Totma

Totma Тотьма
Town[1]
Lenin (Kirov) Street in Totma
Flag Coat of arms
Location of Totma
Totma Location of Totma Show map of Russia Totma Totma (Vologda Oblast) Show map of Vologda Oblast
Coordinates: 59°58′N 42°45′E / 59.967°N 42.750°E / 59.967; 42.750
Country	Russia
Federal subject	Vologda Oblast[1]
Administrative district	Totemsky District[1]
Town of district significance	Totma[2]
First mentioned	1137[3] or 1138[4]
Elevation	130 m (430 ft)
Population  (2010 Census)[5]
• Total	9,785
Administrative status
• Capital of	Totemsky District,[1] town of district significance of Totma[2]
Municipal status
• Municipal district	Totemsky Municipal District[6]
• Urban settlement	Totma Urban Settlement[6]
• Capital of	Totemsky Municipal District,[6] Totma Urban Settlement[6]
Time zone	UTC+3 (MSK [7])
Postal code(s)[8]	161300
OKTMO ID	19646101001

Totma (Russian: То́тьма) is a town and the administrative center of Totemsky District in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Sukhona River at its confluence with the Pesya Denga, 217 kilometers (135 mi) northeast of Vologda, the administrative center of the oblast. Population: 9,785 (2010 Census);^[5] 10,531 (2002 Census);^[9] 10,622 (1989 Soviet census).^[10]

It was first mentioned in the chronicles in 1137 (according to other sources—in 1138^[4]) as the pogost of Todma (Тодма).^[3] It was founded by Novgorodians, who used the Sukhona as the main waterway leading to the north and eventually to the White Sea.^{[citation needed]} The name "Totma" is nevertheless of Finno-Ugrian origin, which, together with archeological discoveries, indicates that an earlier settlement on the site of the present town was established by the Merya people.^{[citation needed]} The original pogost was located 16 kilometers (9.9 mi) downstream of the current location, close to the mouth of the Staraya Totma River.^[3] In the 13th century, salt production started around Totma and the town was relocated.^{[citation needed]} In 1539, Totma was plundered by Kazan Tatars;^[3] a fortress was built after this event.^[4] In 1554, monk Feodosy Sumorin founded the Transfiguration Monastery.^[3] In the 16th–17th centuries, Totma was one of the most prosperous towns of the Russian North, due to the trade and to the salt production.^[3] In the 17th and 18th centuries, Totma was visited several times by Peter the Great,^[3] which was rather exceptional given the remote location of the town.^{[citation needed]}

In the course of the administrative reform carried out in 1708 by Peter the Great, Totma was included into Archangelgorod Governorate and named one of the towns constituting the governorate.^[11] In the 18th century, Totma was one of the main centers of the exploration of and the trade with Alaska.^[3] In particular, Ivan Kuskov, the first administrator of Fort Ross, a Russian fortress in California, was a native of Totma.^[3] In 1780, Totma became the seat of Totemsky Uyezd of Vologda Viceroyalty,^[3] and since 1796 it was a part of Vologda Governorate.^[4]

In the 19th century, Totma quickly lost its significance^[3] as the foreign trade was rerouted from Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg and the river transportation was gradually replaced by railways and highways.^{[citation needed]} The railway from Vologda to Arkhangelsk was constructed along the shortest way via Konosha and bypassed Totma, while the old highway from Moscow to Arkhangelsk never ran via Totma.^{[citation needed]} Until the late 1990s, the only road through Totma connected Vologda with Veliky Ustyug via Nikolsk.^{[citation needed]} In the second half of the 19th century, Totma was frequently used as a destination for political exile.^[4]

On July 15, 1929, several governorates, including Vologda Governorate, were merged into Northern Krai and the uyezds were abolished.^{[citation needed]} Totma became the administrative center of Totemsky District, which included parts of former Totemsky Uyezd.^{[citation needed]}

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Totma serves as the administrative center of Totemsky District.^[1] As an administrative division, it is incorporated within Totemsky District as the town of district significance of Totma.^[2] As a municipal division, the town of district significance of Totma is incorporated within Totemsky Municipal District as Totma Urban Settlement.^[6]

The most important industry in Totma is the food industry.^[13]

Paved roads connect Totma with Vologda via Kadnikov (southwest), Veliky Ustyug via Nyuksenitsa (northeast), and Nikolsk via Imeni Babushkina (east). Before the road between Totma and Veliky Ustyug along the Sukhona was completed in the first decade of the 2000s, the only connection between the towns was via Nikolsk.

The Sukhona is navigable in Totma; however, there is no passenger navigation.

Totma is a historical town which preserved, along with other heritage, several churches which have all similar structure not related to any other region of Russia. A Totma church is a building on which the church proper is based on one side and the bell-tower on the other side so that the construction reminds a ship. This style is sometimes referred to as Totma Baroque.^[14]

Totma contains twelve objects classified as cultural and historical heritage by Russian Federal law and additionally seventy-four objects classified as cultural and historical heritage of local importance.^[15] The town of Totma is classified as a historical town by the Ministry of Culture of Russian Federation, which implies certain restrictions on construction in the historical center.^[16]

The monuments classified as cultural heritage by the federal law are the following:

• The complex of the Resurrection Church and the Assumption Church (1744–1755)
• The Nativity Church (1746–1748)
• The Trinity Church in Zelenskaya Rybatskaya Sloboda (1768–1772)
• The complex of the Church of the Entry into Jerusalem and the Church of St. John the Baptist (1738–1740)
• The Kholodilov House (middle of 19th century)
• The ensemble of Spaso-Sumorin Monastery (1685–1689)
• The town hall
• The house where Anatoly Lunacharsky lived in 1903-1904

Totma hosts five six museums:^[17]

• The Totma Regional Museum, founded in 1915. Feodosy Vakhrushov, a landscape painter, was the founder of the museum, and the museum presents a display of his paintings
• The museum of Church Antiquities
• The House of Ivan Kuskov
• The museum of Sea Explorers (in the building of the Church of the Entry into Jerusalem)
• The museum of artifacts in Spaso-Sumorin Monastery
• The Ship-Building Museum

• Законодательное Собрание Вологодской области. Закон №371-ОЗ от 4 июня 1999 г. «О вопросах административно-территориального устройства Вологодской области», в ред. Закона №2916-ОЗ от 7 декабря 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в Закон области "О вопросах административно-территориального устройства Вологодской области"». Вступил в силу со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Красный Север", №124–125, 29 июля 1999 г. (Legislative Assembly of Vologda Oblast. Law #371-OZ of June 4, 1999 On the Matters of the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Vologda Oblast, as amended by the Law #2916-OZ of December 7, 2012 On Amending the Oblast Law "On the Matters of the Administrative-Territorial Structure of Vologda Oblast". Effective as of the day of the official publication.).
• Правительство Вологодской области. Постановление №178 от 1 марта 2010 г. «Об утверждении реестра административно-территориальных единиц Вологодской области», в ред. Постановления №686 от 25 июня 2012 г. «О внесении изменений в некоторые Постановления Правительства области». Вступил в силу 20 марта 2010 г. Опубликован: "Красный Север", №29, 20 марта 2010 г. (Government of Vologda Oblast. Resolution #178 of March 1, 2010 On Adopting the Registry of the Administrative-Territorial Units of Vologda Oblast, as amended by the Resolution #686 of June 25, 2012 On Amending Various Resolutions of the Oblast Government. Effective as of March 20, 2010.).
• Законодательное Собрание Вологодской области. Закон №1124-ОЗ от 6 декабря 2004 г. «Об установлении границ Тотемского муниципального района, границах и статусе муниципальных образований, входящих в его состав», в ред. Закона №3670-ОЗ от 1 июня 2015 г. «О преобразовании некоторых муниципальных образований Тотемского муниципального района, о внесении изменений в Закон области "Об установлении границ Тотемского муниципального района, границах и статусе муниципальных образований, входящих в его состав" и изменения в Приложение к Закону области "О некоторых вопросах организации и деятельности органов местного самоуправления на территории Вологодской области"». Вступил в силу через 10 дней со дня официального опубликования. Опубликован: "Красный Север", №242, 11 декабря 2004 г. (Legislative Assembly of Vologda Oblast. Law #1124-OZ of December 6, 2004 On Establishing the Borders of Totemsky Municipal District, on the Borders and Status of the Municipal Formations It Comprises, as amended by the Law #3670-OZ of June 1, 2015 On the Transformation of Several Municipal Formations in Totemsky Municipal District, on Amending the Law of the Oblast "On Establishing the Borders of Totemsky Municipal District, on the Borders and Status of the Municipal Formations It Comprises", and on Amending the Appendix to the Law of the Oblast "On Various Issues of Organization and Functioning of the Local Self-Government on the Territory of Vologda Oblast". Effective as of after 10 days from the day of the official publication.).

• Уильям Крафт Брамфилд. Памятники церковной архитектуры Тотемского района (in Russian)
• Totma News Totma News (in Russian)