Ardatov is a working-class settlement located 160 km southwest ofNizhny Novgorod on the Arzamas–Vladimir road. Population: 8,000.
It is the administrative center of its district (1,900 sq km; 32,000 residents). According to legend, it was founded by a Mordva man named Ardatka, who helped Ivan the Terrible during his campaign against Kazan (1552). From 1779 to 1926 it was a district town, then a selo (a larger village) until 1959. It has a starch-and-syrup plant.
Ardatov is the birthplace of Great Patriotic War hero, Commissar I.V. Zuyev, to whom a monument has been erected here.
There is a local history museum run by the community.