Kolomna is the biggest and well-appointed town of the Moscow Region. Besides, it is one of the oldest in Russia: it was first mentioned in the Laurentian Chronicle (14th century) for 1177 as a border outpost of the Ryazan Principality and as a trade and artisan center. The most ancient archaeological findings discovered in this area (near the confluence of the Moskva and the Oka) are dated back to the 7th-6th millennia B.C., while the first permanent settlement dates back to the 5th-3rd centuries B.C. This territory was originally inhabited by representatives of Finno-Ugric tribes; first Slavs began to settle down there starting approximately from the 7th century. In the early 13th century, Kolomna (already a town) made up a part of the Moscow Principality. As Kolomna was located in the southeastern border areas, it suffered a lot from Tatar-Mongol raids: in 1238 the town was devastated by Khan Batu, in 1293—by Tudan. But in less than 100 years стр. 70 Kolomna turned out to be in the center of events critical for the whole country: Grand Duke of Moscow Dmitry Ivanovich took a decision to repulse the enemy headed by the temnik Mamai and formed squads from all parts of Russia there. According to chronicles, our country had never before witnessed such a powerful attack. Dmitry Ivanovich had visited Kolomna even before. In 1366, he married Princess Yevdokiya of Suzdal there (as the chronicler wrote about the capital "that time wholesale deaths were raging in Moscow" and "the town and its trading quarters burnt to the ashes"). In 1379, Dmitry Ivanovich laid the foundation of the Dormition Cathedral in the local Kremlin in honor of the victory over the Golden Horde army in the battle of the Vozha. Then, in August 1380, on the eve of a battle against the old enemy, the Prince with his relative (who married his sister Anna) and friend Dmitry Bobrok-Volynsky made a vow to construct a monastery in the Kolomna lands if they won. In the ... Read more