Dobryanka

Dobryanka was recorded in 1623–1624 as Domryanka, a village of eleven peasant households at the mouth of its namesake river on the Kama. The land belonged to the Stroganovs, who chose the site for a copper works because of its forests, copper-bearing rock and access to the river. Construction began in 1752 across the stream from the village, with an earthen dam forming a pond to power the machinery.

The local copper ores proved poor, and the works turned increasingly to ironmaking. Its products included sheet iron, anchors, metal vessels and wire. In the 1760s Dobryanka iron was sent for construction of the Novodevichy Monastery in Moscow and the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg. Serf craftsmen and miners worked at the plant, while peasants attached to it supplied fuel, transported goods and performed other labor.