Taldom (Russian: Та́лдом) is a town in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located 110 kilometers (68 mi) north of Moscow, on a suburban railway connecting Moscow to Savyolovo. Population: 13,819 (2010 census); 13,334 (2002 census); 14,410 (1989 Soviet census). It is located within the Moscow Standard Time Zone (GMT+3).
Between 1918 and 1929, it was known as Leninsk.
Etymology
The origin of the town's name remains controversial. There are three main theories: Finno-Ugric, Tatar and Russian. According to the first one, the word has Finno-Ugric (Meryan or Karelian) roots and originates from words with the root "tal" (talo - house; talous - household). It should be understood that the Meryan language is extinct and attempts to restore it remain controversial. On the old maps of 18th and 19th centuries the village is named Taldoma (rus. Талдома). In Karelian and Veps languages -oma means land.
The Tatar version is connected with an old urban legend about a certain Tatar prince Taldu, who allegedly stayed or even ruled here during the Mongol invasion or later, when these lands were given over to the Kasimov Tatars. There is also a linguistic justification of the Tatar theory. According to it, the word Taldom comes from the Kipchak root meaning a nomad camp.
The Russian theory is folk. It is based on people's ignorance of Finno-Ugric or Turkic roots in the past. According to it, a priest was passing by the place and saw smoke from a bonfire on the site of the future town and said: "There is a smoke" (rus. Там дым, Tam dym). It was transformed into Taldom.
In the story "Shoes" (rus. Башмаки, Bashmaki), M. M. Prishvin refers to the versions of the Taldom priest of the early 20th century, M. Krestnikov. According to one of them: "Taldom is a Tatar word and means nomad camp," another: "Taldom is Finnish and means yellow soil." According to the folk version: "Taldom — it was set a new house" (rus. Талдом — стал (новый) дом, Taldom — stal (novy) dom). This theory is also based on the wordplay.
History
Taldom district has been inhabited since the Prehistoric times, but Taldom was first mentioned as a village only in 1677. Formally it remained a village until 1918 but in fact it gained the population of an awerage town in the middle of the 19th century.
Before the foundation of the village
No older settlements have been found on the territory of the town. Although the surroundings of Taldom have been inhabited since the late Stone Age. No comprehensive archaeological work has been carried out on the territory of the town. Not even any treasures were found.
Taldom in the 17-19th centuries
The first mention of the toponym dates back to 1650. In the census of the wastelands of Lukian Mizintsov, boyar son from Kashin. Taldom was first mentioned as a village in 1677. This fact is widely recognized by local historians, because there is no mention of a village called Taldom in the Kashinskaya Pistsovaya Kniga (the scrible book of Kashin) of 1627–1629. However, in the scribal book of Kashin from 1677, there is a mention of one. Taldom was founded on the banks of the Taldomka creek (basin of Kuyminka, Dubna, and Volga). In 1677, there were only seven families living there. Therefore, there were seven yards with 38 inhabitants. The village belonged to Archbishop Simeon of Tver and Kashin. Because of the poor soils people here worked as skinners and tanners. So it was an artisan village.
From 1677 to 1688, Taldom was a part of the Kimry Palace Volost. Until the year of 1764 it was a property of the Archbishop of Tver and Kashin. In 1680, a wooden church was built (by local historian Leo Krylov). The church was built up to 1717. Between 1688 and 1719 Taldom was a part of Gostunskaya volost (rus. Гостунская волость) of Kashin uezd. Since the year 1702, Taldom was part of the Governatory of Ingermanland, which since 1711 became the Governatory of St. Petersburg. Since 1719, it was the part of Uglich Province. In 1727 Uglich Province became a part of the Governatory of Moscow.
Thought that the present-day District of Taldom is a part of the medieval Grand Duchy of Tver. The town itself was economically closer to Yaroslavl until the mid-20th century when it became closer to Moscow due to internal migrations.
After the Secularisation reform of Cathrene the Great in 1764, Taldom became an economical settlement (rus. экономическое поселение, economicheskoye poseleniye) belonged to the College of Economics of the Sinodal Bord. After this, Taldom became a trading village. In 1776, the Kalyazinsky uezd was formed as part of the Tver Governorate, which included the village of Taldom. Taldom volost was formed around it.
In 1778, a fire broke out in the village of Taldom. Many houses and a church burned down. In 1780, the church was rebuilt in wood, and in 1795 it was rebuilt in stone. In 1808, the stone church was consecrated. In 1829, there were 30 yards in Taldom. In 1835, there were 41 yards. In 1859, more than 1,000 people (508 men and 537 women) lived in Taldom, and there were 147 households. However, despite the rapid population growth, Taldom remained a village. This growth temporarily stopped in 1869, when the second major fire occurred in Taldom, which, according to the testimony of the clerk of the Ermolino estate of Saltykovs, V. I. Bylinin, destroyed up to 155 houses. The village burned 2 times within 4 days. According to Bylinin, "clean fields were created." However, by the 1880s the village had recovered. After the abolition of serfdom in 1861, the influx of labor and the growing demand for shoes further contributed to the development of the shoe industry in the Taldom. Taldom becomes the center of shoe trade. If at the beginning of the 19th century fairs were held in Taldom 2 times a year, by the end of the 19th century these fairs turned into regular weekly auctions, attracting numerous shoe buyers from all over Russia. The trade was held in tents near the St. Michael's Church on the Trading (rus. Торговая, Torgovaya) Square (now Karl Marx Square). In the 18th century, "bricks" (rus. кирпичи, kirpichi) were produced here - men's shoes with a clay lining. Then came the technology of manufacturing "ostashi" (rus. осташи) (boots with high tops made of rough, unpainted leather). In the 19th century, the manufacture of corduroy and velvet shoes with fur began. By the end of the 19th century, the city was making shoes of various kinds, ranging from children's and ladies' shoes to wading and army boots. On October 4, 1877, the Zemstvo (local) hospital with surgical, therapeutic and infectious diseases buildings, with an outpatient clinic and office apartments for medical staff (as of 1906) was opened. In 1887, the Church of St. Michael the Archangel was rebuilt according to the project of P. A. Vinogradov.
The heyday of the village between 1888 and 1918
By 1888, Taldom had a volost (parish) board, a postal and telegraph office, a postal station, a medical assistant station, three blacksmith shops, and eight shoemaking workshops. Residents and guests of the village are served by two guesthouses, three inns, a tavern, three wine shops, forty colonial and small shops. There were 180 shoe-making workshops, 5 wholesale shoe warehouses, an oil mill, a steam mill, 2 sawmills, 4 brick factories, and a shoe-brick factory in Taldom and the district (since 1910).There were 2 zemstvo and 1 volost school, and since 1906 a two-set a ministerial school, an orphanage for 21 children, 12 teahouses, 4 beerhouses.
Shoemaking and furriery are flourishing. By this time, there is an urban legend that a certain French woman came to the village, who bought a pair of fashionable "Romanian" boots here. According to legend, a foreigner could only take out one pair of shoes from Russia. So this French woman threw away her shoes and bought two pairs. She put one on her feet, and took the other to France for sale. By selling a second pair of shoes there, she allegedly paid off her trip to Russia. This legend speaks about the high quality of Taldom shoes. However, those shoes were really famous abroad: in France and in Italy. The competitors of the villagers were residents of the neighboring Kimry, also known for their shoe products. In addition, Moscow craftsmen tried to oust the shoe market of Taldom and Kimry handicrafts. Muscovites came up with various tall tales about how bad the neighbors' shoes were and how good were their. However, this did not affect the sales volume of Taldom shoes. On the contrary, sales volumes only grew every year. Taldom and Kimry competed for the title of the "shoe capital" of Russia.
At this time, not only Orthodox Christians live in Taldom, but also a significant proportion of Old Believers. In particular, representatives of one of the most respected and wealthy families of the village, the Volkovs, came from the Old Believers. The Old Believers' Church was located on the site of a modern monument to the soviet partisan Zina Golitsyna. However, until 1905, the Old Believers were persecuted in Russia as heretics. It was only in 1906, after the introduction of religious tolerance in Russia, that the Old Believers were able to transform the prayer house into a church. There was also an Old Believers' cemetery, on the site of which a cultural center was built in Soviet times. During the Soviet times most of the Old Believers abandoned their religion for atheism or Orthodoxy.
In 1894, a private Pashkevich's pharmacy was opened in Taldom, and a year later a six-bed zemstvo (local) hospital was built. Wooden shopping malls have been built. I.I.Bychkov's company was founded, which sells children's, ladies' and men's shoes. In 1897, the first public library named after Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna was opened in Taldom. In 1901, the Savyolovskaya branch of the Moscow Railway passed through Taldom, connecting the village with Dmitrov, Degunino, Moscow and Kimry (Savyolovo). Thanks to the efforts of a group of merchants, the railway did not pass by the village, as planned at the beginning, but through it. In 1907, the export of leather shoes by railway alone from Taldom station amounted to 31,000 pounds or 350,000 pairs. In addition to shoe production, tailoring, furriery, and felting industries were developed, as well as logging for firewood and timber. In 1906, the Kashin trakt was paved. This made the logistics of the village as profitable as possible. In 1907, the first street lamp appeared on the streets of the village. In 1912, the post office acquired its own building.
Active brick construction in the Art Nouveau style began in 1907. Obviously, this fashion was borrowed from the neighboring Kimry. In turn, she came to Kimry from St. Petersburg. The village center is actively being rebuilt in brick style. One of the first surviving civilian brick building was the apartment building of merchant N. F. Kisilev (45 Saltykov-Shchedrin Street). Kisilev was engaged in roofing production, on which he made capital, which allowed him to build a magnificent mansion. There was a shoe store and a restaurant on the ground floor. On the second floor are the living rooms of the owners. After nationalization during the Soviet era, a school was opened in the house, where Kisilev's son Nikolai taught. The building now houses a library.