''Pogost'' (russian: погост, from

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

: погостъ) is a historical term with several meanings in the

Russian language Russian (russian: русский язык, russkij jazyk, link=no, ) is an East Slavic language mainly spoken in Russia. It is the native language of the Russians, and belongs to the Indo-European language family. It is one of four living E ...

. It has also been borrowed into Latgalian (''pogosts''), Finnish (''pogosta'') and Latvian (''pagasts''), with specific meanings. The original usage applies to the

coaching inn The coaching inn (also coaching house or staging inn) was a vital part of Europe's inland transport infrastructure until the development of the railway, providing a resting point ( layover) for people and horses. The inn served the needs of tr ...

for princes and ecclesiastics with the word being similar to modern Russian ''gost (гость), "guest". It is assumed that originally ''pogosts'' were rural communities on the periphery of the ancient Rus` state, as well as trading centers (Old Russian: ''gost'ba'', гостьба). In the end of the 10th century ''pogosts'' transformed into administrative and territorial districts. ''Pogosts'' varied in size, ranging from tens to hundreds of villages in 11th—14th centuries. As Christianity spread in Russia, churches were built in ''pogosts''. In 1775 the last ''pogosts'' that served as administrative districts were destroyed. Since then they became known as city ''pogosts'' (погосто - место), functioning as parish centers. In the central ''

uyezd An uezd (also spelled uyezd; rus, уе́зд, p=ʊˈjest), or povit in a Ukrainian context ( uk, повіт), or Kreis in Baltic-German context, was a type of administrative subdivision of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, the Russian Empire, and the ea ...

s'' of 15th-16th centuries ''pogosts'' were small settlements with a church and a graveyard, like

Kizhi Kizhi ( rus, Ки́жи, p=ˈkʲiʐɨ, krl, Kiži) is an island near the geometrical center of Lake Onega in the Republic of Karelia ( Medvezhyegorsky District), Russia. It is elongated from north to south and is about long, wide and is about ...

Pogost or Kadnikov Pogost. In modern Russian, ''pogosts'' usually designate a combination of a rural church and a graveyard, situated at some distant place.

Usage in Finland and Latvia

The central village of the Finnish ''

kunta The Kountas or Kuntas (singular: ''Elkentawi'' or ''Alkanata'') are described originally as Arabs, descendants of Uqba ibn Nafi,. The Kunta tribe are also considered to have roots to Sidi Ahmad al-Bakkay, the founder, who died in the early 16th ...

'' (‘municipality’) of Ilomantsi is usually called the pogosta of Ilomantsi (''Ilomantsin pogosta''), the word being obviously a borrowing from Russian. The local dialect of Finnish shows strong Russian influence, and there is a strong presence of Orthodox Christians in the municipality. Even the name of the local newspaper is ''Pogostan Sanomat'' ("The Pogosta News"), and a certain viral disease is locally called the

Pogosta disease Pogosta disease is a viral disease. The symptoms of the disease usually include rash, as well as mild fever and other flu-like symptoms; in most cases the symptoms last less than 5 days. However, in some cases, the patients develop a painful a ...

. In modern Finnish language, ''

pogosta ''Pogost'' (russian: погост, from Old East Slavic: погостъ) is a historical term with several meanings in the Russian language. It has also been borrowed into Latgalian (''pogosts''), Finnish (''pogosta'') and Latvian (''pagasts' ...

'' is also used in references to historical places, as a historical synonym for "

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or ...

" or "

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

" in

Karelia Karelia ( Karelian and fi, Karjala, ; rus, Каре́лия, links=y, r=Karélija, p=kɐˈrʲelʲɪjə, historically ''Korjela''; sv, Karelen), the land of the Karelian people, is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance fo ...

n and Russian contexts. Pagasts is the name for a basic unit of local self-government in the Republic of

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

. The word "pagasts" is a commonly used Latvian word equivalent to civil parish, rural municipality or small rural district, originating in the Russian ''pogost''. There are 432 rural municipalities or ''pagasti'' in

References

{{coord, 61.2, N, 42.0833, E, source:kolossus-itwiki, display=title History of the administrative divisions of Russia Rural geography Russian-language designations of territorial entities