Kolomna

Kolomna, a town of Russia, in the government of Moscow, situated on the railway between Moscow and Ryazan, 72 m. S.E. of Moscow, at the confluence of the Moskva river with the Kolomenka. Pop. (1897), 20,970. It is an old town, mentioned in the annals in 1177, and until the 14th century was the capital of the Ryazan principality. It suffered greatly from the invasions of the Tatars in the 13th century, who destroyed it four times, as well as from the wars of the 17th century; but it always recovered and has never lost its commercial importance. During the 19th century it became a centre for the manufacture of silks, cottons, ropes and leather. Here too are railway workshops, where locomotives and wagons are made. Kolomna carries on an active trade in grain, cattle, tallow, skins, salt and timber. It has several old churches of great archaeological interest, including two of the 14th century, one being the cathedral. One gate (restored in 1895) of the fortifications of the Kreml still survives.