Pustozersk (russian: Пустозерск ,

Tundra Nenets Tundra Nenets is a Uralic languages, Uralic language spoken in European Russia and North-Western Siberia. It is the largest and best-preserved language in the Samoyedic languages, Samoyedic group. Tundra Nenets is closely related to the Nganasan ...

: Санэр” харад, ''Sadėr’’ harad'') or Pustozyorsk () was the first town built by Russians north of the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. It was the administrative center of Yugra and Pechora regions of tsarist Russia. It was situated in what is today Nenets Autonomous Okrug, about 20 km south-west of Naryan-Mar. Pustozersk was founded in 1499 in the lower reaches of the

Pechora River ; Komi: Печӧра; Nenets: Санэроˮ яха , name_etymology = The Russian name of the river is a combination of two words in an old local Nenets dialect, "pe" & "chora". Literally it means "forest dweller". , image ...

by Princes Semyon Kurbsky and Pyotr Ushaty. The town was built in a deserted area on barren soil, hence the name Pustozersk, which literally means "place of empty lakes", from пустых (of empty) + озер (lakes) + -ск (word ending for a place-name). It was the most distant northern outpost of Muscovy and the first Russian settlement on the Pechora. Pustozersk was supposed to play the role of a military fort on the northern borders of the Russian state. Beginning in 1644, the city was frequently attacked by Samoyedic peoples. Pustozersk had been the administrative center of Pustozersk volost for more than two and a half centuries (until 1780). The town was most active in the 17th century, when such notable people as Artamon Matveyev, Vasily Galitzine, and Avvakum were exiled there. The spot where the latter was burnt at the stake is now commemorated by an ornate wooden cross. In the 18th century, Pustozersk gradually lost its economic importance and began to deteriorate because a more convenient southern route to Siberia through the Urals had been discovered. In 1924, Pustozersk lost city status and was described as "not a city, but an ordinary, small northern village, numbering 25-30 houses and about forty non-residential buildings." During World War II, 41 residents fought in the war, of which 19 were killed. During the war, the population increased to 106, mostly from refugees, however after the war, the population dropped to 28 in 1951, and just 6 in 1959. The last residents left in 1962. The wooden Church of Transfiguration is the only structure that remained after the abandonment of Pustozeorsk. It was moved to the nearby village of

Ustye Ustye (russian: У́стье) may refer to several places in Russia: Arkhangelsk Oblast * Ustye, Arkhangelsk Oblast, a village in Ryabovsky Selsoviet of Lensky District Chuvash Republic * Ustye, Chuvash Republic, a ''selo'' in Pitishevskoye Rural ...

, located on the Lake Gorodetskoye. File:Avaakum Pustozersk.JPG, The memorial crosses on the site of Pustozyersk, placed where Avvakum was burned File:CEM-15-Asia-Mercator-1595-Russia-2533.jpg, ''Pustozera'' on the ''Petzora'' River, just north of the

, on a Mercator's map published in 1595 File:Raskop Pustozersk.JPG, Vestiges of archeological excavations

References

{{Authority control Defunct towns in Russia Rural localities in Nenets Autonomous Okrug Populated places of Arctic Russia Former populated places in Russia Populated places established in the 1490s Cultural heritage monuments in Nenets Autonomous Okrug Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of federal significance Tourist attractions in Nenets Autonomous Okrug