Vote and dance – thinking is optional The elections in the Russian backwoods, part I Grigory Pasko, journalist Kirzhach is a small town in Vladimir Oblast, 130 kilometers southeast of Moscow. Historians note that Kirzhach arose as a sloboda [settlement] alongside the Kirzhach Trinity Monastery of the Annunciation or Presentation, founded in the 1300s. After the closure of the monastery in 1764, the sloboda became the village of Kirzhach, which was transformed into a town in 1778. The official website of the town in the section “Economy” indicates that there are a silk works, a canning plant, a furniture and sewing factories, as well as the plant «Avtosvet» in Kirzhach. Recently, the Turks have built the «Beko» plant alongside the town, where they produce dishwashing machines and refrigerators.