VYATKA, capital of the above government, is situated on the Vyatka river, 653 miles to the north-east of Moscow. It is built mostly of wood, on the steep hills which rise above the river, as well as on their slopes and at their base. Its old walls have been demolished, and its old churches built anew. Two public gardens, a small public library, and the usual educational institutions of a Russian provincial town are all that it can boast of. Its manufactures are insignificant, but its trade in corn, leather, tallow, candles, soap, wax, paper, and furs (exported), and in all kinds of manufactured and grocery wares (imported), is important. The population in 1885 was 24,480.

Vyatka was founded in 1181 by the Novgorodians, under the name of Klitynoff, for the purpose of maintaining their dominion among; the Votiaks, Tcheremisses, and Tartars. The squirrel and beaver furs, especially the latter (beaver being then common in the region), and the Vyatka horses, as also wax and honey, were the chief attractions for trade ; and, notwithstanding the dangers then encountered on the route to Vyatka and Perm, via Vologda, the Novgorod merchants and uloshitiniki (plundering merchants) willingly visited Vyatka and settled there. The town soon grew around the fort, and had to be enclosed within new walls. In 1391 it was plundered by the Tartars, and again in 1477. The power of Novgorod was decaying, and the Moscow princes, always pursuing the same policy of intrigue, and showing themselves ready to take up the cause of the poorer classes against the richer merchants, made advantageous Ilse of internal struggles, and annexed Klitynoff to Moscow in 1489. It received the name of Vyatka in 1780.
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