MTSENSK (popularly called Amchensk), a district town of Russia, situated in the government of Orel on the navigable Zusha river, 17 miles from its junction with the Oka, on the Moscow and Kursk railway, 32 miles to the north-east of Orel. It is mentioned in the Russian chronicles as early as 1147 as a town of the principality of Tchernigoff. Many battles were fought for its possession, and the plains around are dotted with grave-mounds. Though protected by a fort which occupied a strong position, the town was taken and plundered several times by the Tatars, the Russians, the Poles, and the Lithuanians. From 1320 to 1530 it was under the rule of Lithuania; in the latter year it was taken by Russia, and became one of her chief strongholds against the raids of the Tatars. It is now an important centre for trade in grain, hemp, hemp-seed oil, tobacco, and wine-spirit, shipped on the Zusha, Oka, and Volga to and from Moscow, Nijni-Novgorod, and St Petersburg, or forwarded by rail to Moscow, Libau, and Riga. Population, 15,000.