Five Russian cities that are no longer on the map: how and why they left the inhabitants

Nenets Autonomous District

Pustozersk was founded in 1499 in the lower reaches of Pechora and became the first Russian city to appear beyond the Arctic Circle. It quickly became an important center of fur and foreign trade. Its role grew especially after the defeat in the Livonian War, when Russia almost lost access to the Baltic Sea.

However, in 1620, Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, concerned about the uncontrolled penetration of English merchants, banned sea voyages to Siberia. The only port open to foreign trade was Arkhangelsk. Since that time, Pustozersk began to fade: the population was declining, and the decline lasted for several centuries. In 1924, it lost its city status, and in 1962 it left the last resident. Today, archaeological excavations are being carried out on the site of the former city.

Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District

Mangazeya was founded in 1601 by decree of Tsar Boris Godunov. Wealth and the nickname "goldboiler" she brought the fur trade. But dependence on one source of income played a fatal role: the ban on sea navigation in Siberia hit Mangazeya even harder than Pustozersk. Famine and fire were added to the cessation of trade, and by 1672 all the inhabitants had left the city.

Centuries later, Mangazeya became almost a myth – many doubted that it even existed. Only at the beginning of the XX century, researchers discovered the place where the city stood.

Vologda region

Charonda originated in the XIII century on the shores of Lake Voge and over time became a prosperous trading center on the way to the White Sea. At the beginning of the XVIII century, it officially received the status of a city, but at the end of the same century it lost, gradually turning into a small and remote village.

The decline was caused not by tsarist decrees, but by changes in trade: the main route to Pomorie shifted to the Northern Dvina and Arkhangelsk, and the old path with drags and lakes was inconvenient and abandoned. As a village Charonda existed for several centuries, but by 2015 there were no permanent residents. Now people come here for the ancient church of John Chrysostom of the early XIX century - in summer by boat, in winter by snowmobile.

Yaroslavl region

Mologa, once the center of a whole principality, is today known as the capital of the “Russian Atlantis”. The city went under water when filling the Rybinsk reservoir. Before the construction of the HPP, residents were relocated for four years, and wooden houses were dismantled and transported. The city has disappeared, but not without a trace: when shallowed, its ruins reappear on the surface. And in Rybinsk, the sunken Molog region is dedicated to a whole museum.

Tver region

Ancient Korcheva became a victim of large-scale hydraulic works of the first half of the XX century. In 1932, it fell into the flood zone due to the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal. Residents were relocated, the buildings began to be demolished, and in 1937 the city was removed from the list of cities.

From the whole network of streets with factories, hundreds of houses, schools and inns survived only one building - the house of merchants Rozhdestvensky, which was on the very bank of the Volga. Next to it - only the foundation of the Kazan church and the remains of the cemetery.

Five different stories, but the result is the same: some cities destroyed trade bans and changing routes, others – large construction sites and reservoirs. Yet they did not disappear completely. They are reminiscent of archives, finds of archaeologists, museum expositions and rare surviving buildings - evidence that life was once boiling on these places.