Mologa

Coordinates: 58°11.98′N 38°26.47′E / 58.19967°N 38.44117°E / 58.19967; 38.44117

Mologa (Russian: Моло́га) was a town in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia, formerly situated at the confluence of Mologa and Volga Rivers, but now submerged under the waters of the Rybinsk Reservoir.

Mologa existed at least since the 12th century. It was a part of the Principality of Rostov in the early 13th century. Later on, the town was annexed by the Principality of Yaroslavl. In 1321, it became the center of an independent principality. Soon after that, Ivan III annexed Mologa in favor of the Muscovy. Thereupon Mologa's rulers moved to Moscow, where they have been known as Princes Prozorovsky and Shakhovskoy.

In the late 15th century, they relocated a fair from Kholopiy Gorodok (a town 55 km north of Mologa) to Mologa. After that, Mologa turned into one of the most important Russian trade centers with the Asian countries. According to an account by Sigismund von Herberstein, there was a fortress in Mologa.

Mologa River

The Mologa (Russian: Молога) is a river in Maksatikhinsky, Bezhetsky, Lesnoy, and Sandovsky Districts of Tver Oblast, Pestovsky District in Novgorod Oblast, and Ustyuzhensky and Cherepovetsky Districts in Vologda Oblast Russia. It is a left tributary of the Volga River. The lower course of the Mologa has been turned into the Rybinsk Reservoir. It is 456 kilometres (283 mi) long, and the area of its basin 29,700 square kilometres (11,500 sq mi). The principal tributaries of the Mologa are the Osen (right), the Volchina (left), the Kobozha (left), the Chagodoshcha (left) and the Sit (right, now it is a tributary of the Rybinsk Reservoir).

The towns of Bezhetsk, Pestovo, and Ustyuzhna, and the urban-type settlement of Maksatikha are on the banks of the Mologa River. A historic town of Mologa used to stand at the confluence of the Mologa river with the Volga, but it was submerged under water as the Rybinsk Reservoir was filled between 1939 and 1947. The town of Vesyegonsk was also previously on the banks of the Mologa, however, it was relocated when the Rybinsk Reservoir was filled, and is on the banks of the reservoir.