Veliky Ustyug

Veliky Ustyug stands where the Sukhona and Yug meet to form the Northern Dvina. From this junction, rivers led north to the White Sea and east towards the lands beyond the Urals. The town grew into one of the principal centres of the Russian north, its merchants and craftsmen drawing wealth from the traffic that passed through its waterways. Churches and monasteries rose above the riverbanks, while the town's potters produced decorative tiles used on buildings across the region.

In 1613, during the Time of Troubles, the inhabitants repelled a Polish force that approached the town. In the following decades trade with English and Dutch merchants through the White Sea and the incorporation of Siberia added to Ustyug's importance. Its position linked the northern sea route to the eastern rivers, and men from the town took part in journeys across Siberia. Among them were Semyon Dezhnev and Yerofey Khabarov, whose expeditions carried them far beyond their home. The prosperity of the seventeenth century was visible in Ustyug's churches and the work of its artisans, including the brightly coloured tiles that decorated churches both in the town and in neighbouring centres.