Galich

Galich stands on the southern shore of a great lake, beneath hills where the earthworks of its old fortress once guarded the town. Known as Galich of the Merya lands to distinguish it from its namesake farther west, it became the centre of a northern principality. Fishing on the lake and trade in the products of the surrounding forests supported its inhabitants.

Dmitry Donskoy left Galich to his son Yuri, whose claim to Moscow’s grand-princely throne set off a long struggle with his nephew Vasily II. After Yuri’s death his sons continued the contest. Dmitry Shemyaka made Galich a base in the civil war, but his forces were defeated near the town in 1450. Vasily’s governors took possession, and Galich remained within the lands of Moscow. The town retained commercial importance after the princes had gone. In the sixteenth century it was a centre of trade for the Kostroma country, sending furs, especially squirrel and ermine, to markets both within and beyond Russia. Grain and other produce also passed through the town. The lake below the old fortified hills continued to shape the life of Galich, even as the city’s fortunes became bound to the wider Muscovite state.