Problems of studying the formation of urban space in a medieval russian city (X-XVII century)

The article examines the problematic issue of studying the urban space of typical medieval Russian fortress cities surrounded by a "posad". Consideration of urban space for medieval settlements usually begins with the definition of a settlement as a city based on the main feature – the presence of the Kremlin (detinets). The article examines the emergence of ancient Russian cities and towns of the Volga region, which arose in the period XV–XVII century. It is concluded that there are typical general features in the formation of urban settlements in the early stages of development, and data are provided indicating a repetition of the situation for cities that arose during the expansion of Muscovy to the east in the XV–XVII century. Attention is drawn to the need to identify the primary causes and factors of the emergence of cities – commercial activities and the chronological secondary role of the military-administrative cluster in the formation of urban space in the Middle Ages. Based on the material of studies of the formation of cities, a comparative historical analysis of the processes of the emergence of settlements that preceded the cities of Ancient and Muscovite Russia, confirmations of the economic functions of settlements, was carried out. For a long period in the development of Russian urbanism, urban space was considered as a kind of resultant physical world reflecting the historical process of urban development. However, the very understanding of the primary origin of the settlement space, even if it preceded the city, remained "behind the scenes." At the same time, based on the available research on the cities of medieval Russia, there is sufficient data to establish continuity and direct connection between the pre-urban existence of the settlement and its subsequent transformation into a city.