Siberian Forests

Forests cover the country between the Luza and the upper Sysola. At Obyachevo on the Luza, a fortified refuge built in the late fifteenth century used the river, ravines and marshes as defenses. Farther east, Koygorodok was recorded in 1586 as a pogost with a wooden chapel and peasant households. Poor harvests and migration altered the fortunes of these communities, whose villages stood among the northern woods and river valleys.