Tarusa is a very cozy and atmospheric city on the banks of the Oka River in the Kaluga Region.

The first written mention of Tarusa dates back to 1246. However, archaeologists have found traces of settlements in this area dating back much earlier. The city takes its name from the Tarusa River (formerly, the Torusa), on which it stands.

In the 13th century, the settlement became the center of an appanage principality. The Tarusa princes participated in important events: in 1375, they formed an alliance with the Muscovite and Obolensk troops against the Lithuanians, and in 1380, Tarusa warriors fought under the banner of Dmitry Donskoy at Kulikovo Field. In 1392, the Tarusa Principality was annexed by the Moscow Principality.

Since the late 19th century, Tarusa has been prized for its picturesqueness: artists (such as Vasily Polenov and Vasily Vatagin) have flocked to the city, and the city has even been called the "Russian Barbizon." In the 20th century, Tarusa firmly entered the literary history of Russia: Marina Tsvetaeva, Konstantin Paustovsky, Bella Akhmadulina, Nikolai Zabolotsky, Bulat Okudzhava, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, and Joseph Brodsky lived or visited here.