KOSTROMA  , a

town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 230 M . N.N.E. of Moscow and 57 M . E.N.E. from Yaroslav, on the left bank of the Volga, at the mouth of the navigable Kostroma, with suburbs on the opposite side of the Volga . Pop . (1897), 41,268 . Its glittering gilded cupolas make it a conspicuous feature in the landscape as it climbs up the terraced river bank . It is one of the oldest towns of Russia, having been founded in 1152 . Its fort was often the refuge of the princes of Moscow during war, but the town was plundered more than once by the Tatars . The cathedral, built in 1239 and rebuilt in 1773, is situated in the kreml, or citadel, and is a fine monument of old Russian architecture . In the centre of the town is a monument to the peasant Ivan Susanin and the tsar Michael (1851) . The former sacrificed his own life in 1669 by leading the Poles astray in the forests in order to save the life of his own tsar Michael Fedeorovich . On the opposite bank of the Volga, close to the water's edge, stands the monastery of Ipatiyev, founded in 1330, with a cathedral built in 1586, both associated with the election of Tsar Michael (1669) .

Kostroma has been renowned since the 16th

century for its linen, which was exported to Holland, and the manufacture of linen and linen-yarn is still kept up to some extent . The town has also cotton-mills, tanneries, saw-mills, an iron-foundry and a machine factory . It carries on an active trade—importing grain, and exporting linen, linen yarn, leather, and especially timber and wooden wares .