Kostroma

Kostroma, a town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 230 m. N.N.E. of Moscow and 57 m. E.N.E. from Yaroslav, on the left bank of the Volga, at the mouth of the navigable Kostroma, with suburbs on the opposite side of the Volga. Pop. (1897), 41,268. Its glittering gilded cupolas make it a conspicuous feature in the landscape as it climbs up the terraced river bank. It is one of the oldest towns of Russia, having been founded in 1152. Its fort was often the refuge of the princes of Moscow during war, but the town was plundered more than once by the Tatars. The cathedral, built in 1239 and rebuilt in 1773, is situated in the kreml, or citadel, and is a fine monument of old Russian architecture. In the centre of the town is a monument to the peasant Ivan Susanin and the tsar Michael (1851). The former sacrificed his own life in 1669 by leading the Poles astray in the forests in order to save the life of his own tsar Michael Fedeorovich. On the opposite bank of the Volga, close to the water’s edge, stands the monastery of Ipatiyev, founded in 1330, with a cathedral built in 1586, both associated with the election of Tsar Michael (1669). Kostroma has been renowned since the 16th century for its linen, which was exported to Holland, and the manufacture of linen and linen-yarn is still kept up to some extent. The town has also cotton-mills, tanneries, saw-mills, an iron-foundry and a machine factory. It carries on an active trade—importing grain, and exporting linen, linen yarn, leather, and especially timber and wooden wares.