(Source: http://tverskaya-oblast.domoved.su)

 The village of Mermeriny immediately attracts attention by its name sounding like some fabulous woman’s name. At least, for those who have never heard about Mermeriny before. For those who have been here Mermeriny is primarily the fur farm and fur-coats factory. 

Ferrets and minks from Mermeriny are valued by experts, the modern village lives on fur production. The status of the village also surprises - Mermeriny look more like an urban settlement located 12 kilometers from Tver, on the highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Low bearing-wall houses, asphalt pavements, a cultural centre with a positive Soviet mosaic on the wall, a post office, a shopping centre. The population amounts to nearly eight hundred inhabitants. 

The village officially belongs to the rural settlement of Mednovskoe in Kalininsky district. There are no monuments or sites of attraction. There was not even an old church, and the villagers went to church in the neighboring big village of Savino. The locals were leastwise engaged in agriculture until 1870 when the state fur farm “Oktyabr” was established. Now the fur farms and the accompanying manufactures are the centre of activity in Mermeriny. Fur-bearing animals are bred and grown here, fur coats and hats are sewn from their skins; and the “waste products”, i.e. carcasses of the killed ferrets and minks, are processed for feed production. The majority of the residents work at the fur farms, and the day of fur farmer is annually celebrated by the villagers. The guests of the village usually go directly to the “Furs” shop. 

A tour to the farm could shake their intentions - when a desired fur coat looks at you by live eyes through the bars of clean modern cells, even a person far from the “green” movement feels a bit confused. A more pleasant experience can be gained during a tour to the apiary, which also a part of the fur farm. Tourists can go there in summer and autumn until the snow falls. You can buy honey, beeswax, pollen, propolis and other products in the shop in Mermeriny. What about the name of the village, it still remains a mystery.

Local historians say that previously the village was called Starye (“Old”) Mermeriny; and Novye (“New”) Mermeriny is the current village of Poddubki. A version of folk etymology is offered (although it is not very convincing): Mermeriny were originally called Mirmiriny, and it’s due to the Empress Catherine the Great who tried to make peace with someone in this place.