The city of Kotelnich is well known all over Russia and in some foreign countries due to location of ancient fossil vertebrates – Pareiasaurus.

Ancient literary monuments and archaeological excavations have demonstrated that the town was founded near the end of the 12th century, at which time it was inhabited by the Maris (Cheremis), according to P. I. Rychkov and N. M. Karamzin.

By 1489 its rebellious population was resettled to distant places and the city itself became an ordinary fortress on the northeastern border of the Grand Duchy of Moscow, helping protect the rich northern lands from ruinous raids by Tatars.

The Time of Troubles was a significant period for the town; it was captured by armed bands that devastated churches, raped women, and turned Kotelnich into a local center of the uprising for the "Tsar Dmitri".

During the next forty years its economy was restored, which led to the opening of a large fair called Alexeyevskaya, in honor of Tsar Alexey Mikhaylovich).

In 1654, the population was to be five times more than in 1629 because of an increasing number of new settlers lured by an abundance of unoccupied land, and also due to the colonization activity of monasteries.

In the 18th century its population and economy grew slowly, restrained by recruit enrollment and money exactions for the building of Saint Petersburg and attendant projects.

It also received an emblem and self-government rights, including elections for a city chief and formation of a local council (duma).

During this time the first post office, a small public college with 30 pupils, a city hospital for 10 patients, and a private pharmacy were opened.

The beginning of the century was also marked by the appearance of a water supply, 36 cabmen, oil lamps on the streets, telephone communication, and 22 prostitutes.

Kotelnich very nearly became a small rural settlement after that; the local legislative committee was forced to persuade the government of the republic to keep its city status and to rebuild what was destroyed.

During the next 10 years there were built several small and middle-size industrial enterprises such as building materials factories and sawing and brick plants.

The council and Red Army deputies were lax in the execution of their functions, which led to frequent changes of local leadership.

These animals grew to about 3 meters long and inhabited Europe, South Africa, and Asia 250-260 million years ago.

The strip of the Vyatka's right bank on which Kotelnich stands is a part of a pareiasaur remains site, one of the largest in the world.

This landmark[clarification needed] is located on the right steep bank of the Vyatka River and covers 30 km from Kotelnich to Vishkil.

The exposition of the museum shows the global geological and evolution processes that took place on Earth about 200 million years ago.

In summer, when the level of water in Vyatka goes down, Paleontological Museum of Kotelnich takes tourists on a grasping trip to the excavation site where everyone will find a piece for his own archeological collection.

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