MESCHOVSK, a district town of Russia, in the government of Kaluga, 45 miles to the south-west of the capital of the province. It is an old town supposed to date from the 13th century, and it is often mentioned in Russian annals under the names of Mezetsk, Mezechevsk, or Meschorsk. About the end of the 14th century it was embraced in Lithuania, and it was ceded to the Moscow “great principality” in 1494. It was often pillaged by Tartars in the 16th century, and during the great disturbances of 1610 all its inhabitants were killed by the Zaporoghi Cossacks, and the fort was taken by Poles, who returned it to Russia only after the treaty of Deulin. The country round Meschovsk is not fertile; but, from its position on old established routes to the south, the town has become a centre of considerable trade. Its annual fair, which takes place on the grounds of the very old Petrovsk monastery, is important to the surrounding districts for the export sale of horses, grain, hemp, hempseed oil, and coarse linen, and for the import trade in cottons, woollens, and earthen and glass wares, the whole turn-over reaching about £100,000. Population, 7400.