Vasilsursk (russian: Васильсу́рск) is an urban locality (a work settlement) in

Vorotynsky District Vorotynsky District (russian: Вороты́нский райо́н) is an administrative district ( raion), one of the forty in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Russia.Order #3-od Municipally, it is incorporated as Vorotynsky Municipal District.Resolut ...

Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Nizhny Novgorod Oblast (russian: link=no, Нижегородская область, ''Nizhegorodskaya oblast''), is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Nizhny Novgorod. It has a population of 3,31 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

, located on the Sura River, not far from its fall into the

Volga The Volga (; russian: Во́лга, a=Ru-Волга.ogg, p=ˈvoɫɡə) is the longest river in Europe. Situated in Russia, it flows through Central Russia to Southern Russia and into the Caspian Sea. The Volga has a length of , and a catchm ...

History

View to the Sura (left) and to the Volga (right) Rivers in Vasilsursk (July 2010)

Kuruk Mari Hill Mari or Western Mari (, ''Mary jÿlmÿ'') is a Uralic languages, Uralic language closely related to Northwestern Mari language, Northwestern Mari and Meadow Mari language, Meadow Mari. With the first of them Hill Mari joins a Western Mari ...

(a tribe of

Mari people The Mari ( chm, мари; russian: марийцы, mariytsy) are a Finnic peoples, Finnic people, who have traditionally lived along the Volga and Kama River, Kama rivers in Russia. Almost half of Maris today live in the Mari El republic, with si ...

) wooden fortress named Tsepel used to stand where Vasilsursk is now located. Russians captured it after bloody fight in 1523 from

Kuruk Maris Hill Mari or Western Mari (, ''Mary jÿlmÿ'') is a Uralic language closely related to Northwestern Mari and Meadow Mari. With the first of them Hill Mari joins a Western Mari group. Hill Mari is spoken in the Gornomariysky, Yurinsky and Ki ...

and established on its site a small settlement. The fort here was used as an advanced base during the

Russo-Kazan Wars The Russo-Kazan Wars was a series of wars fought between the Grand Duchy of Moscow and the Khanate of Kazan from 1439, until Kazan was finally conquered by the Tsardom of Russia under Ivan the Terrible in 1552. General Before it separated from ...

Climate

Vasilsursk has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freez ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

''Dfb'') with long cold winters and warm, often hot dry summers. The warmest month is July with daily mean temperature near , the coldest month is January .

Population

Transportation

In warmer months, a ferry operates between Vasilsursk and the settlement of Lysaya Gora. During winter, passengers are transported by amphibious boats Khivus-10.

Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility

The Sura Ionospheric Heating Facility, an ionospheric research facility, is located near Vasilsursk.

References

{{Use mdy dates, date=December 2012 Urban-type settlements in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast Vasilsursky Uyezd Populated places established in 1523 1523 establishments in Europe 16th-century establishments in Russia