SIMBIRSK  , a

town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 154 M. by the Volga S.S.W. from Kazan, between the Volga and the Sviyaga . Pop . (1897) 44,111 . It is one of the best built provincial towns of Russia . It is an episcopal see of the Orthodox Greek Church . The central part of Simbirsk —the Crown (Venets), containing the cathedral and the best houses—is built on a hill 56o ft. above the Volga . Adjoining this is the commercial quarter, while farther down the slope, towards the Volga, are the storehouses and the poorest suburbs of the city; these last also occupy the W. slope towards the Sviyaga . There are three suburbs on the left bank of the Volga, communication with them being maintained in summer by steamers . A great fire having destroyed nearly all the town in 1864, it has been built again on a new plan, though still mostly of wood . The cathedral of St Nicholas dates from 1712 . The new cathedral of the Trinity was erected in 1824—1841 in commemoration of the French invasion of 1812 . The historian Karamzin (born in 1766 in the vicinity of Simbirsk) has a monument here, and a public library bearing his name contains about 15,000 volumes .

The

trade is.brisk, corn being the principal item, while next come potash, wood, fruits, wooden wares and manufactured produce . Simbirsk fair has a turnover of £65o,000 annually . The city was founded in 1648, and in 167o endured a long siege by the rebel leader Stenka Razin .