The term pogost has several meanings in the Russian language, but initial appoint a coaching inn for princes and ecclesiastics. It is assumed that originally pogosts were rural communities on the periphery of the Russian state, as well as trading centers, but at the end of the 10th century pogosts transformed into administrative districts, and when Christianity spread, churches were built in pogosts. In 1775 the last pogosts that served as administrative districts were destroyed. In the central uyezds of 15th-16th centuries pogosts were small settlements with a church and a graveyard, like Kizhi Pogost.
Read more »