Kolomna is an ancient town – it was first mentioned in the Russian chronicles in 1177, which date is now considered to be Kolomna’s birthday. The town is located at the confluence of the Moskva and Oka rivers, tying upstream and lowstream waters of these two important river routes of Central Russia. Since Kolomna was on the straight way to the Volga river, it emerged as a place for trades and crafts. Being a frontier town, Kolomna served as a protective shield for Ryazan against Prince Vladimir’s invasions, and then for Moscow against Crimean and Kazan Tatars, who frequently attacked the city. Political situation made princes fortify Kolomna, and in 1525 they started building stone Kolomna Kremlin, making the town an unassailable citadel. Kolomna Kremlin had 17 towers, including ones with passages, and proved to be a reliable protective shelter. From the beginning of time Kolomna was a rendezvous point for Russian military forces before battles. This was the place, where Dmitry Donskoy gathered his brigades heading for Kulikovo Pole, and Ivan III blunted attacks of Crimean Tatars, while Ivan the Terrible formed cohorts for his Kazan campaign.

In XVIII century, when state borders were moved southwards, Kolomna lost its strategic significance and slowly turned to a rich commercial town. Local merchants became intermediates between Moscow and Saint Peterburg in trade operations with southern regions and western markets.

In 1708 Kolomna became part of Moscow goverment (guberniya) and in 1781 received its coat-of-arms, which is still known to be Kolomna’s historical symbol.

When a railway connected Moscow and Saratov, and machine works were built in 1863, Kolomna transformed from commercial to industrial town. At the dawn of their history Kolomna’s machine works were one of the largest engineering enterprises in Russia. The works and the town met following century together – steam and diesel locomotives, freight cars, tank cars and trams came off the line, and in 1907 first motor ship in the world was born there.

Kolomna’s population of the XIX – XX centuries was merchant and bourgeois, with many working people dwelling in suburbs. In 1914 the town had as many as 30 small and medium industrial enterprises processing metal, wood, silk, hemp and flax, leather and food and producing garments and footwear. Its further growth Kolomna owes to town’s outskirts, where population was actively involved into local industry. The Great October Socialist Revolution, World and Civil wars have killed almost two thirds of Kolomna’s population, however the town survived and was on demand during infancy of the Soviet state.

Administrative-territorial reform of 1929 eliminated Kolomna’s district town status, thus giving it administrative centre authority of Kolomensky township of Moscow region. In early thirties of XX century the town took over several neighbouring small villages, thus growing six-fold in territory compared to the twenties and three-fold in population reaching 75 thousand people.

However, rapid development of the town was abruptly cut with the Great Patriotic War. About two thousand communists went to the front, and all town’s industrial enterprises switched to production for military purposes during two eleven-hour shifts per day. During iron years of war Kolomna was a centre for forming military troops and forces and lost almost every fifth citizen in the hell of battles.

The end of the War allowed starting conversion from military production. In 1967 the town hosted 22 large and medium industrial enterprises.

Postwar Kolomna has grown in size and absorbed neighbouring village, stepping across the Oka river and entering eight largest towns of Moscow region with population exceeding 100 thousand people. Population growth, due to working and specialized human resources, conradicted with Kolomna’s historic borders, causing town’s unavoidable extension. In sixties and seventies of XX century Kolomna obtained absolutely new look – residential areas and social infrastructure appeared: schools, cultural and sport institutions, hospitals and shops were built to meet requirements of fast growing population.

After the war Kolomna has developed into one of the largest industrial centres of Russia, however, during nineties of the last century it shared the fate of the whole country – Kolomna entered the complicated period of market transformations. Industrial output has dropped significantly, making town’s industrial giants suffer. At the dawn of new millennium Kolomna’s industry felt much better, and its economy stabilized. Modern Kolomna is an actively developing city.