Mosalsk

Mossalsk (Russian Мосальск ) is a small town in the Kaluga oblast (Russia) with 4288 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ).

Geography

The city lies on the southern edge of the Ugra Protva lowlands about 90 km west of the Oblasthauptstadt Kaluga at the Moschaika, a left tributary of the Ressa in the river system of the Volga.

Mossalsk is the administrative center of the homonymous Rajons.

History

The place was first mentioned in 1231 as Massalsk in the Principality of Chernigov documented. Later he became the center of an autonomous Lehnsfürstentumes. The name is probably of Baltic origin.

To 1407, the city came under Lithuanian sovereignty. 1493 troops conquered the Grand Duchy of Moscow under Ivan III. the city. The following year, Moscow entered the city in connection with the marriage of Ivan's daughter Elena with the Lithuanian Grand Duke temporarily off again before they finally arrived at the beginning of the 16th century under Russian rule.

1776 the modern city law as an administrative center of a circle ( Ujesds ) was awarded. In the middle of the 19th century was Mossalsk significant storage and wholesale point for grain, hemp fabrics and vegetable oil. These goods were shipped from here on Smolensk road to Riga and St. Petersburg. As a result of the economic development stagnated and Mossalsk remained insignificant small town.

During World War II Mossalsk was occupied on 6 October 1941 by the German Wehrmacht and recaptured on 8 January 1942 by the Western Front of the Red Army in the Rzhev - Wjasmaer operation.

Demographics

Note: Census data (1926 rounded)

Culture and sights

In Mossalsk St. George's Church is ( Георгиевская церковь / Georgijewskaja Tserkov ) obtained from 1745. The city has a museum of local history.

In Rajon Mossalsk the archaeological site Moschtschino lies with settlement remains dating from the 4th to the 13th centuries.

Lakeside Besdon is the fishing and hunting economy Saizewa Gora.

Economy and infrastructure

In Mossalsk there are smaller companies in the textile and food industries.

The A101 trunk road Moscow - Roslawl - Belarusian border leads 20 kilometers north past the city.