Yuryevich () (c. 1167 – 25 June 1228) and Euphrosyne () (c. 1175 – 25 June 1228), known as Saints Peter and Fevronia of Murom (), were the Rus' prince and princess consort of the Principality of Murom. They are some of the most renow ...

, subjects of an

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov. At the time, his name was spelled , which he romanized as Nicolas Rimsky-Korsakow; the BGN/PCGN transliteration of Russian is used for his name here; ALA-LC system: , ISO 9 system: .. (18 March 1844 – 2 ...

. It was believed to be the home town of the most celebrated East Slavic

epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

hero,

Ilya Muromets Ilya Muromets or Murometz, also known as Ilya of Murom, is a ''bogatyr'' (hero) in a type of Russian oral literature , oral epic poem called ''bylina'' set during the time of the Kievan Rus'. He is often featured alongside fellow bogatyrs Dobry ...

. The town has a statue which shows Ilya holding the hilt of his sword in the left hand and a cross in the right. On June 30, 1961, Murom was the site of a spontaneous protest and riot against the police and Soviet authorities, following the death in police custody of a senior factory foreman named Kostikov.

Administrative and municipal status

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Murom 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 ...

Muromsky District Muromsky District () is an administrativeLaw #130-OZ and municipalLaw #58-OZ district (raion), one of the sixteen in Vladimir Oblast, Russia. It is located in the east of the oblast. The area of the district is . Its administrative center is the ...

, even though it is not a part of it.Resolution #433 As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the Cit] of Murom — an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the administrative divisions of Vladimir Oblast, districts.Law #130-OZ As a municipal division, the territory of the City of Murom together with nine rural localities in Muromsky District are incorporated as

Murom Urban Okrug Murom Urban Okrug () is a municipal formation (an urban okrug) in Vladimir Oblast, Russia,Law #53-OZ one of the five urban okrugs in the oblast. Its territory covers the territories of two administrative divisions of Vladimir Oblast—the whole of ...

.Law #53-OZ

Economy

Murom has since 1941 played host to the JSC Murom instrument making plant (MIMP) which produces the means of initiation and ignition of ammunition, as well as various pyrotechnic devices. It is a subsidiary of

Rostec State Corporation Rostec, formally trading as State Corporation "Rostec", fully the State Corporation for the Promotion of the Development, Manufacture, and Export of High Tech Products "Rostec" and formerly Rostekhnologii, is a Russian state-owned defense conglo ...

. The MIMP was sanctioned on 23.06.2023 in the EU's 11th package of sanctions in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sights

File:murom abbeys.jpg, Three historic abbeys in the city center File:Собор Троицкий площадь Крестьянина, Муром, Владимирская область.jpg, The main church of the Holy Trinity Monastery (1642–1643) File:Painting_of_Murom_city_by_Ivan_Semenovich_Kulikov_(1914).jpg, Painting by

Ivan Kulikov Ivan Semyonovich Kulikov (Russian: Иван Семёнович Куликов; 13 April 1875 in Murom – 15 December 1941 in Murom) was a Russian painter, primarily of portraits and genre scenes. Biography He was born to a peasant family that ...

1914 File:Murom aerial view.jpg, Aerial view of the city in 2014 Murom still retains many marks of antiquity. The Savior

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

, one of the most ancient in Russia, was first chronicled in 1096, when Oleg of Chernigov besieged it and killed

Vladimir Monomakh Vladimir II Monomakh (; Christian name: ''Vasily''; 26 May 1053 – 19 May 1125) was Grand Prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125. He is considered a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and is celebrated on May 6. Family background His father wa ...

's son Izyaslav, who is buried there. In 1552, the monastery was visited by

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 ...

who commissioned a stone cathedral, which was followed by other churches. The Trinity convent, where the relics of Sts. Peter and Fevronia are displayed, features a fine cathedral (1642–1643), Kazan church (1652), a bell-tower (1652), a wooden church of St. Sergius, and stone walls. It is rivaled by the Annunciation Monastery, founded in the reign of

to house the relics of local princes and containing a cathedral from 1664. Two last-mentioned cathedrals, being probably the works of the same masters, have much in common with the Resurrection Church (1658) in the downtown. Quite different is the tent-like church of Sts. Cosmas and Damian, built in 1565 on the bank of the Oka to commemorate the Russian conquest of Kazan.

International relations

Murom is twinned with: *

Babruysk Babruysk (, ) or Bobruysk (, ; , ) is a city in Mogilev Region, Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Babruysk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. It is situated on the Berezina, Berezina River. Bab ...

, Belarus

Notable people

Among notable natives are the father of

color photography Color photography (also spelled as colour photography in English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) is photography that uses media capable of capturing and reproducing colors. By contrast, black-and-white or gray-monochrome ...

Sergey Prokudin-Gorsky Sergey Mikhaylovich Prokudin-Gorsky ( rus, Сергей Михайлович Прокудин-Горский, p=sʲɪrˈɡʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ prɐˈkudʲɪn ˈɡorskʲɪj, a=ru-Prokudin-Gorskii.ogg; – September 27, 1944) was ...

(1863), the painter

@ the Museum of Nizhny Novgorod State University(1875) and the father of

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

Vladimir Zworykin Vladimir Kosma Zworykin (1888/1889July 29, 1982) was a Russian-American inventor, engineer, and pioneer of television technology. Zworykin invented a television transmitting and receiving system employing cathode-ray tubes. He played a role in t ...

(1888) and Russian physicist Igor Irodov. Saints Peter and Fevronia.

References

Notes

Sources

* * * * {{Use mdy dates, date=May 2011 Golden Ring of Russia Cities and towns in Vladimir Oblast Muromsky Uyezd Rus' settlements