Kiev (Ukrainian: Kyiv), the first capital of Kievan Rus (Ruthenia) - a predecessor of contemporary Russia and Ukraine. The city was founded in the late 9th century. The origin of the city is obscured by legends, one of which tells about a founding-family consisting of a Slavic tribe leader Kyi, the eldest, his brothers Shchek and Khoryv, and also their sister Lybid, who founded the city (The Primary Chronicle). According to it the name Kyiv/Kiev means to belong to Kyi. During the 8th and 9th centuries, Kiev was an outpost of the Khazar empire. However, being located on the historical trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks and starting in the late 9th century or early 10th century, Kiev was ruled by the Varangian nobility and became the nucleus of the Rus polity. In the end 13th - early 14th century, after the cast off of the Mongol-Tatar yoke, Kiev, the original capital of Ruthenia, and the southern principalities were united by the Galician-Volhynian Principality (later renamed the Kingdom of Rus). Interestingly, people called Ruthenians (or Rusyns, or Ruthens) do exist now; they are relatives of Ukrainians living in Transcarpathia (and elsewhere; Andy Warhol — birth name Andriy Varhola — was Ruthenian American).
Posted on: Wed, 08 Oct 2014 10:27:54 +0000
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