GEOGRAPHICAL STUDIES OF THE FORMATION OF CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL LANDSCAPES OF ANCIENT RUSSIAN CITIES ALONG THE GREAT VOLGA WATERWAY

The authors are developing conceptual and methodological basis for studying the role of the natural (landscape) factor in the multifactor processes of forming the cultural and historical landscapes of the ancient Russian cities that formed along the Upper Volga segment of the Great Volga historic waterway. The Upper Volga segment is considered as a single integral system (cultural and historical region). Research is conducted on the basis of a historical and geographical approach, on two hierarchical levels: a) at the regional level, where the cultural and historical region of the Upper Volga segment is explored and b) at the local level where historical centers of ancient Russian cities are explored (cultural and historical urban landscapes). The study sets out the features of the landscape structure of this region, the history of its economic development and the peculiarities of the formation of ancient Russian cities at the early stages of the functioning of this waterway.