Saransk

Saransk grew at the meeting of the Saranka and Insar rivers in the Mordvin country. Founded as a wooden fortress on the southeastern frontier of the Russian state, it became an administrative and trading centre for a region inhabited by Russians, Mordvins and Tatars. Roads and river valleys connected it with towns across the middle Volga and central Russia.

Prince Savely Kozlovsky built the first fort in 1641 as part of the Atemar defensive line. In 1653 the administration of the line moved from Atemar to Saransk, and the fortress was enlarged with a lower section across the Saranka. Cossacks, streltsy and gunners formed its service population. The fort was besieged and taken during Stenka Razin's uprising in 1670, becoming a base for his followers.

As the frontier moved away, Saransk developed as a town of merchants and craftspeople. Its fairs drew trade from Kazan, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities. In July 1774 Yemelyan Pugachev entered Saransk and found support among its inhabitants. The stone Church of St John the Evangelist, built in 1693, remained a landmark of the town as its role changed from frontier defence to administration and commerce. The old fort had contained storehouses for arms and salt, officials’ offices and small wooden churches; the civilian town that grew around it inherited the crossroads created by the frontier garrison.