Vasilsursk

Vasilsursk stands at the confluence of the Sura and the Volga, on a high bank overlooking both rivers. The Sura long marked a frontier between Muscovy and the Kazan Khanate, and a stronghold here could watch the approaches by water. The town took its name from Grand Prince Vasily III.

In 1523, during a campaign against Kazan, Vasily ordered a wooden fortress built at the Sura's mouth. Known as Vasilyev Gorod, it housed a garrison and served as a base and store for armies travelling east. A treaty in 1524 recognized the place as belonging to the Russian ruler. After the foundation of Sviyazhsk and the conquest of Kazan, the fort's frontier role diminished, but the settlement remained on the river route through the middle Volga.