Coat of arms Flag Federal subject Moscow Oblast Town Dmitrov | Country Russia Administrative district Dmitrovsky District | |
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Administrative center of Dmitrovsky District, Town of Dmitrov | ||
Dmitrov (Russian: Дмитров; [ˈdʲmʲitrəf]) is a town and the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 65 kilometers (40 mi) to the north of Moscow on the Yakhroma River and the Moscow Canal. Population: 61,305 (2010 Census); 62,219 (2002 Census); 65,237 (1989 Census).
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History
It was founded by Yury Dolgoruky in 1154 deep in the woods at the site where his son Vsevolod was born. Its name is explained by the fact that Vsevolod's patron saint was St. Demetrius.
In the 13th century, the settlement marked a point where the borders of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, Tver, and Pereslavl-Zalessky converged. The settlement itself belonged to the princes of Galich-Mersky, located much to the north, until 1364, when it was incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Moscow. Both Dmitry Donskoy and his grandson Vasily II granted Dmitrov as an appanage to their younger sons, so Dmitrov was the capital of a tiny principality. In 1374, it was given town rights.
The reign of Ivan III's son Yury Ivanovich (1503–1533) inaugurated the golden age of Dmitrov. It is during his reign that the black-domed Assumption Cathedral in the kremlin and a smaller monastery cathedral of Sts. Boris and Gleb were built. Thereafter, the town passed to Yury's brother, Andrey of Staritsa. In 1569, it was seized from Vladimir of Staritsa, added to the Oprichnina and consequently went into a decline. The town suffered further damage during the Time of Troubles, when it was ransacked by the Poles.
In 1812, Dmitrov was briefly occupied by the Grande Armée but in 1941 the Wehrmacht soldiers were stopped on the outskirts of the town. The Anarchist prince Peter Kropotkin spent his last years there. In the 1930s, the local kremlin was excavated by Soviet archaeologists.
Administrative and municipal status
Within the framework of administrative divisions, Dmitrov serves as the administrative center of Dmitrovsky District. As an administrative division, it is, together with eighty rural localities, incorporated within Dmitrovsky District as the Town of Dmitrov. As a municipal division, the Town of Dmitrov is incorporated within Dmitrovsky Municipal District as Dmitrov Urban Settlement.
Transportation
Dmitrov is a railway junction of the Moscow (Savyolovsky terminal)–Savyolovo branch and the Dmitrov–Alexandrov branch. The railway provides an efficient service to Moscow. Dmitrov is also a cargo port on the Moscow Canal.
Bus routes connect Dmitrov with Moscow (Altufyevo), Sergiyev Posad, Dubna, Taldom, Lobnya, Laryovo, and other destinations.
Twin towns and sister cities
Dmitrov is twinned with: