Gorodets

Gorodets was a principality centred on a Volga fortress northwest of Nizhny Novgorod. Its ruling line died out in 1320, and in 1337 the town was held by Ivan I Kalita, grand prince of Vladimir.

In 1341 Gorodets joined the Grand Principality of Nizhny Novgorod-Suzdal, which Moscow absorbed in 1392. Edigu's army razed the town in 1408. Deserted for two centuries, it became known as Gorodets Pustoy, or Gorodets the Empty, before reviving as a trading village.