The city of Kstovo is located in the Nizhny Novgorod region, Russia, 22 km southeast of Nizhny Novgorod on the right bank of the great Russian river Volga. It has been known since the XIV century as the village of Kstovskaya, the name comes from the Mordovian root "ksta" - strawberry. Since 1954 it has been a working settlement, and in 1957 it was awarded the title of a city.
According to folk legends and historical documents, the land abounded with strawberries in the Kstovo area, and the Mordovian tribe of Erzya settled and mastered this area for a specific feature and gave the name Kstovo, that is, a place rich in strawberries or strawberry meadow. In contrast to this assumption about the origin of the name of the settlement, there is another hypothesis that says that "Kstovo" is a word derived from "baptize": there is an opinion that according to legend, when Christianity came to these lands, here, in the waters of the Volga, Mordovian pagan settlers were baptized.
Traditionally for the Middle Ages, the population of Kstovo was engaged in farming, vegetable growing, gathering, beekeeping, fishing and weaving. Volga also played an important role in people's lives. Then it occupied one of the main values in Russia, along with the Dnieper, as a transport artery for numerous trade expeditions from Asia to Europe and vice versa. Accordingly, many residents of the coastal farms of Kstovo were served in boatmen.
From the XV century . Kstovo becomes a subject forming the center of the Pechora Assumption Monastery.
Kstovskaya land was repeatedly raided by Horde Tatars, constantly robbing the population. The invasions of the Horde are confirmed by the treasure found in the city limits of Kstovo with coins belonging to the Tatars. To date, these coins, as an exhibit, are stored in the historical and architectural museum-reserve of Nizhny Novgorod.
By the XVII century, a highway called "Vladimirka" (a trade route from Moscow through Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan and to Siberia) stretched through the Kstovo village area by modern standards. By the end of the XVIII century . Kstovo acquires its own postal station.
The artistic heritage about Kstov is also remarkable. Many travelers who take routes along the middle Volga vividly and colorfully describe the local landscapes, life and features of the region. Many years later, here, on the territory of the Kstovsky district, films and TV series popular today will be filmed, but for now this area is being chosen by wealthy and wealthy citizens of the Russian Empire under country names, whose interest was attracted by the beauty of the Volga expanse and the proximity to Moscow.
In the XIX century. merchants began to settle here. After the revolution of 1917, Soviet power was established in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The residents of Kstovo reacted kindly to the changes and supported the decrees put forward by the Bolshevik Party.
In 1930. Kstovo becomes the district center. The first large bread storage facility opens here. A seven-year-old school opens, a House of Culture appears, library funds expand, a hospital, a pharmacy appear, a railway line was brought to Kstovo. A telegraph and telephone network were also installed in the district center.
The population by 1939 was 2000 people. Kstovo began to develop at a rapid pace during the reign of T.Khrushchev. The construction of an oil refinery and a thermal power plant is determined here. All this was announced by the All-Union Shock Construction Site, where Komsomol youth and volunteers arrived in large detachments to carry out projects.
In 1962, Kstovo was granted the status of a city of regional subordination.
