The unification of Russia into a centralized state and the expansion of its borders in the XVI - XVII centuries were a powerful impetus for the formation of many new cities. The predominant type of urban systems were fortified cities with traditional elements-the center (fortress, Kremlin) and villages (posad, sloboda). The construction of such cities in the XVI-XVII centuries is typical for the Volga region, the Urals and Western Siberia. Ancient Russian cities were also rebuilt according to the same type. Historians of urban planning have defined them as "fortress cities of the XVI-XVII centuries" 1. However, they did not become the only type of urban systems, as evidenced by the cities of the Kama region at that time. The Kama region before its full annexation to Russia consisted of two historical regions. The upper Kama region was occupied by early Novgorod colonies within the appanage of the Grand Permian Principality, which was formed in the XIV century. The Lower and Middle Kama region, even after joining the Russian state, was called the "Meadow Side of the Kazan Kingdom". Documents show that in the Kama region already in those days there was an urban culture. There are, for example, such urban settlements of Perm Velikaya as Iskor, Cherdyn and Solikamsk 2 . In the Kazan Kingdom, there were also urban-type settlements where crafts, trade, and various crafts developed .3In the Kama region, by the 16th century, government activities were directed not at building cities for the settlement of Russian posadsky people, but at building a large number of defensive border points (Laishevo, cities of the Zakamskaya "zasechnaya zemlya")4 , as well as small guard and military-administrative villages - fortresses, forts, "towns". They helped to strengthen the power of the Russian state on the ground, served as a support for the submission of documents.- 1 See L. M. Tverskoy. Russkoe gorodostroitelstvo do kontsa XVII V. [Russian Urban Planning until the end of the 17th ce ... Читать далее