TULA  , a

town of Russia, capital of the government of the same name, 120 M. by rail S. of Moscow, in the broad but low, marshy and unhealthy valley of the Upa . Pop . (1882), 63,500; (1901), 109,352 . It is an old town of Old Russia, but its growth began only towards the end of the 18th century after the manufacture of arms had commenced . The chief branch of industry is the making of rifles; next in importance comes the manufacture of samovars (tea-urns) . Tula is an episcopal see of the Orthodox Greek Church . The public buildings include two cathedrals and an industrial museum . The town is first mentioned in 1147; but its former site seems to have been higher up the Tulitsa.Its wooden fort was replaced in 1514–1521 by a stone kreml, or citadel, which still exists . Tsar Boris Godunov founded a gun factory here in 1595, and in 1632 a Dutchman, Winius, established an iron foundry . Tsar Michael Alexis and Peter the Great, especially the last-named, took great interest in the gun factories, and large establishments so much prized .