Shuya, Ivanovo Oblast

The first record of Shuya is dated 1393.^{[citation needed]} Annalists mention princes of Shuya in 1403.^[9] Since 1403, the area was held by a branch of the House of Suzdal, which got their name "Shuysky" after the town.^{[citation needed]} In 1539, the town was sacked by Safa Giray of Kazan.^{[citation needed]} In 1566, it was taken by Ivan the Terrible as his personal property into Oprichnina.^{[citation needed]}

In 1722, Shuya was visited by Peter the Great, who launched textile manufacturing there.^{[citation needed]} The town's first linen manufacturers were established in 1755.^[9] Town status was granted to it in 1778.^{[citation needed]} By the 19th century, Shuya was developed into a major flax-processing center, although it has been superseded in importance by the neighboring town of Ivanovo. Mikhail Frunze, a Soviet revolutionary, led textile workers in Shuya in a strike action during the Russian Revolution of 1905.

Within the framework of administrative divisions, Shuya serves as the administrative center of Shuysky District,^[1] even though it is not a part of it.^[5] As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the Town of Shuya—an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts.^[5] As a municipal division, the Town of Shuya is incorporated as Shuya Urban Okrug.^[6]

Nikolo-Shartomsky Monastery, situated 12 kilometers (7.5 mi) from Shuya, has one of the largest monastic communities in Russia. It was first mentioned in 1425. It has a cathedral from 1652 and a refectory church from 1678.

The belltower of the Resurrection Cathedral in Shuya is the tallest freestanding bell tower in the world.

• Boris Balmont (1927–2022), Russian politician
• Konstantin Balmont (1867–1942), Russian poet
• Lev Bashmakov (1938–2018), Russian politician
• Pavel Belov (1897–1963), Soviet military commander
• Lyudmila Chernykh (1935–2017), Ukrainian-Russian-Soviet astronomer
• Vasily Luzhsky (1869–1931), Russian Soviet stage actor
• Feodor Vassilyev (c. 1707–1782), Russian father of 87 children
• Valentina Vassilyev (1707–1782), Russian prolific mother

According to the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica, tanneries, especially for the preparation of sheepskins—widely renowned throughout Russia—still maintain their importance, although this industry has migrated to a great extent to the country districts.^[9] The cathedral (1799) is a large building, with five gilt cupolas.^[9] Nearly every village in the vicinity has a specialty of its own—bricks, pottery, wheels, toys, packing-boxes, looms and other weaving implements, house furniture, sieves, combs, boots, gloves, felt goods, candles, and so on.^[9]

As of 1911, the manufacture of linen and cotton in the villages, as well as the preparation and manufacture of sheepskins and rough gloves, occupied about 40,000 peasants.^[9] The Shuya merchants carry on an active trade in these products all over Russia, and in corn, spirits, salt and other food stuffs, imported.^[9]

Shuya is twinned with Istočna Ilidža, Bosnia and Herzegovina, since 2025.^[13]

• List of tallest Eastern Orthodox church buildings
• Shuysky