Landmark of Kotlas, the Church of St. Stephan of Perm.

Kotlas (Russian: Котлас) is a city in Arkhangelsk Oblast incorporated in 1917. It is located where the Rivers Dvina and Vychegda join. As such, it is the site of an important river port and shipyard. Kotlas is also a major rail junction; it connects central Russia with the Komi Republic.

It is a major paper-making center, with the largest paper mill in Russia. It also has an large timber (logging) industry, with many forested areas surrounding it. Besides a timber industry (paper, logs, pulping etc.), Kotlas also manufactures shirts, furniture, bricks and electromechanical items.

Kotlas had a Gulag (labour camp) in the 1930s - 1950s, inhabited by deported kulaks and other politically oppressed persons in Russia. Such people were put to work in the timber and paper industry. The Kotlas chapter of the "Sovest" organization keeps alive the memory of the people who suffered under the labour camps here.

Many persons of Polish descent live here. There is an airbase in Kotlas (Savatiya).

Get in

• Kotlas Airport - 4 km southeast of Kotlas; small aircraft only - the largest aircraft is an AN4 with 40 seats.
• Railway
• Road

See

• 1 Cathedral of St. Stephan of Perm. Built in 1788, this landmark cathedral honours Stephen of Perm who Christianized the Komi people in the mid 14th century. 
• Kotlas Pulp and Paper Mill - (now Ilim Group Koryazhma Subsidiary)
• Northern Dvina State Basin Authority of Waterways and Navigation

Do

• Visit Velikiy Ust’ug - founded in the twelfth century, this is an old and beautiful town. Here you will find the official residence of the Russian Father Frost (Santa Claus), on the Sukhona river. Get there by bus.

Go next

Kotlas is a railway center for travelers going to the Komi Republic.