Veliky Ustyug

Veliky Ustyug (Russia-Вели́кий У́стюг) is a town in Vologda Oblast Russia located at the confluence of the Sukhona and Yug Rivers. Population: 33,419 Yug . It is served by Velikiy Ustyug Airport.

Origin of the town's name: the first recorded settlement here, the monastic settlement at Gleden (Гледен), was created near the point where the Yug River flows into the Sukkona River. Downstream from this confluence the two rivers form a single waterway known as the Northern Dvina By the late fifteenth century the community had acquired the title Great - Veliky (Великий).

The town of Veliky Ustyug was first mentioned in a chronicele in 1207. It was a part of the Vladimir Suzdal principality. Located at the junction of important Trade routes, the city turned into a significant commercial and industrial centre in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Veliky Ustyug lost its key role as a river port with the diminishing importance of the Sukhona river route for trade between China and western Europe. This was particularly exacerbated by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869. The city is known for its remarkable handicrafts, such as silver filigree, birc bark fretwork, decorative copper binding, and niello.

Veliky Ustyug is also the birthplace of Semyion Deznev, Yerofey Khabarov, and Vladimir Atlasov.

In 1998 Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov proposed to officially locate the residence of Ded Moroz in Veliky Ustyug (instead of traditional Laplandia.. There was established a public (ОАО) company "Ded Moroz" to promote Veliky Ustyug as the official residence of Ded Moroz In the forest on Sukhona River, 16 km from Veliky Ustyug there is a resort promoted as the Votchina (In Russian Вотчина, Estate), of of Ded Moroz] . There is a special post office here devoted to answering children mail to Ded Moroz that already answered more than 1.2 million letters. There are plans to build an amusement park "12 Months in the Votchina of Ded Moroz" and a museum "Home of Ded Moroz"