- Kholmogory
Kholmogory ( _ru. Холмого́ры) is a historic village ("selo") and the administrative center of
Kholmogorsky District ofArkhangelsk Oblast ,Russia . It lies on the left bank of theNorthern Dvina , along the Kholmogory Highway, 75 km southeast ofArkhangelsk and 90 km north of theAntonievo-Siysky Monastery . The name is derived from the Finnish Kalmomäki for "corpse hill" (cemetery). Population: ru-census|p02=4592|p89=5205The Kolmogor area was at first in historical times inhabited by the Finno-Ugrians "Savolotshij Thsuuds", (sa-volokis) known also as Yems in old Novgorod chronicles and Karelians. The first Slavonic population to enter to Kalmamäki were Pomors (Pomortsians) from Vologda area after 1220. As early as the 14th century, the village (the name of which was then spelled "Kolmogory") was an important trading post of the
Novgorod Republic in the Far North of Russia. Its commercial importance further increased in 1554 when theMuscovy Company made it a center of its operations in furs. The Swedes besieged the wooden fort during theTime of Troubles (1613), but had to retreat in failure. This later produced Russian claim, during the Soviet era, seems to be unrealistic. There is not a single mention of such operation in Swedish military sources. In the course of the 17th and 18th centuries, the settlement was also a place of exile, notably for ex-regentAnna Leopoldovna and her children.In 1682, the six-pillared Kholmogory cathedral was consecrated; the biggest in the region. It was destroyed by the Communists in the 1930s. Many ancient wooden shrines and mills, however, still survive in the neighborhood. One of the nearby villages is a birthplace of the great Russian scientist
Mikhail Lomonosov . Local artisans — such asFedot Shubin - have been famed for their craft ofcarving the tusks ofmammoth s andwalrus es. The Lomonosov Bone-Carving Factory preserves the medieval tradition of thisfolk art .References
External links
* [http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/ho/09/eue/hod_60.146.htm An 18th-century walrus-ivory chess set from Kholmogory]
* [http://lomonosov.pomorsu.ru/kost/cost.html Modern works of Kolmogory craftsmen]
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