There is a confusion in the use of the terms “gorodni” and “tarasa”, related to the construction of walls, in written sources and historiography on the architecture of the fortifications of the Russian state in Siberia and the Far East. The purpose of the study, the results of which are presented in the article, was to clarify the meaning of the term “gorodni” in written sources. The factual base consists of written, archaeological and cartographic sources. It is established that the term “gorodni” is earlier in relation to the term “tarasa”. The change of terminology did not reflect changes in the wall structure. Such a structure of defensive walls as a gorodni was not used in the region under study. Both of these terms imply a tarasa structure, which were called “gorodni” in written sources until the middle of the XVII century, and from the second half of the XVII century mainly “tarasa”.