diff --git a/kallithea/config/routing.py b/kallithea/config/routing.py
--- a/kallithea/config/routing.py
+++ b/kallithea/config/routing.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ may take precedent over the more generic
 refer to the routes manual at http://routes.groovie.org/docs/
 """
 
+from pylons import request
 from routes import Mapper
 
 # prefix for non repository related links needs to be prefixed with `/`
@@ -800,3 +801,27 @@ def make_map(config):
                  conditions=dict(function=check_repo))
 
     return rmap
+
+
+class UrlGenerator(object):
+    """Emulate pylons.url in providing a wrapper around routes.url
+
+    This code was added during migration from Pylons to Turbogears2. Pylons
+    already provided a wrapper like this, but Turbogears2 does not.
+
+    When the routing of Kallithea is changed to use less Routes and more
+    Turbogears2-style routing, this class may disappear or change.
+
+    url() (the __call__ method) returns the URL based on a route name and
+    arguments.
+    url.current() returns the URL of the current page with arguments applied.
+
+    Refer to documentation of Routes for details:
+    https://routes.readthedocs.io/en/latest/generating.html#generation
+    """
+    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return request.environ['routes.url'](*args, **kwargs)
+    def current(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return request.environ['routes.url'].current(*args, **kwargs)
+
+url = UrlGenerator()
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/admin.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/admin.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/admin.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/admin.py
@@ -28,13 +28,14 @@ Original author and date, and relevant c
 
 import logging
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from sqlalchemy.orm import joinedload
 from whoosh.qparser.default import QueryParser
 from whoosh.qparser.dateparse import DateParserPlugin
 from whoosh import query
 from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import or_, and_, func
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.model.db import UserLog
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/auth_settings.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/auth_settings.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/auth_settings.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/auth_settings.py
@@ -27,10 +27,11 @@ import logging
 import formencode.htmlfill
 import traceback
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.compat import formatted_json
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/defaults.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/defaults.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/defaults.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/defaults.py
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 from formencode import htmlfill
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/gists.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/gists.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/gists.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/gists.py
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ import logging
 import traceback
 import formencode.htmlfill
 
-from pylons import request, response, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, response, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPNotFound, HTTPForbidden
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.model.forms import GistForm
 from kallithea.model.gist import GistModel
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/my_account.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/my_account.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/my_account.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/my_account.py
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ import formencode
 
 from sqlalchemy import func
 from formencode import htmlfill
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib import auth_modules
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, NotAnonymous, AuthUser
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/permissions.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/permissions.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/permissions.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/permissions.py
@@ -31,10 +31,11 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 from formencode import htmlfill
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/repo_groups.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/repo_groups.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/repo_groups.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/repo_groups.py
@@ -32,11 +32,12 @@ import itertools
 
 from formencode import htmlfill
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _, ungettext
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPForbidden, HTTPNotFound, HTTPInternalServerError
 
 import kallithea
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.compat import json
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, \
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/repos.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/repos.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/repos.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/repos.py
@@ -29,11 +29,12 @@ import logging
 import traceback
 import formencode
 from formencode import htmlfill
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import func
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPInternalServerError, HTTPForbidden, HTTPNotFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, \
     HasRepoPermissionAnyDecorator, NotAnonymous, HasPermissionAny
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/settings.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/settings.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/settings.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/settings.py
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 
 from formencode import htmlfill
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url, config
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, config
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/user_groups.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/user_groups.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/user_groups.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/user_groups.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 
 from formencode import htmlfill
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url, config
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, config
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import fu
 from webob.exc import HTTPInternalServerError
 
 import kallithea
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import UserGroupsAssignedException, \
     RepoGroupAssignmentError
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/admin/users.py b/kallithea/controllers/admin/users.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/admin/users.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/admin/users.py
@@ -30,12 +30,13 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 
 from formencode import htmlfill
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url, config
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, config
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import func
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPNotFound
 
 import kallithea
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import DefaultUserException, \
     UserOwnsReposException, UserCreationError
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/changelog.py b/kallithea/controllers/changelog.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/changelog.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/changelog.py
@@ -28,11 +28,12 @@ Original author and date, and relevant c
 import logging
 import traceback
 
-from pylons import request, url, session, tmpl_context as c
+from pylons import request, session, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPNotFound, HTTPBadRequest
 
 import kallithea.lib.helpers as h
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasRepoPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, render
 from kallithea.lib.helpers import RepoPage
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/compare.py b/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/compare.py
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ Original author and date, and relevant c
 import logging
 import re
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPBadRequest
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import safe_str, safe_int
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.hgcompat import unionrepo
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/files.py b/kallithea/controllers/files.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/files.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/files.py
@@ -32,10 +32,11 @@ import traceback
 import tempfile
 import shutil
 
-from pylons import request, response, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, response, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.utils import jsonify, action_logger
 from kallithea.lib import diffs
 from kallithea.lib import helpers as h
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/forks.py b/kallithea/controllers/forks.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/forks.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/forks.py
@@ -30,12 +30,13 @@ import formencode
 import traceback
 from formencode import htmlfill
 
-from pylons import tmpl_context as c, request, url
+from pylons import tmpl_context as c, request
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound
 
 import kallithea.lib.helpers as h
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.helpers import Page
 from kallithea.lib.auth import LoginRequired, HasRepoPermissionAnyDecorator, \
     NotAnonymous, HasRepoPermissionAny, HasPermissionAnyDecorator, HasPermissionAny
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/journal.py b/kallithea/controllers/journal.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/journal.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/journal.py
@@ -37,9 +37,10 @@ from sqlalchemy.sql.expression import fu
 from webhelpers.feedgenerator import Atom1Feed, Rss201rev2Feed
 
 from webob.exc import HTTPBadRequest
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, response, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, response
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.controllers.admin.admin import _journal_filter
 from kallithea.model.db import UserLog, UserFollowing, Repository, User
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/login.py b/kallithea/controllers/login.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/login.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/login.py
@@ -32,10 +32,11 @@ import formencode
 
 from formencode import htmlfill
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
-from pylons import request, session, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, session, tmpl_context as c
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPBadRequest
 
 import kallithea.lib.helpers as h
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.auth import AuthUser, HasPermissionAnyDecorator
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseController, log_in_user, render
 from kallithea.lib.exceptions import UserCreationError
diff --git a/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py b/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
--- a/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
+++ b/kallithea/controllers/pullrequests.py
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ import traceback
 import formencode
 import re
 
-from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c, url
+from pylons import request, tmpl_context as c
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPNotFound, HTTPForbidden, HTTPBadRequest
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.hgcompat import unionrepo
 from kallithea.lib.compat import json, OrderedDict
 from kallithea.lib.base import BaseRepoController, render
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/auth.py b/kallithea/lib/auth.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/auth.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/auth.py
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ import collections
 
 from decorator import decorator
 
-from pylons import url, request, session
+from pylons import request, session
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 from webhelpers.pylonslib import secure_form
 from sqlalchemy import or_
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ from sqlalchemy.orm import joinedload
 from webob.exc import HTTPFound, HTTPBadRequest, HTTPForbidden, HTTPMethodNotAllowed
 
 from kallithea import __platform__, is_windows, is_unix
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.vcs.utils.lazy import LazyProperty
 from kallithea.model import meta
 from kallithea.model.meta import Session
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/base.py b/kallithea/lib/base.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/base.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/base.py
@@ -38,13 +38,14 @@ import paste.httpexceptions
 import paste.auth.basic
 import paste.httpheaders
 
-from pylons import config, tmpl_context as c, request, session, url
+from pylons import config, tmpl_context as c, request, session
 from pylons.controllers import WSGIController
 from pylons.templating import render_mako as render  # don't remove this import
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _
 
 from kallithea import __version__, BACKENDS
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import str2bool, safe_unicode, AttributeDict, \
     safe_str, safe_int
 from kallithea.lib import auth_modules
diff --git a/kallithea/lib/helpers.py b/kallithea/lib/helpers.py
--- a/kallithea/lib/helpers.py
+++ b/kallithea/lib/helpers.py
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ import textwrap
 from beaker.cache import cache_region
 from pygments.formatters.html import HtmlFormatter
 from pygments import highlight as code_highlight
-from pylons import url
 from pylons.i18n.translation import _, ungettext
 
 from webhelpers.html import literal, HTML, escape
@@ -52,6 +51,7 @@ from webhelpers.paginate import Page as 
 from webhelpers.html.tags import _set_input_attrs, _set_id_attr, \
     convert_boolean_attrs, NotGiven, _make_safe_id_component
 
+from kallithea.config.routing import url
 from kallithea.lib.annotate import annotate_highlight
 from kallithea.lib.utils import repo_name_slug, get_custom_lexer
 from kallithea.lib.utils2 import str2bool, safe_unicode, safe_str, \
@@ -866,7 +866,7 @@ def gravatar(email_address, cls='', size
 
 def gravatar_url(email_address, size=30, default=''):
     # doh, we need to re-import those to mock it later
-    from pylons import url
+    from kallithea.config.routing import url
     from pylons import tmpl_context as c
     if not c.visual.use_gravatar:
         return ""
@@ -1290,7 +1290,7 @@ def urlify_text(s, repo_name=None, link_
             return '<b>%s</b>' % mention
         hash_ = match_obj.group('hash')
         if hash_ is not None and repo_name is not None:
-            from pylons import url  # doh, we need to re-import url to mock it later
+            from kallithea.config.routing import url  # doh, we need to re-import url to mock it later
             return '<a class="revision-link" href="%(url)s">%(hash)s</a>' % {
                  'url': url('changeset_home', repo_name=repo_name, revision=hash_),
                  'hash': hash_,
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/base.py b/kallithea/tests/base.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/base.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/base.py
@@ -219,4 +219,3 @@ class TestController(object):
 
     def checkSessionFlashRegex(self, response, regex, skip=0):
         self.checkSessionFlash(response, regex, skip=skip, _matcher=re.search)
-
diff --git a/kallithea/tests/other/test_libs.py b/kallithea/tests/other/test_libs.py
--- a/kallithea/tests/other/test_libs.py
+++ b/kallithea/tests/other/test_libs.py
@@ -66,6 +66,24 @@ TEST_URLS += [
      '%s://example.com:8080' % proto),
 ]
 
+class FakeUrlGenerator(object):
+
+    def __init__(self, current_url=None, default_route=None, **routes):
+        """Initialize using specified 'current' URL template,
+        default route template, and all other aguments describing known
+        routes (format: route=template)"""
+        self.current_url = current_url
+        self.default_route = default_route
+        self.routes = routes
+
+    def __call__(self, route_name, *args, **kwargs):
+        if route_name in self.routes:
+            return self.routes[route_name] % kwargs
+
+        return self.default_route % kwargs
+
+    def current(self, *args, **kwargs):
+        return self.current_url % kwargs
 
 class TestLibs(TestController):
 
@@ -202,12 +220,6 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
         from kallithea.lib.helpers import gravatar_url
         _md5 = lambda s: hashlib.md5(s).hexdigest()
 
-        #mock pylons.url
-        class fake_url(object):
-            @classmethod
-            def current(cls, *args, **kwargs):
-                return 'https://example.com'
-
         #mock pylons.tmpl_context
         def fake_tmpl_context(_url):
             _c = AttributeDict()
@@ -217,11 +229,11 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
 
             return _c
 
-
-        with mock.patch('pylons.url', fake_url):
+        fake_url = FakeUrlGenerator(current_url='https://example.com')
+        with mock.patch('kallithea.config.routing.url', fake_url):
             fake = fake_tmpl_context(_url='http://example.com/{email}')
             with mock.patch('pylons.tmpl_context', fake):
-                    from pylons import url
+                    from kallithea.config.routing import url
                     assert url.current() == 'https://example.com'
                     grav = gravatar_url(email_address='test@example.com', size=24)
                     assert grav == 'http://example.com/test@example.com'
@@ -283,7 +295,7 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
 
         def url_func(match_obj):
             _url = match_obj.groups()[0]
-            return tmpl % (url_ or '/some-url', _url)
+            return tmpl % (url_ or '/repo_name/changeset/%s' % _url, _url)
         return URL_PAT.sub(url_func, text)
 
     @parametrize('sample,expected', [
@@ -314,12 +326,9 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
        """       sometimes !"""),
     ])
     def test_urlify_text(self, sample, expected):
-        def fake_url(self, *args, **kwargs):
-            return '/some-url'
-
         expected = self._quick_url(expected)
-
-        with mock.patch('pylons.url', fake_url):
+        fake_url = FakeUrlGenerator(changeset_home='/%(repo_name)s/changeset/%(revision)s')
+        with mock.patch('kallithea.config.routing.url', fake_url):
             from kallithea.lib.helpers import urlify_text
             assert urlify_text(sample, 'repo_name') == expected
 
@@ -368,10 +377,12 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
       # tags are covered by test_tag_extractor
     ])
     def test_urlify_test(self, sample, expected, url_):
-        from kallithea.lib.helpers import urlify_text
         expected = self._quick_url(expected,
                                    tmpl="""<a href="%s">%s</a>""", url_=url_)
-        assert urlify_text(sample, 'repo_name', stylize=True) == expected
+        fake_url = FakeUrlGenerator(changeset_home='/%(repo_name)s/changeset/%(revision)s')
+        with mock.patch('kallithea.config.routing.url', fake_url):
+            from kallithea.lib.helpers import urlify_text
+            assert urlify_text(sample, 'repo_name', stylize=True) == expected
 
     @parametrize('sample,expected', [
       ("deadbeefcafe @mention, and http://foo.bar/ yo",
@@ -381,8 +392,10 @@ class TestLibs(TestController):
        """<a class="message-link" href="#the-link"> yo</a>"""),
     ])
     def test_urlify_link(self, sample, expected):
-        from kallithea.lib.helpers import urlify_text
-        assert urlify_text(sample, 'repo_name', link_='#the-link') == expected
+        fake_url = FakeUrlGenerator(changeset_home='/%(repo_name)s/changeset/%(revision)s')
+        with mock.patch('kallithea.config.routing.url', fake_url):
+            from kallithea.lib.helpers import urlify_text
+            assert urlify_text(sample, 'repo_name', link_='#the-link') == expected
 
     @parametrize('test,expected', [
       ("", None),