Kashin (Russian: Ка́шин) is a town and the administrative center of Kashinsky District of Tver Oblast, Russia, located around a rural agricultural area on the Kashinka River (Volga’s tributary) 204 kilometers (127 mi) from Moscow and 25 kilometers (16 mi) from Kalyazin. Population: 16,171 (2010 Census);[1] 17,299 (2002 Census);[2] 21,186 (1989 Census);[3] 18,000 (1970).
The town of Kashin was first mentioned in a chronicle under the year of 1238, when it was sacked by the Mongols. It was given by Grand Duke Mikhail Yaroslavich as an appanage to his son Vasily, who founded a short-lived dynasty of local princes. Mikhail Yaroslavich’s wife Anna took the veil in Kashin’s nunnery and died there on October 2, 1368 and was glorified by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1650 as a holy patroness of all women who suffer the loss of relatives. Her miracle-working relics are preserved in the Ascension Cathedral of Kashin.
In 1382, Kashin was annexed by the Principality of Tver. From 1399 to 1426, it was held by a second dynasty of Kashin princes, which claimed their seniority in the house of Tver. In 1452, Kashin withstood a siege by Dmitry Shemyaka. It finally passed to the Grand Duchy of Moscow in 1486 with the rest of the Principality of Tver. In 1708, the town became a part of Ingermanland Governorate.