Murom [key], city (1989 pop. 124,000), W central European Russia, on the Oka River. It is a port and a rail junction, with railroad repair shops and machinery, woodworking, and textile industries. First mentioned in the chronicles in 862, it became the capital of the Murom principality in the 12th cent. The city was ravaged by Mongols in the 13th cent., and in 1393 it passed to the grand duchy of Moscow. In medieval times, Murom was an important trade center on the Oka-Volga water route. The city has a cathedral and some monasteries dating from the 16th and 17th cent.
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