Cherdyn

Cherdyn stands on the high right bank of the Kolva, near its junction with the Vishera. The town lay at a meeting of river and portage routes leading toward the Vychegda, Pechora, Kama and western Siberia. Great Perm's fur trade drew merchants from Novgorod and the Volga lands, while silver vessels from distant regions reached the northern forests. Cherdyn is first mentioned in a chronicle in 1451, when a prince was sent to govern Great Perm.

Moscow's campaign of 1472 brought the region more firmly under its authority. In 1535, after nearby Pokcha burned, Cherdyn regained its administrative standing and a wooden kremlin was constructed on Trinity Hill. It remained a frontier fortress before the conquest of Kazan. A register of 1579 counted 290 households and 67 shops, many inhabitants living by trade and service rather than farming. The town's importance was tied to the routes across the Urals, although later changes in Siberian travel shifted traffic elsewhere.