The first mention of Zaraisk in medieval sources occurs in 1146, one year before the earliest reference to Moscow. At that time it was called Osyotr, after the Osyotr River, a small tributary of the Oka. By the beginning of the 13th century the settlement was known as Krasny, a word that means “red,” but also meant “beautiful” in medieval Russia.

But this fair reputation did not spare the future Zaraisk from the cataclysm that struck the Russian lands with the invasion of the Mongol armies of Batu Khan in the late 1230s. The fate of Krasny was closely linked to that of the thriving city of Ryazan, some 40 miles to the southeast.

Reliable historical information is sparse for this period, and fact and legend are often intertwined. In early December 1237 the forces of Batu Khan approached Ryazan, which they stormed and devastated after defeating the forces of Prince Yury, the ruler of Ryazan. The prince was himself killed in the battle.

This bare account was richly elaborated in a work called “The Tale of the Destruction of Ryazan,” attributed to a priest at the Church of St. Nicholas in Zaraisk. In this tale, Prince Yury sent his son Fyodor to negotiate with Batu Khan, but the Mongol leader had no reason to relent.

Cathedral of St. Nicholas | Photo: William Brumfield Cathedral of St. Nicholas | Photo: William Brumfield

Hearing of the beauty of Fyodor’s wife Eupraxia, Batu made offensive proposals that were firmly rejected by Fyodor. When Eupraxia learned of her husband’s death at the hands of the Mongols, she leapt from a tower with her infant son rather than submit to Mongol capture. By some accounts, her death occurred at the site subsequently occupied by the Church of St. Nicholas in Zaraisk.

By the late 15th century, Muscovy had finally succeeded in freeing itself from subservience to the Golden Horde, but its southern lands were increasingly vulnerable to raids by Crimean Tatars.

In response to the Crimean threat, Tsar Vasily III (1479-1533) strengthened the southern borders with a fortified line anchored by fortress towns. After Ryazan was absorbed into Muscovy, work began on a brick and limestone kremlin in the center of Zaraisk. Built between 1528 and 1531, the rectangular Zaraisk kremlin is a gem of Russian fortress architecture. Its imposing brick walls are reinforced by four corner towers as well as three gate towers — all originally without the peaked wooden caps added much later.

The fortress repulsed several Crimean Tatar attacks, but Zaraisk was not left in peace. It played a significant role in the Time of Troubles, a conflict that was part civil war and part dynastic struggle involving Polish claimants that lasted over a decade.

Cathedral of St. Nicholas, interior | Photo: William Brumfield Cathedral of St. Nicholas, interior | Photo: William Brumfield