Kimry, formerly Kimra, is a town in the south of Tver Oblast, Russia, located on the Volga River at its confluence with the Kimrka River, 133km to the east of Tver. Population:HistoryThe town was known as Kimra until the beginning of the 20th century; the name is probably of Finnic or Baltic origin. It was first mentioned in 1546 as a selo belonging to Ivan the Terrible. It belonged to Russian Tsars until 1677 and then was given to the Saltykov family. In 1847, the inhabitants bought themselves out, and Kimra quickly developed into a busy shoemaking and trading village on the left bank of the Volga (a boot appears on the town's coat of arms). Théophile Gautier wrote in his Voyage en Russie (1867): "Kimra est célèbre pour ses bottes comme Ronda pour ses guêtres" (Kimra is famous for its shoes as Ronda for its gaiters). The district on the right bank of the Volga, known as Savyolovo, started to develop in 1901, when a railway connected the place to Moscow. Kimry was granted town status in 1917. A number of old churches and other buildings still exist in the town.