Kolomna

Kolomna stands near the meeting of the Moskva and Oka rivers, a position that made it both a trading town and a stronghold on Moscow’s southern approaches. Once a prize in the struggles of Moscow and Ryazan, it became a gathering place for armies going toward the steppe. Its kremlin and monasteries recall centuries in which river traffic and defence shaped the city together.

In 1380 Dmitry of Moscow reviewed his assembled forces near Kolomna before their march to the Don and victory on Kulikovo Field. The town remained exposed to attack: Prince Oleg of Ryazan seized it in 1385, and the Oka frontier continued to draw armies in later decades. Ivan III gathered forces along the river in 1472 against an invasion from the Golden Horde. Ivan IV likewise brought troops to Kolomna for campaigns toward Kazan.

Under Vasily III a new brick and stone kremlin rose between 1525 and 1531, replacing earlier defences. Its walls enclosed a large area and were strengthened by sixteen towers. At the confluence downstream, the Staro-Golutvin monastery had been founded in the late fourteenth century as another landmark of the southern approach. As the frontier moved south in the seventeenth century, Kolomna’s military role diminished, while its merchants and craftsmen gained importance in exchanges between Moscow and the regions beyond the Oka.