Buy (in English) Буй (Russian) |
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Location of Kostroma Oblast in Russia |
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Administrative status (as of April 2014) | |
Country | Russia |
Federal subject | Kostroma Oblast |
Administratively subordinated to | town of oblast significance of Buy |
Administrative center of | Buysky District, town of oblast significance of Buy |
Municipal status (as of March 2014) | |
Urban okrug | Buy Urban Okrug |
Administrative center of | Buy Urban Okrug, Buysky Municipal District |
Statistics | |
Population (2010 Census) | 25,763 inhabitants |
Time zone | MSK (UTC+03:00) |
Founded | 1536 |
Town status since | 1778 |
Postal code(s) | 157000 |
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Buy (Russian: Буй) is a town in Kostroma Oblast, Russia, which stands on the Kostroma River. Population: 25,763 (2010 Census);27,392 (2002 Census);32,701 (1989 Census).
Buy was originally a trading post and protected by a hill fortress of Finno-Ugrian Meri people c. 400–500 CE. Its original Meri name is not known, but in Finnish language it was called either Vuoksensuu or Vieksansuu (lit. Mouth of Vuoksi/Vieksa). It was inhabited by the Finno-Ugrian peoples at least up to the Mongol invasion of Russia in 1237–1238. During the Mongol threat, some inhabitants of Kostroma sought refuge in Buy, and it seems that they renamed the place Buy (Vui, Bui) instead of using the Finno-Ugrian name which was difficult for them to pronounce, but the origin of the Russian name comes from the old Meri name.
Modern Buy was founded in 1536 as a fortified point at the confluence of the Kostroma and the Vyoksa Rivers. The fortified point was built according to the order of Yelena Glinskaya, the regentess of Russia at that time and the mother of Ivan the Terrible, to defend the eastern frontiers of the Grand Duchy of Moscow from the raids by Kazan Tatars and others. However, twenty years after its construction, the fortress lost its military significance, as Kazan was taken and the raids ceased.
During Buy's first three and a half centuries, the population scarcely exceeded 2,000. Except for officials and priests, most inhabitants were peasants and small craftsmen. Cottage industries included pottery, iron, leather, felt, wool, carpentry, painting, blacksmithing, and oil pressing. These products were primitive and distribution was local; even export to a neighboring area was considered a commercial success.