Aleksey Igorevich Razdorskiy,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, Russia, St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Saint Petersburg, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Round Table “Disappeared Cities of Russia: Problems of Preserving Historical Memory”
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2026-1-25
Currently, there are 1 140 cities in the Russian Federation. However, in addition to the existing ones in the country, there were many cities that disappeared at different times and for different reasons. Some cities were destroyed because of wars and never recovered, others fell into disrepair and were abandoned by the inhabitants, some were flooded during the construction of reservoirs, some turned into rural settlements, and some became part of other cities. Preserving the historical memory of such vanished cities is an important task facing institutions of science, education and culture, public organizations, and local historians. On February 11, 2026, a round table meeting “Disappeared cities of Russia: Problems of preserving historical memory” was held at the National Library of Russia. The event was attended by specialists from the National Library of Russia, the St. Petersburg Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as representatives of regional museums, libraries, universities and public organizations from Belgorod, Zheleznogorsk-Ilimsky, Konakovo, Naryan-Mar, Rybinsk, Tver and Yakutsk. The participants of the meeting presented brief historical information about the disappeared cities that existed in various regions of the country: Zashiversk, Ilimsk, Pustozersk, Mologa, Korchev, about the fortress cities that were located in the 17th century on the Belgorod defensive line and then turned into villages, as well as about the Swedish fortress of Nyenschantz with the adjacent city of Nyen, which were located on the territory of St. Petersburg. At the meeting, speakers shared their experience in preserving the historical memory of these settlements and popularizing information about them.
Publishing: 28/02/2026
The article has been received by the editor on 25/02/2026
How to cite: Razdorskiy A.I. Round Table “Disappeared Cities of Russia: Problems of Preserving Historical Memory” // Historical Courier, 2026, No. 1 (45), pp. 313−326. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2026/ISTKURIER-2026-1-25.pdf]
Links: Issue 1 2026
Keywords: regional history; local history; historical urbanism; vanished cities