Topic summary
Kyivan
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Kyiv.
Kyivan Rus'
The city of Kyiv stood on the trade route between the Varangians and the Greeks. In 968 the nomadic Pechenegs attacked and then besieged the city. By 1000 CE the city had a population of 45,000. According to Thietmar of Merseburg, who described Kyiv in his chronicle from 1017, during that time the city had over 400 churches and 8 markets. Its significance as the capital of Rus' was underlined by large-scale construction projects, such as the erection of St. Sophia Cathedral by Yaroslav the Wise.