Posad

A posad (Russian: посад) was a settlement, often surrounded by bulwarks and a moat, by a town or a kremlin, but outside the town/kremlin, or by a monastery in the 10th to 15th centuries. Usually it was inhabited by craftsmen and merchants, known as posadskiye lyudi (posad people).

In the Russian Empire a posad was a small semi-urban settlement.

A number of posads evolved into towns. Those by a kremlin often gave rise to local toponyms, such as Nagorny Posad (Uphill Settlement), and Kazanski Posad for the historical center of Kazan. Those by a monastery often gave rise to cities named after the monastery, e.g., Sergiev Posad is named after the nearby Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra. See also Pavlovsky Posad, Mariinsky Posad and Gavrilov Posad.