Posad

thumb|300px|Market Square in Pavlovsky Posad near [[Moscow, circa 1900.]]

A posad (Russian and ) was a type of settlement in East Slavic lands between the 9th to 15th centuries, it was often surrounded by ramparts and a moat, adjoining a town or a kremlin, but outside of it, or adjoining a monastery. The posad was inhabited by craftsmen and merchants and was its own distinct community, separate from the city it adjoined. Some posads developed into towns, such as Pavlovsky Posad and Sergiev Posad.