Promsa

Promsa, later known as Promzino, stands beside the Sura in the country between Alatyr and Simbirsk. Local accounts connect its founding with Ivan IV's 1552 campaign against Kazan and the establishment of military settlements along the river. The settlement guarded a frontier exposed to raids; when the Simbirsk defensive line was built farther south, its military importance diminished. Promzino continued as a local centre for the villages and farmland of the Sura valley.