THE CITIES OF THE UPPER VOLGA IN THE GEOGRAPHIC MATERIALS OF THE XVIII CENTURY - 1900s
The article is devoted to a review of geographic (textual and graphical) materials of the XVIII century - 1900s, which contain descriptions of the cities of the Upper Volga above Tver (Ostashkov, Rzhev, Zubtsov and Staritsa), as well as of the Pogoreloye Gorodische, which until the end of the XVIII century retained the status of the city. All these settlements are united by their position on the banks of the Volga or its tributaries. All of them in ancient times had fortifications, serving not only defensive fortifica� tions, but also centers of crafts and trade. XVIII century was marked by the economic growth of cities on the Upper Volga, associated with the opening of the Vyshnevolotsk system. This largely contributed to the change in the status of settlements. So, Ostashkov from the settlement grew to the city, and the Pogoreloy Settlement, located away from the Volga, at the end of the XVIII century lost the status of the city. Cities on the Upper Volga turned into objects of increased attention from the authorities, which in the XVIII century started implementing state programs on the description and research of Russian lands. In this regard, the first instrumental plans of cities and text descriptions that made according to a certain plan appeared. By the first half of the nineteenth century this includes research materials from cities that were collected primarily by the military department and statisticians. Last quarter of the XIX and the first years of the XX century were marked by the appearance of publications-guides to the upper reaches of the Volga with descriptions of Ostashkov, Rzhev, Zubtsov, Staritsa and (less often) Pogoreloye Gorodische, as well as works on the history and published materials of archaeological research of that time.