Totma (Russian: То́тьма) is a town and the administrative center of Totemsky District in Vologda Oblast, Russia, located on the left bank of the Sukhona River at its confluence with the Pesya Denga, 217 kilometers (135 mi) northeast of Vologda, the administrative center of the oblast.

[3] It was founded by Novgorodians, who used the Sukhona as the main waterway leading to the north and eventually to the White Sea.

[citation needed] The name "Totma" is nevertheless of Finno-Ugrian origin, which, together with archeological discoveries, indicates that an earlier settlement on the site of the present town was established by the Merya people.

[4] In the 19th century, Totma quickly lost its significance[3] as the foreign trade was rerouted from Arkhangelsk to St. Petersburg and the river transportation was gradually replaced by railways and highways.

[13] Paved roads connect Totma with Vologda via Kadnikov (southwest), Veliky Ustyug via Nyuksenitsa (northeast), and Nikolsk via Imeni Babushkina (east).

Totma is a historical town which preserved, along with other heritage, several churches which have all similar structure not related to any other region of Russia.