Kaluga

Kaluga stands on the Oka south-west of Moscow, near the old frontier with Lithuania. First mentioned in 1371 in a letter of Grand Duke Algirdas, it grew from a fortified point on the river into a centre of trade and administration. Its position on the Oka placed it along the routes connecting Moscow with the upper river country.

During the Time of Troubles Kaluga became a centre of Ivan Bolotnikov’s uprising. From December 1606 to May 1607 the rebels held the fortress against a siege by the tsar’s forces. False Dmitry II later made Kaluga a base during his struggle for the throne and was killed there in 1610. These events drew the town into the heart of the civil wars that shook the Russian state. As the southern frontier moved away, merchants and craftspeople gained greater prominence. Kaluga became the principal town of a province in 1719 and the centre of a governorship in the 1770s. The Oka carried goods toward markets downstream, while roads linked the town to Moscow and the western districts. Its riverbank and trading streets reflected a change from frontier fortress to an important town of the interior.