For an air base, see Vorotynsk air base

Vorotynsk (air base)

Vorotynsk is an air base in Russia located 2 km southeast of Vorotynsk. It is a military base with Mi-8 helicopters....

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Vorotynsk was one of the Upper Oka towns and seat of the mediaeval Princes Vorotynsky. It was first mentioned in the Hypatian Codex

Hypatian Codex

The Hypatian Codex is a compendium of three chronicles: the Primary Chronicle, Kiev Chronicle, and Galician-Volhynian Chronicle. It is the most important source of historical data for southern Rus'...

 under the year 1155. In 1480, Vorotynsk was the principal base of Russian operations against the Tatars during the Great standing on the Ugra river

Great standing on the Ugra river

The Great Standoff on the Ugra river The Great Standoff on the Ugra river The Great Standoff on the Ugra river ( in Russian, also (Ugorschina in English, derived from Ugra) was a standoff between the forces of Akhmat, Khan of the Great Horde, and the Grand Prince Ivan III of Russia in 1480, which...

. The town is thought to have been situated slightly downstream from the confluence of the Oka

Oka River

Oka is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir, and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, as far upstream as to the town of Kaluga. Its length exceeds...

 and the Ugra Rivers.
The village of Spas-on-the-Oka, which now marks the spot, is dominated by Saviour Vorotynsk Monastery, founded by one Prince Vorotynsky in the early 16th century. This long-deserted cloister

Cloister

A cloister is a rectangular open space surrounded by covered walks or open galleries, with open arcades on the inner side, running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle or garth...

 is noted for two crumbling churches with pyramidal roofs

Tented roof

A tented roof is a type of roof widely used in 16th and 17th century Russian architecture for churches. It is like a polygonal spire but differs in purpose in that it is typically used to roof the main internal space of a church, rather than an auxiliary structure...

, one dating from the 1560s, and another from the 1640s. There are also two villages, New Vorotynsk and Old Vorotynsk, located just south-west from the modern town of Kaluga

Kaluga

Kaluga is a city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Population: It is served by Grabtsevo Airport.-History:...

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