Solvychegodsk

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Solvychegodsk is a town in Kotlassky District, Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia. It sits on the right bank of the Vychegda River, about 25 kilometers northeast of Kotlas. The population was 2,460 in 2010 and about 1,858 in 2023.

The town was founded in the 14th century near Lake Solyonoye. In the 15th century it was known as Usolye posad. In 1515 Anikey Stroganov began salt production here, helping his family become wealthy. In the 16th and 17th centuries Solvychegodsk was a major commercial, craft, and cultural center in Northern Russia, especially famous for enamel work. It was looted by Polish-Lithuanian raiders in 1613.

In 1796 Solvychegodsk became part of Vologda Governorate. It was also a place of political exile; Joseph Stalin was exiled here for seven months in 1908 and for another seventeen months in 1911. In 1937 the town was transferred to Arkhangelsk Oblast. In 1992 the remains of peasants who died in 1930 while being moved to exile were reburied in the town cemetery, with a memorial added in 1994.

Administratively, Solvychegodsk is the town of district significance within Kotlassky District. Municipally it forms Solvychegodskoye Urban Settlement, together with several nearby rural areas, totaling 93 rural localities.

The Vychegda River is navigable near the town. In summer there is regular passenger navigation between Kotlas and Soyga. There is no railway in Solvychegodsk; the railway station is in Vychegodsky, on the Kotlas–Vorkuta line. A car ferry crosses to the right bank of the Vychegda, connected by an unpaved road to the Kotlas–Koryazhma road, and there is also an unpaved road upstream to Yarensk.

Solvychegodsk has protected cultural heritage sites: nine federal monuments and 33 local monuments. It is classified as a historical town, which restricts construction in the center. The town’s museum, the Solvychegodsk Museum of Art and History, is housed in the former Annunciation Cathedral. There is also a small private museum dedicated to Kozma Prutkov, a fictional author said to be born in Solvychegodsk. The area is known for balneological resorts that use mineral springs and silt mud from Lake Solyanoye.