Cherepovets

Cherepovets (Череповец) is a city in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located in the west of the oblast on the banks of the Sheksna River (a tributary of the Volga River) and on the shores of the Rybinsk Reservoir. As of the 2010 Census, its population was 312,310, making it the most populous city in the oblast. The origin of the word "Cherepovets" is a subject of much debate among the local historians. According to one version, the city supposedly received its name from the word "skull" (череп, cherep). In antiquity, a pagan sanctuary was there in honor of the god Veles on the hill at the confluence of the Sheksna and Yagorba Rivers. The top of the hill was called the "skull." Another version suggests that the word "Cherepovets" originates from the name of the tribe "Ves" (весь), who inhabited the Sheksna's banks. According to this version, "Cherepovets" in the language of local indigenous Veps means "Veps' fish hill." The city is located near the major Volga-Baltic waterway, west-east railroads, gas pipelines, and between two Russian federal cities, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The foundation of Cherepovets is traditionally ascribed to two orthodox monks Feodosy and Afanasy. In 1362, they founded the Cherepovets Resurrection Monastery, in the vicinity of which a small village of Fedosyevo was founded. Historians consider the former village of Fedosyevo to be in the center of modern Cherepovets. Several centuries were needed to develop the small village into a prominent trade, manufacturing, and regional transportation center. Cherepovets was granted city status in 1777 by Catherine the Great and became the center of a separate uyezd in the administrative structure of the Novgorod Governorate. The construction of the Mariinsk canal system in 1810 made a significant impact on the development of the city. The Mariinsk Canal System connected Cherepovets with the Volga River to the south and the Baltic Sea to the west. At that time, the city was still at a very early stage of development with a population of 3000 residents by 1863.