Kichmengsky Gorodok

Kichmengsky Gorodok occupied a fortified site by the Yug River near the mouth of the Kichmenga. A chronicle records its capture and burning by Kazan Tatars in 1468. The river corridor also brought warfare during the Time of Troubles: in 1613 local defenders confronted forces retreating from Ustyug, and a chronicle describes captives being freed after the fighting.

A cadastral description of 1623–1626 gives the fortress a more tangible form. It was built of timber compartments, with a bell tower over the gateway, another projecting tower and a circuit of forty-five wall sections. Churches of the Transfiguration and Archangel Michael stood in and beside the enclosure. By 1793 a geographical description still recorded the circular earthen rampart and a roofless wooden tower, whose former gateway had sunk into the ground. A door inscription recalled rebuilding in 1549. The surviving account traces the settlement from an active defensive position to an old fort amid its churches.