Smolenskoye

Smolenskoye was founded in 1759 in the northern foothills of the Altai as a settlement of retired Cossacks and other Russian servicemen. Its early inhabitants came from several Siberian garrisons, including Tomsk, Tara, Krasnoyarsk and Tobolsk. A redoubt was built by the settlers, who named it for an icon they revered. In the nineteenth century the old route towards Mongolia passed through the village and encouraged trade.