city, Nizhegorod oblast (province), southwestern Russia, on the Tesha River, a tributary of the Oka River. First mentioned in a manuscript in 1366 and again in 1552, Arzamas was chartered in 1578. Agricultural equipment and food processing are the main economic activities, and there are two technical colleges devoted to agricultural studies. Between 1802 and 1862 the first Russian provincial school of painting existed there. Pop. (2006 est.) 106,824.