Bryansk (
Russian ??????) is a
city in
Russia, located 379&_160;km southwest from
Moscow. It is the administrative center of
Bryansk Oblast. Population 431,526 (
2002 Census).
The first written mention of Bryansk was in 1146, in the Hypatian Codex, as Debryansk (appears variously as ?????????, ?????????, and in other spellings).[1] Its name is derived from "?????", a Slavic word for "ditch", "lowland" or "dense woodland"[2][3]; the area was known for its dense woods, ???????? ????, of which very little remains today. Local authorities and archaeologists, however, believe that the town had existed as early as 985 as a fortified settlement on the right bank of the Desna River.
Bryansk remained poorly attested until the Mongol invasion of Russia. It was the northernmost of the Severian cities in the possession of the Chernigov Rurikids. After Mikhail of Chernigov was murdered by the Mongols and his capital was destroyed, his son moved his seat to Bryansk. In 1310, when the Mongols sacked the town again, it belonged to the principality of Smolensk.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the economy of Bryansk, which had become a regional trading center, was based on the Svenskaya fair, the largest in Western Russia. The fair was held annually under the auspices of the Svensky Monastery. After canon and ammunition started to be manufactured there for the Imperial Russian Navy in 1783, Bryansk evolved from a regional market town into an important industrial center for metallurgy and textiles. The city's population exceeded 30,000 by 1917.
