Kholmogory, Arkhangelsk Oblast

Kholmogory (Russian Холмогоры ) is a village ( selo ) in the Arkhangelsk Oblast in the north of the European part of Russia. It is the administrative center of the homonymous Rajon Kholmogory and counts 4150 inhabitants (as of October 14, 2010 ). Kholmogory one of the oldest settlements in the region.

Geography

Kholmogory is on the left side of the Northern Dvina River approximately 75 kilometers southeast of the Oblasthauptstadt Arkhangelsk near the highway M8. The Northern Dvina is very branched in this section, so that there are close Cholmogorys numerous river islands, of which the larger islands are inhabited. The nearest large town is about 45 Northwest of Kholmogory Nowodwinsk.

History

Kholmogory was mentioned in writing as early as the 12th century. First known as Kolmogory, the town developed since its colonization by the Novgorod merchants in the 14th century into a major trading center of the Russian North, mainly due to its location on the Northern Dvina River, which flows into the White Sea and thus provided a valuable water connection with Western Europe was due to. It was then the administrative center of the area Zavoločje. Long before the founding of the city of Arkhangelsk in the 16th century became Kholmogory, which also had its own harbor, the politically and economically most important town on the Dvina. It created a fort here, which successfully protected the city from attack, numerous shops, inns and churches, some of which have survived to this day.

It was only after the establishment of Arkhangelsk near the Dvina estuary Kholmogory increasingly lost its significance as a trading city. 1784 still got the status of a city, it has lost again in the 20th century.

Demographics

The following overview shows the evolution of populations of Kholmogory.

Note: Census data

Sons and daughters of the town

• Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765), poet and polymath
• Fedot Shubin (1740-1805), sculptor