Alferovskaya

Alferovskaya is a village in the forested north of Vologda country, in the lands historically known as Totma and Ustye, between the Sukhona basin and the upper reaches of the Northern Dvina. This is northern taiga where settlements were separated by woodland, tracks and rivers, and where villages, usually named for a founder or his family, formed a sparse chain along streams and portage routes.

Russian settlers from Novgorod and from Rostov and Suzdal moved into this country over the centuries. Totma was first recorded in 1137 and became known for its salt works, while Veliky Ustyug at the junction of the Sukhona and the Yug was recorded in 1207. After 1553 the Sukhona and the Dvina carried English and Dutch trade toward Arkhangelsk, and the peasants of villages like Alferovskaya farmed, fished and cut timber along the same routes.