Tushkov

an ancient Russian fortress town and center of a volost (small rural district) in the principality of Mozhaisk. The city was situated on the right bank of the Moskva River at the influx of the Lusianka River, on the site of what is now the village of Tushkov Gorodok in Mozhaisk Raion, Moscow Oblast.

Tushkov is mentioned in an ecclesiastical gramota (charter) of Dmitrii Ivanovich Donskoi. Exavations carried out by A. V. Art-sikhovskii in 1929 and by M. G. Rabinovich in 1950, 1954, and 1957 established that Tushkov arose in the 11th century as a local handicrafts center, producing ironware, cast jewelry, and pottery. In the 14th century, after Lithuania’s conquest of Smolensk, Tushkov became an important border fortress and a western outpost of the Russian lands. Strong new fortifications were built there, some of which have been preserved. A gold ornament found in Tushkov and dating from this period may be from the same set as the Crown of Monomakh, which belonged to the family of the grand prince. In the 16th century, after Smolensk had again become part of the Russian state, Tushkov lost its importance and soon ceased to exist.