History of Kiev- the largest city in Ukraine - is at least 1200 years old. According to the chronicle, Kiev was founded by three brothers: Kiem, Cheek, Horeb and their sister Lybid and is named after Kiy, the older brother.
Prehistoric period
Archaeological excavations show that settlements on the territory of the Kiev region existed already 15 - 20 thousand years ago. Eneolithic period(copper age) and Neolithic period is represented by Trypillian culture, the monuments and periods of which researchers divide into three stages: early (4500 - 3500), middle (3500-2750) and late (2750-2000 BC).
The south-west of the region during the Bronze Age is characterized by Belohrudovskaya culture... The Zarubinets culture is characteristic of the north-west of the Kiev region of the second half of the 1st millennium BC. e. - the first half of the 1st millennium AD e.
Iron age on the territory of modern Kiev and the Kiev region is represented by the Chernyakhov archaeological culture, which is also called "Kiev culture" and which existed at the turn of the II-III centuries. - at the turn of the IV-V centuries. in the forest-steppe and steppe from the Lower Danube in the west to the left bank of the Dnieper and Chernigov region in the east.
Etymology
Toponym "Kiev" did not receive an unambiguous explanation in science. According to the chronicle, the name of the city comes from the name of its founder. In the "Tale of Bygone Years" of the beginning of the XII century, it is said that Kiev was founded by three brothers Kiy, Schek and Khoriv and sister Lybid as the center of the Polyan tribe. Named after older brother. The city at that time consisted of a prince's court and a tower.
A variant of the same legend is given in the essay of the Armenian author Zenob Gluck (“The History of Taron”), which speaks of the founding of Kuar (Kiev) in the country of Poluni (Polyans) by Kuar, Mentey and Kherean.
Folk etymology explains the name of Kiev by the fact that its first inhabitants were workers (kiyans, kiyans) who served the crossing of the Dnieper. The ferry was a wooden flooring on pillars (cues) driven into the bottom. Similar place names are known in other Slavic lands (for example, Kijevo in Croatia, Kuyavia in Poland). Harvard scholar Omelyan Pritsak considered the origin of the toponym Turkic or Jewish. The idea of founding the city by the Khazars was also shared by G. Vernadsky.
Early history
Kiy, Schek, Khoriv and Lybid found Kiev
The history of Kiev is at least 1200 years old. According to the chronicle, Kiev was founded by three brothers: Kiy, Schek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid and named after Kiy, an older brother. The exact date of the foundation of the city has not been established.
The results of archaeological excavations indicate that already in the 6th-7th centuries on the right bank of the Dnieper there were settlements, which some researchers interpret as urban.
Remains of fortifications, dwellings, ceramics were found VI-VII centuries, Byzantine coins of the emperors Anastasius I (491-518) and Justinian I (527-565), amphorae, numerous jewelry.
For most of IX century Kiev was in the unstable zone of the Hungarian-Khazar conflict.
According to the "Tale of Bygone Years" in the second half of the 9th century, warriors reigned in Kiev Varangian Rurik - Askold and Dir, who freed the glades from the Khazar dependence.
In 879, the owner of the Novgorod land, Prince Rurik, died, and power was transferred Oleg - the regent of the young son of Rurik- Igor. The chronicle document testifies that in 882 Oleg undertook a campaign against Kiev, killed Askold and seized power. Kiev became the capital of the united principality.
At the same time, there was an increase in the scale of construction on the territory of Kiev, as evidenced by archaeological materials found in the Upper Town, Podil, Kirillovskaya Gora, Pechersk. The construction was due to the rapid increase in the population of the city, who arrived from different regions of Russia. During the resettlement from the Volga region to the banks of the Danube at the end of the 9th century, the Hungarians stayed on the territory of modern Kiev: "Idosh the Ugrians past Kiev, now Ugorskoe calls the mountain hedgehog, and when they came to the Dnieper, stasha vezha."
During his reign, Oleg annexed the northerners, Drevlyans, ulitsy, Tivertsy, pelmen Krivichi, Radimichi and Novgorod Slavs to Russia. During one of the numerous campaigns to neighboring territories, Prince Oleg died.
In the year 914 Igor undertook a campaign against the Drevlyans, who were trying to secede from Kiev. In 941 he organized a campaign against Byzantium to secure the interests of trade. Numerous and large-scale military campaigns required significant costs and resources, prompting the prince to increase tribute from the conquered lands. One of these tribute harvests in 945 led to the uprising of the Drevlyans, during which Igor was killed.
One of the first documents where the name of Kiev is mentioned is the Kiev letter, written in the 10th century by the local Jewish community. In the Arabic writings of the same period (Ibn Haukal, Istakhri, etc.) Kiev (Kuyaba) appears as the center of one of the groups of Rus, along with Novgorod (as-Slavia) and Arsania. In another part of the narrative by the same authors, Kiev is opposed to the Rus, which probably reflects an earlier state of affairs.
Capital of Russia (IX-XII centuries)
Baptism of Russia
Since the capture of the city by Oleg and until the second half of the XIII century, Kiev was the capital of Russia. The Kiev grand dukes traditionally had supremacy over the princes of other Russian lands, and the Kiev table was the main target in intradynastic rivalries. In 968, the city withstood the siege of the Pechenegs, which was due to the fortified outposts of Kiev, the largest of which was Vyshgorod.
Chronicle mentions of this fortress city are interrupted after the invasion of Batu in 1240.
In 988, by order of Prince Vladimir the inhabitants of the city were baptized in the Dnieper. Russia became a Christian state, the Kiev Metropolis was founded, which existed within the all-Russian borders until 1458.
In 990, the construction of the first stone church in Russia began. According to church tradition, it was built on the site of the murder of the first martyrs Theodore and his son John. The church was destroyed by the hordes of Batu Khan during a raid on Kiev in 1240.
In the 9th-10th centuries the city was built up with quarters of log and frame-and-pillar structures; the princely part also had stone houses. In Podil, as the "Tale of Bygone Years" testifies, in the first half of the 10th century there was a Christian church - the cathedral church of the Holy Prophet Elijah.
During the reign of Vladimir, about a third of Kiev consisted of princely lands, on which the palace was located. The city of Vladimir was surrounded by an earthen rampart and a moat. The central entrance was the stone Gradsk (later - Sophia, Batu) gates.
The territory of the city of Vladimir occupied about 10-12 hectares. The ramparts of the city of Vladimir were based on wooden structures and have not survived to this day.
At that time Kiev maintained broad international ties: with Byzantium, the countries of the East, Scandinavia, and Western Europe. Convincing evidence of this is contained in written sources, as well as in archaeological materials: about 11 thousand Arab dirhams of the 7th-10th centuries, hundreds of Byzantine and Western European coins, Byzantine amphorae and many other artifacts of foreign origin were found on the territory of Kiev. Svyatopolk, organized the murder of Boris and the second probable heir, Gleb. However, Svyatopolk was defeated by the troops Yaroslav the Wise in the battle of Lyubech and lost the Kiev reign. He asked the Polish king Boleslav I for help. He agreed and embarked on a campaign against Kiev. Having defeated the army of Yaroslav the Wise on the banks of the Bug, Boleslav and Svyatopolk entered Kiev. But the inhabitants of Kiev did not accept the new prince. In 1018, an uprising took place, as a result of which Yaroslav was returned to the throne.
According to the German Titmar of Merseburg, Kiev early XI century was a large city, with 400 temples and 8 marketplaces. Adam of Bremen in the early 70s of the XI century called him "the rival of Constantinople." Kiev reached its "golden age" in the middle of the 11th century under Yaroslav the Wise. The city has grown significantly in size. In addition to the princely court, on its territory were the courtyards of other sons of Vladimir and other dignitaries (about ten in total). There were three entrances to the city: the Golden Gate, Lyadsky Gate, Zhidovsky Gate. The chronicles mention the construction of the city of Yaroslav under the year 1037.
“In the summer of 6545 (1037), with Yaroslav founded the city of great Kiev, his city is the Golden Gate; Lay the Church of St. Sophia, Metropolitan, and seven Church on the Golden Gate of the Mother of God. "The Tale of Bygone Years"
The city of Yaroslav was located on an area of over 60 hectares, was surrounded by a moat with a depth of 12 m and a high rampart 3.5 km long, 30 m wide at the base, with a total height of up to 16 m with a wooden palisade.
During the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, St. Sophia Cathedral was built with numerous frescoes and mosaics, the most famous of which is the Mother of God of Oranta. In 1051, Prince Yaroslav gathered bishops in the St. Sophia Cathedral and elected the local native Hilarion as Metropolitan, thereby demonstrating confessional independence from Byzantium. In the same year, the monk Anthony Pechersky founded the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
The co-founder of the Pechersk Monastery was one of the first students of Anthony - Theodosius.
Prince Svyatoslav II Yaroslavich presented the monastery with a plateau above the caves, where later stone temples, decorated with paintings, cells, fortress towers and other structures grew.
The names of the chronicler Nestor and the artist Alipy are associated with the monastery.
In 1054, a split of the Christian church took place, but Kiev managed to maintain good relations with Rome. The so-called Izyaslav-Svyatopolk city, the center of which was the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, became the third part of the old Kiev in terms of the time of its emergence. It was separated from the Starokievsky plateau by a ravine-gully, along which, according to one of the versions, the chronicle lift of Borichev, where the old Russian customs was once, passed.
In 1068, a veche performance against Izyaslav was organized after the defeat of the Russian troops in the battle with the Polovtsy on the Alta River. As a result, Izyaslav was forced to flee to Polotsk, the throne was temporarily occupied by Vseslav Bryachislavich.
The collapse of the Old Russian state and feudal fragmentation (XII century - 1240)
After the death of the Kiev prince Svyatopolk Izyaslavich (1113), a popular uprising took place in Kiev; the top of Kiev society called for reign Vladimir Monomakh(May 4, 1113). Having become a Kiev prince, he suppressed the uprising, but at the same time he was forced to somewhat soften the position of the lower classes by legislative means.
This is how the "Charter of Vladimir Monomakh" or "Charter of cuts" was created, which became part of the expanded edition of "Russkaya Pravda". This charter limited the profits of usurers, determined the conditions for enslavement and, without encroaching on the foundations of feudal relations, eased the position of debtors and purchases. The ancient Slavic capital during the reign of the Yaroslavichs and Vladimir Monomakh personified the lack of solidity and scarcity in development, on the contrary, it was only in ancient Kiev that the methods of designing streets and squares were first applied, taking into account the legislative framework regulating the aesthetic side of housing construction.
The largest area of ancient Kiev was Podil. Its area in XII-XII centuries was 200 hectares. It was also famous for its fortifications, the so-called pillars, which are mentioned in the chronicle of the 12th century. In the center of Podol there was a chronicle "Trade", around which there were monumental religious buildings: the Church of Pirogoshcha (1131-35), Borisoglebskaya and Mikhailovskaya churches. The massive development of Kiev was predominantly wooden, it consisted of quarters of log and frame-and-pole buildings, mostly two-story. The layout of the city was manor-street.
The economic basis of the city was: agricultural production, handicrafts, as well as trade. On the territory where the districts of ancient Kiev were located, the remains of workshops, products made of clay, ferrous and non-ferrous metals, stone, bone, glass, wood and other materials were found. They testify that in the XII century artisans of more than 60 specialties worked in Kiev.
In Russia, the possession of the Kiev grand-ducal table belonged (at least theoretically) to the eldest in the family and provided supreme power over the appanage princes. Kiev remained the real political center of the Russian land at least until the death of Vladimir Monomakh and his son Mstislav the Great (in 1132).
The rise of separate lands with their own dynasties during the 12th century undermined the political significance of the city, gradually turning it into an honorary prize for the most powerful prince and, accordingly, into an apple of discord. Unlike other lands, the Kiev principality did not develop its own dynasty. The main struggle for it was fought between the princes from four Russian principalities: Vladimir-Suzdal, Volyn, Smolensk and Chernigov.
Kiev was dealt a serious blow by the allied army of the Russian prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1169.
For the first time during the period of civil strife, Kiev was taken by storm and plundered. For two days the people of Suzdal, Smolensk and Chernigov robbed and burned the city, palaces and temples. In monasteries and churches, not only jewelry was taken away, but also icons, crosses, bells, vestments. Following this, the Vladimir princes also began to bear the title of "great". The connection between the recognition of the eldership in the princely family and the possession of Kiev from that moment became optional. Very often, the princes who took possession of Kiev preferred not to stay in it themselves, but to give it to their dependent relatives.
In 1203, Kiev was captured and burned by the Smolensk prince Rurik Rostislavovich and the Polovtsy allied to Rurik.
During the internecine wars of the 1230s, the city was besieged and ruined several times, passing from hand to hand. By the time of the Mongol campaign against South Russia, the Kiev prince was a representative of the oldest branch of the Monomakhovich family in Russia - Daniil Galitsky.
Mongol invasion and the rule of the Golden Horde (1240-1362)
The destruction of Kiev by the Mongols
In December 1240 Kiev endured the siege of the Mongols. Then Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich of Chernigov ruled in the city from 1241 to 1243, when during his departure to Hungary for the wedding of his son Rostislav Kiev was captured by Yaroslav Vsevolodovich Vladimirsky.
Yaroslav received a shortcut to Kiev in the Horde and was recognized as the supreme ruler of all Russian lands, "the old prince in the Russian language."
In 1262, the Kiev pilot book was created, which became the prototype of the Volyn, Ryazan and other pilot books.
In fact, however, the defeated Kiev lost both its economic and political significance, and after that, its spiritual monopoly: in 1299, the Kiev metropolitan left for Vladimir, from where the metropolitan throne was then transferred to Moscow. The main core of the city (Gora and Podil) was within the traditional boundaries. After the construction of the wooden-earthen castle, the Castle Hill turned into the town's detinets. The main number of residents at that time was concentrated in Podol, here were the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin and the city bargaining, and later - the magistrate with the town hall.
The Mongols did not deliberately destroy the city. The main reason for the gradual destruction of most of the structures that survived in 1240 was that as a result of the Mongol defeat of the ancient Russian state system and the destruction of the economic base of the city - the Middle Dnieper region, as well as the establishment of the Golden Horde yoke, Kiev did not have the means to maintain a large number of stone structures. Only a few churches survived, which found economic support: St. Sophia, Assumption, Vydubitsky, St. Michael's Golden Domed, St. Cyril's Cathedrals, the Church of the Assumption.
The history of the Kiev principality in the second half of the XIII - the first half of the XIV centuries is poorly known. It was ruled by local provincial princes who did not claim the all-Russian supremacy. In 1324 the Kiev prince Stanislav was defeated in the battle on the Irpen River by the Grand Duke of Lithuania Gediminas. Since that time, the city was in the sphere of influence of Lithuania, but the payment of tribute to the Golden Horde continued for several more decades.
As part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Commonwealth
In 1362 after the Battle of Blue Waters, Kiev finally ended up in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Vladimir Olgerdovich became the prince of Kiev. The entry took place through a peaceful diplomatic route. Vladimir led an independent policy, minted his own coin, which, however, led to his replacement in 1394 in the reign of Skirgail Olgerdovich, and after the death of the latter, to the establishment of the governorship. At the end of the 14th - beginning of the 15th century, Kiev is a political center, where the Grand Duke of Lithuania Vitovt, the King of Poland and the Supreme Duke of Lithuania Vladislav II Yagailo, the Grand Duke of Moscow Vasily Dmitrievich, Metropolitans Cyprian, Photius, Gregory (Tsamblak), Khan Tokhtamysh are negotiating. The city became the main base of Vitovt's army, who launched an offensive against the Golden Horde, but was defeated in 1399 on Vorskla. Khan Timur-Kutluk then besieged Kiev, but did not take it, having received a ransom from the Kievites.
In the XIV century, a castle with wooden fortifications and towers was built in the center of Kiev, and the only tower clock in the city was located in the castle. The castle served as the residence of three Kiev princes: Vladimir Olgerdovich, his son Olelko and grandson Semyon.
In 1416 year the city (with the exception of the castle) was destroyed by the troops of the Golden Horde Emir Edigei. After Vitovt's death in 1430, Kiev became the main base of the "Russian party" of the Grand Duke of Lithuania Svidrigail. The people of Kiev took an active part in the struggle against the Lithuanian center. In 1436, the Kiev governor Yursha defeated Lithuanian troops near the city.
Since the end of the XIV century, the names of students from Kiev appear in the lists of the Parisian Sorbonne and other universities; under 1436 the first doctor of the "Ruthenian nation from Kiev" - Ivan Tinkevich is indicated.
In 1440 the Kiev principality was restored, headed by Prince Olelko Vladimirovich. In 1455-70, Semyon Olelkovich reigned in Kiev. Both princes enjoyed authority, had dynastic ties with the great Moscow and Tver princes, the Moldavian ruler Stephen III the Great. The time of their reign became a period of development for Kiev: the reconstruction of the Assumption Cathedral and other churches was carried out, stone bas-reliefs with the image of Oranta were created, as well as new editions of the Paterik of Kiev-Pechersk and other written sources. Kiev continued to be an important center for domestic and international trade. A lot of goods from the East, Europe, Muscovy passed through the city. This was facilitated, in particular, by the fact that the safety of the caravans that moved through the Ukrainian lands, the Lithuanian authorities guaranteed only when their routes passed through Kiev. Kiev was a potential center for the unification of the Russian lands that were part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, therefore, after the death of the Kiev prince Semyon Olelkovich, the Lithuanian government turned the principality into a voivodeship. An attempt by the people of Kiev to prevent the governor Martin Gashtold from entering the city, the conspiracy of the princes of 1481 led by Prince Mikhail Olelkovich and the uprising of Prince Mikhail Glinsky in 1508 ended in failure.
After the division of the all-Russian metropolis into Moscow and Lithuanian parts in the middle of the 15th century, Kiev became the center of the latter. In 1482 the city was destroyed by the army of the Crimean Khan Mengli-Girey. In 1494-1497 Kiev received city rights (Magdeburg Law). After the Union of Lublin in 1569, it was transferred to the Polish crown lands. In 1596, the Kiev Orthodox Metropolitanate passed into union with Rome.
Within the framework of the acute struggle between the Uniates and the Orthodox, the role of the city as the spiritual center of Orthodoxy increased again. Under archimandrites Elisey Pletenetsky and Zachary Kopystensky in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra in The printing house was founded in 1616 and the printing of liturgical and polemical books began, at this printing house in 1627 Pamvo Berynda published the "Lexicon of Slavic Albo of Interpretation Names". Pyotr Mogila started a school here, which was later merged with a brotherly school and served the beginning of the Kiev-Mohyla Collegium.
As part of the Russian Kingdom and the Russian Empire (1654-1917)
After the Pereyaslavl Rada on the square in front of the ancient Church of the Assumption of the Virgin of Pirogoscha, the population of Kiev took the oath of allegiance to Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich. In Kiev, a Russian garrison of archers and a reitar was stationed, which held the city throughout all the vicissitudes of the Russian-Polish war of 1654-1667. Voivode Vasily Sheremetev repeatedly repulsed the attacks of Hetman Ivan Vygovsky, and after Sheremetev's defeat at Chudnov, contrary to the agreements, Kiev refused to surrender the new voivode Yuri Baryatinsky to the Poles, and the Poles could not achieve the capture of the city by force.
January 31, 1667 the Andrusov armistice was concluded, under the terms of which the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ceded Smolensk and the Left-Bank Ukraine in favor of the Russian kingdom. Kiev was ceded to Poland initially temporarily, then, according to the "Eternal Peace" of 1686 - permanently. None of the Polish-Russian treaties concerning Kiev was ever ratified again. Since 1721 it has been the center of the Kiev province.
At the end of the 17th century, the territory of Kiev was located only on the right bank of the Dnieper. The city had a shape stretched along the coast. Three divided parts of the city were distinguished: the Lower City (Podil), where the academy and the fraternal church were located; The Upper Town with St. Sophia Cathedral and St. Michael's Monastery; Pechersk, the eastern part of which was protected by the defensive ramparts of the Lavra. Intensive urban construction was due to the patronage of Ivan Mazepa. In fact, these three separate territories united into a monolithic urban formation only in the 19th century.
XVIII century becomes a century of intensive development of the city and the emergence of many of its architectural masterpieces. In 1701, the central building of the Vydubitsky monastery was built in Kiev - the St. George Church, one of the prominent sights of the Ukrainian Baroque. During the Elizabethan era, under the leadership of the Moscow architect Ivan Michurin, two more Baroque buildings were being built in Kiev according to the project of Bartolomeo Rastrelli: the Mariinsky Palace and St. Andrew's Church.
The ancient churches and monasteries of Kievan Rus underwent a significant restructuring in the Ukrainian Baroque style: St. Sophia Cathedral, St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. In the latter, among other things, the Assumption Cathedral was renovated, the Great Lavra Bell Tower was erected - the tallest building in the city. In 1772, according to the plan of the architect Ivan Grigorovich-Barsky, the Orthodox Church of the Intercession was built in Podil.
September 16, 1781 years after the abolition of the Hetmanate and its centennial regimental structure, the Kiev governorship was formed. The viceroyalty included the territories of the Kiev, Pereyaslav, Lubensky and Mirgorod regiments.
In 1811 took place one of the largest fires in the history of Kiev. Thanks to the coincidence of many circumstances, and according to some testimonies and arson, an entire area of the city - Podol - was destroyed. The fire in three days (July 9-11) destroyed over 2 thousand houses, 12 churches, 3 monasteries. The hem was rebuilt again according to the project of architects Andrey Melensky and William Geste.
Even after Kiev and the surrounding area ceased to be a part of Poland, Poles made up a considerable share of the city's population. V 1812
year in Kiev, there were more than 4300 minor Polish lords. For comparison, there were approximately 1,000 Russian noblemen in the city. Usually the nobles spent the winter in Kiev, where they amused themselves for festivities and trips to the fair. Until the middle of the 18th century, Kiev experienced a significant influence of Polish culture.
Although Poles made up no more than ten percent of the population of Kiev, they accounted for 25% of the voters, since at that time there was a property qualification for voters. In the 1830s, there were many schools in Kiev with Polish as the language of instruction, and before the enrollment of Poles at the University of St. Vladimir was not limited in 1860, they made up the majority of the students of this institution. The abolition of the autonomy of the city of Kiev by the Russian government and its transfer to the rule of bureaucrats, which was dictated by a directive from St. Petersburg, were largely motivated by fear of a Polish uprising in the city.
Warsaw factories and small Polish stores had their branches in Kiev. Josef Zawadsky, founder of the Kiev Stock Exchange, was the mayor of the city in 1890. Kiev Poles tended to be friendly towards the Ukrainian national movement in the city, and some even took part in it.
Many poor Polish nobles became Ukrainianized in language and culture, and these Ukrainians of Polish descent became an important element of the growing Ukrainian national movement. Kiev served as a kind of destination, where such activists came together with the pro-Ukrainian descendants of Cossack officers from the left bank. Many of them wanted to leave the city and move to the countryside in order to try to spread Ukrainian ideas among the peasants.
In 1834 as part of the fight against Polish domination in this region in the field of education, on the initiative of Nicholas I, the Imperial University of St. Vladimir, now known as the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. It was the second university on the territory of Little Russia after the Kharkov Imperial University. In 1853, on the initiative of the emperor, who called Kiev "Jerusalem of the Russian land" and was very concerned about its development, the Nikolaev chain bridge was opened.
The rapid growth of the city in the first half of the 19th century made it necessary to draw up a plan that could regulate and streamline the development. Despite the fact that one of the first general plans was drawn up back in 1750, it basically fixed the existing situation. In fact, the first master plan, in the modern sense of the word, was drawn up by the architect Beretti and the engineer Shmigelsky (approved in 1837). According to this plan, intensive construction was carried out along the Lybed river, in Pechersk, Podol, Vladimirskaya street, Bibikovsky (now T. Shevchenko) boulevard, Khreshchatyk street were laid.
To strengthen Kiev militarily, the Kiev fortress was opened in the 19th century. It was built back in 1679, when the Cossack troops under the leadership of Hetman Samoilovich united the old Kiev and Pechersk fortifications, forming one large fortress. The next period in the development of Kiev's defensive structures is determined by the construction of the Pechersk Citadel under the leadership of Hetman Ivan Mazepa by order of Peter I.
The construction was carried out according to the plan of the French engineer Vauban. On the eve of the Patriotic War of 1812. According to the project of the military engineer Opperman, the earthen Zverinetsky fortification was built, connected with the Pechersk citadel. Large-scale renovations are carried out during the reign of Tsar Nicholas I, who approved the plan for expanding the fortress. By the beginning of the 60s of the XIX century, it consisted of the following parts: the core ?? - the citadel, two independent fortifications (Vasilkovskoe and Hospital), supplemented defensive barracks and towers.
During the Russian industrial revolution at the end of the 19th century, Kiev became an important center of trade and transport for the Russian Empire, this economic-geographical area specialized in sugar and grain export by rail and along the Dnieper River. In 1900, the city became an influential industrial center with a population of 250,000. The architectural monuments of that period include the railway infrastructure, the basis of numerous educational and cultural sites, as well as architectural monuments built mainly with the money of merchants, for example, the Brodsky synagogue.
At that time, a large Jewish community emerged in Kiev, which developed its own ethnic culture and interests. This was caused by the ban on Jewish settlements in Russia itself (Moscow and St. Petersburg), as well as in the Far East. Expelled from Kiev in 1654, Jews probably could not settle in the city again until the early 1790s. On December 2, 1827, Nicholas I issued a decree prohibiting Jews from permanently living in Kiev. Kiev Jews were subject to eviction, and only some of their categories could come for a limited time, and two special farmsteads were assigned for their stay. V 1881 and 1905 the famous pogroms in the city resulted in the deaths of about 100 Jews. An example of anti-Semitic politics is also the Beilis case, the trial of Mendel Beilis' murder of a religious school student. The process was accompanied by large-scale public protests. The accused was acquitted.
In the 19th century the architectural development of the city continues. In 1882, the St. Vladimir Cathedral, built in the neo-Byzantine style, was opened, in the painting of which Viktor Vasnetsov, Mikhail Nesterov and others later participated. In 1888, according to the project of the famous sculptor Mikhail Mikeshin, a monument to Bogdan Khmelnitsky was opened in Kiev. The opening of the monument, located in front of the St. Sophia Cathedral, was timed to coincide with the 900th anniversary of the baptism of Rus.
In 1902, according to the plan of the architect Vladislav Gorodetsky, the House with Chimeras was built in Kiev - the most outstanding building of the early decorative Art Nouveau in Kiev. The name is derived from concrete sculptural decorations of mythological and hunting themes.
At the beginning of the 20th century in Kiev, the housing issue has become aggravated. On March 21, 1909, the provincial authorities approved the charter of the First Kiev Society of Apartment Owners. This event served as the beginning of the construction of houses on a cooperative basis, which was a convenient and easy solution to the housing problem for the "middle class". The development of aviation (both military and amateur) was another notable manifestation of progress at the beginning of the 20th century. Such outstanding aviation figures as Pyotr Nesterov (a pioneer in the field of aerobatics) and Igor Sikorsky (creator of the world's first serial helicopter R-4, 1942) worked in Kiev. In 1892, it was in Kiev that the first electric tram line in the Russian Empire was launched. In 1911, while visiting the Kiev Opera, Russian Prime Minister Pyotr Stolypin was fatally wounded by the anarchist Dmitry Bogrov. Buried on the territory of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Stolypin was subsequently unveiled a monument opposite the building of the City Duma.
Revolutionary period and Civil war
The complex interaction of multidirectional political interests, the transition to the political stage of the national liberation movement, the activation of radical left political currents led to intense revolutionary upheavals of 1917-21. During the social revolution that began in February 1917 in Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and quickly engulfed all industrial centers and rural periphery of the European part of the Russian Empire, Kiev became the epicenter of the events of the first year of the Ukrainian revolution of 1917-21.
Created in the city in February 1917 The Ukrainian Central Rada (Ukrainian local self-government body headed by the historian Mikhail Hrushevsky) convened the first Ukrainian national government in the 20th century - the General Secretariat of the Ukrainian Central Rada, proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic in November 1917, and in January 1918 - an independent, sovereign Ukraine. This short period of independence saw a rapid rise in the cultural and political status of Kiev. A large number of professional Ukrainian-language theaters and libraries were created.
However, the UCR did not have a solid social support in Kiev. During the Bolshevik offensive on Kiev, they relied on the support of a significant part of the Kiev workers, who organized an uprising against the Central Rada, suppressed by Petliura's troops (February 4, 1918), but facilitated the subsequent capture of Kiev by the Bolshevik 1st Army of Muravyov (February 8, 1918). Most of the military formations located in Kiev remained neutral, the UCR threw untrained detachments of Kiev gymnasium students and students into battle (the so-called battle at Kruty).
The UCR, expelled from Kiev, asked for help from the countries of the Quadruple Alliance that occupied Ukraine as a result of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty, and on March 1, 1918, German and Austro-Hungarian troops, accompanied by the Petliurists, entered Kiev. However, the left and nationalist nature of the Central Rada did not suit the Germans, and on April 28, 1918, it was dispersed by a German patrol. On April 29, at the All-Ukrainian Congress of grain growers in the Kiev circus, the hetmanate was proclaimed and General P. Skoropadsky was elected hetman, the military formations of the UPR in Kiev were disarmed.
Kiev became the capital of the Ukrainian state, headed by Hetman P. Skoropadsky. Among all the regimes that succeeded each other in Kiev, except for Denikin's, this one was the most conservative. Under him, the Academy of Sciences was created in Kiev.
In mid-December 1918, the Germans left Kiev, the hetman was overthrown and fled, and on December 14, Petliura's troops entered Kiev, restoring the UPR. When on January 22, 1919, the Directory of the UPR proclaimed the Act of unification with the ZUNR, Kiev became the capital of the cathedral Ukraine, but two weeks later the Directory left it under the pressure of the advancing Soviet troops that entered the city on the night of February 5-6, 1919.
On April 10, 1919, the Red troops were driven out of part of Kiev (Podol, Svyatoshino, Kurenyovka) for 1 day by the unit of Ataman Struk, who was operating in the Chernobyl district.
On August 31, 1919, the Soviets ceded power to Denikin's Volunteer Army (see the capture of Kiev by the Volunteer Army). Together with the troops of the Armed Forces of the South of Russia under the command of N.E.Bredov, units of the Galician army and the army of the UPR, united under the command of Petliura, entered Kiev. However, after an incident in the center of Kiev, when one of the UNR soldiers tore down the Russian flag, the Ukrainian units were immediately disarmed by Denikin's forces and expelled from the city; in Ukrainian historiography, this event is called the Kiev catastrophe.
As a result of the raid of the Red Army on October 14, 1919, the Whites were briefly driven out of the city in the eastern suburb - Darnitsa, but the next day they counterattacked and by October 18 threw the Reds back beyond Irpen. After the new occupation of Kiev, Denikinites and local residents staged a pogrom of Jews suspected of supporting the Bolsheviks.
The Red Army returned to Kiev on December 16, 1919, crossing the freezing Dnieper and knocking out the Denikinites.
On May 7, 1920, during the Polish-Soviet war, Kiev was occupied by Polish troops with the help of their allied UPR army. After the abandonment of the city by the Polish and Petliura troops (during the Kiev operation of the Red Army), Soviet power was finally established here (June 12, 1920). Thus, from the beginning of 1917 (the February Revolution) to the middle of 1920 (the departure of the Poles), the power in Kiev changed 13 times.
Interwar period
In October 1921, in Kiev, supporters of the ideas of the autocephalous church convened the "All-Ukrainian Council of the Clergy and Laity", in which none of the bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church took part. At the council, it was decided to independently, without the participation of the bishops, perform ordination, which was soon fulfilled. The Renovation movement in the Russian Church, supported by the GPU, at the Council in 1923 recognized the autocephaly of the Church in the Ukrainian SSR. However, in 1930, in view of the new political realities, the UAOC decided to dissolve itself. The clergy of the UAOC was almost completely liquidated.
In 1922, the creative association "Berezil" was founded in Kiev on the basis of one of the groups of the "Young Theater" collective. The first performance "October" (the text of the creative production team) took place on November 7, 1922. It worked as a state theater from 1922 to 1926 in Kiev, and from 1926 - in Kharkov (the then capital of Soviet Ukraine). The period of the theater's life and formation in Kiev is considered a "political" period, and the Kharkov period is considered a philosophical one.
On May 17, 1924, the first kindergarten in Kiev "Orlyonok" was founded. In the 1930s, a dedicated building was built for it, which subsequently won many styling awards.
In 1930, the film "Earth" by Ukrainian director Alexander Dovzhenko was filmed in Kiev. According to Sight & Sound magazine, the film is one of the best examples of Soviet silent cinema. At the World Exhibition in Brussels, Earth was ranked tenth among the 12 best films in the history of cinema.
In social terms, this period was accompanied by repressions against many representatives of the creative professions (for these events there is the term "shot revival"). In addition, the process of destruction of churches and monuments, which began in the 1920s, reached its climax. Examples of this are the demolition of the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery and the confiscation of property from the Cathedral of St. Sophia.
The urban population continued to grow, mainly due to migrants. Migration changed the ethnic demography of the city from Russian-Ukrainian to predominantly Ukrainian-Russian, although Russian remained the dominant language. Kievans also suffered from the volatile Soviet policies of the time. Encouraging Ukrainians to pursue careers and develop their culture (Ukrainization), the Soviet government soon launched a struggle against "nationalism." Political processes were organized in the city to cleanse it of "Western spies", "Ukrainian nationalists", opponents of Joseph Stalin and the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks).
At the end of this period, secret mass shootings began in Kiev. The Kiev intelligentsia, clergy and party activists were arrested, shot and buried in mass graves. The main places of action were Babi Yar and Bykovnyansky forests. At the same time, the city's economy continued to grow thanks to the industrialization course proclaimed back in 1927. In 1932, the building of the central railway station was built in the Ukrainian Baroque style with elements of constructivism.
In 1932-33, the population of the city, like in most other cities of the USSR (Kazakhstan, the Volga region, the North Caucasus and Ukraine), suffered from famine (Holodomor). In Kiev, bread and other food products were distributed to people on ration cards in accordance with the daily norm, but bread was in short supply, and citizens stood in line all night to get it. The victims of the Holodomor in Kiev can be divided into three parts: victims from among the residents of Kiev proper; victims of the suburbs of Kiev; peasants who reached the city in different ways in the hope of surviving and died already in Kiev. If we proceed from the fact that as of the autumn of 1931 the population of Kiev was 586 thousand people, and at the beginning of 1934 - 510 thousand, then taking into account the birth rate for this period, the losses of Kiev amounted to more than 100 thousand people. Historian Sergei Belokon cites the number of 54,150 victims in 1933.
In 1934, the capital of the Ukrainian SSR was moved from Kharkov to Kiev. This was Stalin's plan. The expansion of the city due to new buildings was suspended. The population was influenced by Soviet social policy, which was achieved through repression, coercion and a rapid movement towards totalitarianism, in which dissent and non-communist organizations are not allowed. Tens of thousands of people were sent to gulag camps.
In 1937, the first in the Ukrainian Republic Art School (named after T. Shevchenko) was built in Kiev. Today the building houses the History Museum.
From 1928 to 1942, three five-year plans passed (the last one was disrupted by the war), during which about 2 thousand industrial facilities were built on the territory of Ukraine, specifically in Kiev there were no such “giants” as Kryvorizhstal or KhTZ built, but this did not interfere to carry out industrialization in the city: to make roads, to electrify districts far from the center, and so on. In 1935, the first trolleybus was launched in Kiev, following the route Lev Tolstoy Square - Zagorodnaya Street.
The Great Patriotic War
For Kiev, the war turned into a series of tragic events, significant human losses and material damage. Already at dawn on June 22, 1941, Kiev was bombed by German aircraft, and on July 11, German troops approached Kiev. The Kiev defensive operation lasted 78 days. Forcing the Dnieper near Kremenchug, German troops surrounded Kiev, and on September 19 the city was taken. At the same time, more than 665 thousand soldiers and commanders were captured, 884 armored vehicles, 3718 guns and much more were captured.
On September 24, saboteurs of the NKVD carried out a series of explosions in the city, due to which a large fire began on Khreshchatyk and in the adjacent quarters. On September 29 and 30, the Nazis and Ukrainian collaborators shot Jews in Babi Yar, during these 2 days alone, more than 33 thousand people died. In total, according to Ukrainian scientists, the number of Jews shot in Babi Yar was 150 thousand (residents of Kiev, as well as other cities of Ukraine, and this number does not include young children under 3 years old, who were also killed, but did not count). The most famous collaborators of the Reichskommissariat of Ukraine were the mayors of Kiev, Alexander Ogloblin and Vladimir Bagaziy. It is also worth noting that a number of nationalist leaders saw the occupation as an opportunity to start a cultural revival, freeing themselves from Bolshevism.
On November 3, the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was blown up (according to one version - pre-laid by Soviet radio-controlled land mines). On the territory of the city, the Darnitsk and Syrets concentration camps were created, where 68 and 25 thousand prisoners, respectively, died. In the summer of 1942, a football match took place in occupied Kiev between the Start team and the national team of German combat units. Subsequently, many Kiev footballers were arrested, some of them died in a concentration camp in 1943. This event was named "Death Match". Over 100 thousand young people were sent to forced labor in Germany from Kiev. By the end of 1943, the city's population had dropped to 180,000.
During the German occupation, the Kiev city government functioned in the city.
In early November 1943, on the eve of the retreat, the German invaders began to burn Kiev. On the night of November 6, 1943, the advanced units of the Red Army, overcoming insignificant resistance from the remnants of the German army, entered the almost empty burning city. At the same time, there is a version that Stalin's desire to be in time for the Soviet festive date on November 7 led to large-scale human losses: the liberation of Kiev cost the lives of 6491 soldiers and commanders of the Red Army.
Later, in the course of the Kiev defensive operation, the attempt of the German-fascist troops to seize Kiev again was reflected (on December 23, 1943, the Wehrmacht, having stopped the attempts to attack, went on the defensive)
In total, during the hostilities in Kiev, 940 buildings of state and public institutions with an area of over 1 million m2, 1742 communal houses with a living area of more than 1 million m2, 3,600 private houses with an area of up to half a million m2; all bridges across the Dnieper were destroyed, the water supply system, sewerage system, and transport facilities were put out of action.
For the heroism shown during the defense, Kiev was awarded the title of a hero-city (Decree of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 21, 1961; approved by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, May 8, 1965).
Post-war reconstruction
The first post-war years were marked by intensive restoration of the destroyed city. In January 1944, the leading state and party institutions returned to the capital of the Ukrainian SSR. In 1948, the construction of the Dashava - Kiev gas pipeline was completed, in 1949, the Darnytsky railway bridge and the Paton bridge were built, the construction of the subway began. The industrial and scientific potential of the city was developing, it was in Kiev in 1950 that the first computer in the USSR and continental Europe, MESM, was created, and in 1951 the first television center in Ukraine began broadcasting.
After the war, it was decided to rebuild Khreshchatyk, preserving the configuration of the streets, but the buildings were completely new, in the style of the "Stalinist Empire". The street is built up as a single architectural ensemble. The width of Khreshchatyk has been increased to 75 meters. The street profile has become asymmetric: the roadway is 24 meters, two sidewalks of 14 meters each, separated from the roadway by a row of trees, and a chestnut boulevard on the right side, which separates the residential area from the roadway.
Kiev remained the center for the development of Ukrainian national culture. However, already in 1946, the Moscow authorities began a new wave of ideological cleansing, found a response in the Resolutions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine directives "On distortion and errors in the coverage of the history of Ukrainian literature", "On the journal of satire and humor" Peretz "", "On the repertoire of drama theaters and measures to improve it ”and others.
Kiev during the reign of N. S. Khrushchev
Death of Stalin in 1953 year and the rise to power of Khrushchev was marked by the beginning of the "thaw" period. In the wake of the nuclear missile race and the chemicalization of the national economy, the research institutes of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR developed rapidly. In 1957, the Computing Center of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR was founded, in 1960 an atomic reactor was launched at the Institute of Physics. In the same year, the first metro section was put into operation, and the city's population exceeded one million inhabitants.
The weakening of ideological pressure contributed to increased creative activity. Writers Ivan Drach, Vitaly Korotich, Lina Kostenko made their debut in Kiev; composers Valentin Silvestrov and Leonid Grabovsky; at the film studio. A. Dovzhenko created such films as "Chasing Two Hares" (Viktor Ivanov, 1961), "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" (Sergei Paradzhanov, 1964). However, the process of Russification began.
tion: in 1959, the Supreme Council of the Ukrainian SSR approved a law that gave parents the right to choose the language of instruction for their children.
At the same time, another atheist campaign led to the closure of a number of churches that resumed their activity during the war, the demolition of some religious buildings, the desecration of historical burials (the Lukyanovskoye Jewish and Karaite cemeteries with an area of over 25 hectares were destroyed). A negligent attitude towards technological requirements led to a large-scale Kurenyov tragedy, which was hushed up by the authorities for a long time. Under unclear circumstances, on May 24, 1964, unique materials from the funds of the State Public Library of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR were destroyed by fire.
In the 1960s urbanization processes accelerated sharply, due to which from 1959 to 1979 the total number of permanent residents of Kiev increased from 1.09 to 2.12 million people. During these years, new residential areas were built on the left bank of the Dnieper: Rusanovka, Bereznyaki, Voskresenka, Levoberezhny, Komsomolsky, Lesnoy, Raduzhny; later: Vigurovschina-Troyeshina, Kharkov, Osokorki and Poznyaki. Multi-storey hotels were built: Lybid (17 floors, 1971), Slavutich (16 floors, 1972), Kiev (20 floors, 1973), Rus (21 floors, 1979), Tourist "(26 floors, 1980).
The network of higher educational institutions grew, new cultural centers were created (in particular, the Theater of Drama and Comedy, the Youth Theater), museums, including the Museum of Folk Architecture and Life of the Ukrainian SSR, the Museum of the History of Kiev and the Museum of the History of the Great Patriotic War with a 62-meter statue of the Motherland - mother.
Kiev during the reign of Leonid I. Brezhnev
At the same time, the ideological dictatorship resumed in the mid-1960s, and Kiev became one of the centers of the dissident movement. In fact, two main directions of dissident opposition to the regime have developed. The first of them was focused on support from outside the USSR, the second - on the use of protest moods of the population within the country. The activity was based on an appeal to foreign public opinion, the use of the Western press, non-governmental organizations, foundations, relations with political and state leaders of the West.
Dissidents sent open letters to central newspapers and the Central Committee of the CPSU, produced and distributed samizdat, and staged demonstrations. The beginning of a broad dissident movement is associated with the trial of Daniel and Sinyavsky (1965), as well as with the introduction of Warsaw Pact troops into Czechoslovakia (1968). In 1976, the Ukrainian Helsinki Group was founded in Kiev, which advocated for the protection of human rights under the Helsinki Agreement, signed by the USSR a year earlier.
In the field of education, there was an intensive publication of textbooks, the ten-year education system was returned. However, a demographic crisis began, the growth of the urban population continued only due to migration and urbanization processes.
Kiev did not bypass the process of stagnation in the economy: the rate of production fell, the competitiveness of the goods declined. The urban population received insufficient food, despite significant investment in agriculture. There was a staff stagnation, city officials, due to their old age, could no longer cope with their duties, which also negatively affected the well-being of the city.
Restructuring
Despite the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on April 26, 1986, festive celebrations and demonstrations were held in Kiev, timed to May Day. Information about the incident was withheld so that there was no panic among the population. The accident caused a significant deterioration in the environmental situation in Kiev, the health of the city's residents deteriorated markedly, many foodstuffs exposed to radioactive contamination were initially carefully checked with radiometers.
In 1987, Oles Shevchenko founded the Ukrainian Cultural Club in Kiev. The club began its activity with public discussions. Later they began to resort to public shares. A demonstration was held on the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident, there were also plans to collect signatures to justify political prisoners, but the event was disrupted. The date of the end of the club's activities is considered to be the date of V. Stus's funeral.
From October 2 to October 17, 1990 the hunger strike of students on October Revolution Square (now Independence Square) and mass protests in Kiev lasted, in which students and students of technical schools and vocational schools played the main role. The government was forced to satisfy part of the demands of the protesters, which related to military service, the holding of new elections, the nationalization of property and the resignation of the Head of the Council of Ministers of the Ukrainian SSR.
On August 24, 1991 in Kiev, the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR approved the Act of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine.
Capital of Ukraine
In 1991, Kiev became the capital of independent Ukraine, however, positive changes took place quite difficult in the city: a nationwide socio-economic crisis was growing, which led to an increase in unemployment and a decrease in production. Back in the 1980s, with the development of commercial relations, new organized bandit groups, the so-called reket, appeared. After that, skirmishes began to take place in the city due to the distribution of spheres of influence. This form of organized crime existed en masse until the mid-1990s.
In 1999, the Mikhailovsky Golden-Domed Monastery, destroyed by the Bolsheviks, was restored. A year later, the Assumption Cathedral of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra was restored, and five years later - the Church of the Nativity of Christ. Simultaneously with the Assumption Cathedral, the first Kiev Ar-Rakhma mosque was built in the historical center of the city.
The metro line to Lukyanovka and the Kharkiv massif was completed, the Pevcheskoe Pole was opened. The Yuzhny railway station, built in 2001, has become an attraction of the capital's transport infrastructure. The building is decorated in Romanesque style, next to the newly planned square. Its construction helped to unload the building of the Central Station, built back in 1932.
In Kiev, shopping and entertainment centers are actively being built, part of the building of which is located underground. Popular since the 1970s, glass and concrete buildings are being reconstructed and transformed into modern office centers. Also, the restoration of old houses of the XIX - early XX centuries is being carried out in the central part of the city, the development of which is planned to be prohibited. With regard to the development of urban infrastructure, priority is given to the expansion and renewal of the public transport fleet, replacement and repair of communications, the construction of new metro stations and road junctions, and the creation of an effective system for cleaning the city from garbage. An important aspect is also attracting investment, the construction of the headquarters of international companies and new business centers in Kiev. In addition, it is planned to solve the problem of infill development.
In 2001 the All-Ukrainian population census was carried out. According to its results, the population of Kiev amounted to more than 2.6 million people. The percentage of Ukrainians in the city was 82.2%.
November 22 - December 26, 2004- the time of the Orange Revolution on the Independence Square against falsification of the results of the presidential elections. Thanks to the action, Viktor Yushchenko became the President of Ukraine.
On July 1, 2012 in Kiev at the stadium "NSC Olimpiyskiy" took place the final of the European Football Championship 2012, in which Spain defeated Italy.
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Prince or "boatman"
- It is believed that Kiy really existed, but his relatives Shcheka, Khoryva and Lybid had already thought out to embellish the legend, - says Natalya Popova, a Kiev scholar. - In addition, there were disputes about whether Kiy was a prince or a carrier across the Dnieper. Historians came to the conclusion that after all it was a prince, because the chronicles mention his trips to Byzantium.
The place where, according to legend, modern Kiev came from has survived to this day. This is Mount Kiyanitsa, it is located in Podol, now the foundation of the Tithe Church and the Historical Museum are located there: "The chronicle says that Kiy came and sat down to reign on the mountain, and it was named Kievitsa, the other brothers reigned respectively on the mountains Schekovitsa and Khorevitsa", - continued Natalya Yanovna.
Hindu or deity
There are many hypotheses about who Kiy was before his principality. His name is identified with the hunter, the "Novgorod robber" and even with the "Greek king". Even more discussions are caused by the nationality of Kiya, or rather, his belonging to a certain people. There are dozens of clearly worked out "versions" according to which the founder of the city was an ant, a Goth, a Hun, a Sarmatian, an Avar, a Khazar, a Pole, a Persian, a Hindu, a Jew ...
There are opinions that the legendary founders of Kiev were not even human. Like, Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv were the Proto-Slavic deities of thunder, fire and sun. For example, the name Horeb is consonant with the name of the pagan sun god Khors.
Old-time Jews
One of the oldest documents known to us, which mentions Kiev, is a letter that was discovered in an ancient synagogue in Egypt, written on a piece of parchment in Hebrew. Hence the version that the capital, if not founded, was thoroughly populated by Jews for a long time.
“A letter written in the second half of the 9th century says that the Kiev Jewish community is asking fellow believers to help Joakov, who was his brother’s surety,” Natalia Yanovna explained. - One brother borrowed money, and the other acted as a surety. The borrower died and his brother had to look for money to pay back the debt. He collected funds from the Kiev community, neighboring communities, and when good people ran out, he turned to Jews abroad. And this letter went through the Khazar Kaganate, ended up in the Egyptian synagogue, where it was preserved.
And who is Lybid?
It is believed that the only woman in the quartet of founders of Lybid was not a sister at all to the brothers, but a concubine. Since she loved all three, they decided to call her sister. If this is true, then in the history of ancient Kiev there was an example of the first Swedish family.
Kiy's descendants
As we found out, five families with the surname Kiy now live in Kiev. Some - on the avenue of the 40th anniversary of October, just in the territory where the Nightingale the robber allegedly lived.
Celebrating 25 years
This year we officially celebrated the anniversary — the 1525th birthday of Kiev. The tradition appeared only in 1982. As the candidate of historical sciences Viktor Chervinsky told us, there was a "directive" from the Central Committee of the CPSU to celebrate the 1500th anniversary of the city. “These are party whims and willful date setting. Nobody knows exactly when Kiev was founded, there are many versions. The party members wanted to bring the anniversary of the city day and the baptism of Rus closer. In 1988 it was the millennium, ”says Mr. Chervinsky.
Historians believe that the capital is much older. According to one version based on legends, Kiev is at least 300 years older. According to another hypothesis, the capital is about 5 thousand years old and it is the same age as the Egyptian pyramids. “The fact that our city was allegedly founded in 482 is a conditional date; it’s just that the first written mention of Kiev dates back to this time,” explained the Kiev scholar Natalya Popova.
Why do we celebrate City Day on the last weekend of May? In 1983, when the city day was first celebrated, chestnuts were in full bloom. This symbol flaunted on the coat of arms of the city, so they decided to establish a tradition so that the time coincided with a riot of candles.
By the way, they used to walk for one day, but not so long ago they also captured Saturday - they called it the Day of the Capital.
From the legendary founders of the city in Kiev, there remained the Kiyanitsa hill, the Khoriv street, the Schekavitsa mountain, on which there was a cemetery, and now barbecue and the "stinking river" Lybid are fried there.
They wanted to install the rook on the Moscow bridge
The people of Kiev can no longer imagine their city without a monument-boat with the princes Kiy, Schek, Khoryv and their sister Lybid, located on the banks of the Dnieper near the Poton bridge. The newlyweds come to him and literally throw the boat with bouquets of flowers. This tradition of spouses is used by enterprising townspeople who are on duty in the bushes at the monument and pull roses, gerberas and lilies that have not yet withered from a copper boat in order to sell them in the passageways next door.
They put it in the wrong place
As soon as the inhabitants of Kiev do not call the boat - and "Noah's ark" and "trough" and "boat with pirates" and "Titanic". However, few of them know the history of the appearance of the statue on the banks of the Slavutych. It turns out that initially they wanted to install this sculptural composition on the pylon of the Moscow Bridge. In the early 70s, the famous Ukrainian sculptor Vasily Borodai ("father" of the Motherland-Mother) presented a small desktop version of his work - boats with the founders of the city - Leonid Brezhnev and Vladimir Shcherbitsky. The statesmen liked the sculpture so much that they instructed the designers of the bridge to Troeshchina to install a large boat on the pylon of the ferry. But this is the height of a 35-storey building - strong winds constantly blow there, so it would be incredibly difficult to securely fix such a large sculpture. In addition, it is difficult to see it from below. Fortunately, Alexander Botvin, one of the secretaries of the then Kiev City Party Committee, understood all this. He proposed to conduct an experiment and erect a plywood dummy of the sculpture on the pylon. It looked awful. Thanks to this, everyone was able to see with their own eyes that the idea of a boat and princes should be abandoned.
After that, the current symbol of Kiev, officially called the "Floating Lybid" monument, was installed in the park near the Paton Bridge and opened in honor of the 1500th anniversary of the city's founding on May 22, 1982.
The Lybid River became a stinking stream
The ancient Slavs had a proverb "A woman will rule in Russia not before the Lybid river dries up." Then the meaning was put into it, they say, after Princess Olga, a woman will never sit on the throne. After all, the river was full-flowing, large merchant ships sailed along it. It's hard to believe now. From the river, fetid streams remained, which now flow in five districts of the city. According to experts, for the river to disappear altogether, love can finish it in 10 years ... Perhaps by this time there will be a woman who "will ascend the Kiev throne."
Now the main function of Lybidi, according to experts, is to serve in Kiev as one of the main drainage systems. They had been planning to clean the river for a long time and put it in order, but they did not carry out the plan. The last time the "reconstruction" of the river took place in the late 50s - early 60s, but since then the situation in the city has changed, and now Lybid simply cannot cope with the load that falls on it, especially after the rains. Countless collectors approach it from all sides, feeding it with water. During floods or heavy rains, the "stinker" overflows and overflows the banks. The section from Moskovskaya Square to the South Bridge at the end of the 80s, when the through highway was being built, was hidden under the ground in a collector.
They caught bream in Lybidi
But the river was not always in such a deplorable state. Many people in Kiev, who are already over 50, remember the wide and more or less clean Lybid in the area of the Karavaev dachas. They swam and even fished in it. Until now, people remember the good catches of crucian carp, bream and pike perch.
The river has two sources. One is in the Otradny park, the second in Kardachi, behind the radio market. There is a plot in the park, in which the people of Kiev swim, though the most courageous. Swim in blooming water, among empty plastic bottles and other garbage, who want to be a little. Most of the park's vacationers relieve themselves in the river. Individuals wash cars. There are cheap beer cafes on the shore. The river also flows near the central railway station. The ancient reservoir meets the guests of the capital. Many of them are unpleasantly surprised by the deplorable view of the stream. For some people of Kiev, Lybid is a recreation area; on the shore, homeless people are often attached in the sun. Nearby industrial pipes. In the cold season, you can warm up here, and even arrange a laundry.
The name of the river is used in the capital only to lure tourists. Many visitors were in the Lybid restaurant, cafe, shop. Few of them saw the remains of the river. The guides try not to show this "attraction".
Doesn't Kiev need a second monument to the founders?
Another monument to the founders of Kiev stands on the Maidaneu of the foundation of the Monument of Independence. The statue is a stone on which there are Kiy, Shchek, Khoriv and their sister Lybid, armed with bows, with two swans taking off. The founders are surrounded by the spray of a fountain. This composition appeared along with the glass greenhouses hated by many people of Kiev on the main square of the country in 2000, when the Maidan opened after a global reconstruction. The townspeople still do not understand why the capital needs two monuments to the founders of Kiev - they say, there is a boat on the banks of the Dnieper, so why clutter up the place on the Maidan.
“It has not yet been proven that it was they who founded the city. It would be better if the parks were ennobled. And why are there so many monuments to the brothers and Lybid? " - said Emma Dmitrievna, a native Kivlyanka living on Khreshchatyk.
“It's easier to climb this one,” a young guy who was passing by immediately answered her.
12 rulers are superfluous
This monument to the founders was designed together with the Monument of Nezalezhnosti with 12 other figures of prominent figures. All this together was supposed to reflect the history of Ukraine from its inception to the present day. According to Anatoly Kushch, the author of this monument to the founders and all the statues on the Maidan, according to the project for the reconstruction of the main square of the country, behind the Monument of Independence, a colonnade with figures of Prophetic Oleg, Princess Olga, Svyatoslav the Conqueror, Vladimir the Baptist, Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Monomakh, Daniel was to be located Galitsky, Baida Vishnevetsky, Peter Sagaidachny, Bohdan Khmelnitsky, Ivan Mazepa and Mikhail Hrushevsky. However, the city authorities considered this colonnade superfluous.
Mount Schekavitsa - "the city of the dead"
Schekavitsa is a mountain on which, according to legends, the Kiev prince Schek ruled. It is located between Tatarka and Podol. Anyone who has been here at least once can confirm how beautiful and unusual for a city the landscape there is - greenery, trees, ravines. And on Shchekavitsa, as a rule, it is quiet and deserted - most of the settlements disappeared from the mountain after the Mongol invasion.
Witch hunt
Funeral traditions on the mountain have been cultivated since the time of Prince Oleg - it is almost a continuous Old Believer cemetery, in some places - Muslim. Streets Olegovskaya and Mirnaya used to have names that speak for themselves - Pogrebalnaya and Cherny Yar. According to some versions, the burials here are in three "floors", for which Shchekavitsa was nicknamed "the city of the dead". The last dilapidated wooden cross collapsed here 7 years ago. However, these fears do not frighten the people of Kiev, who, with the beginning of spring, occupy the green mountain to barbecue and sunbathe. And after drinking 100 grams of 40-degree meat over the fragrant meat, they begin to tell each other terrible stories about the incidents on Shchekavitsa. For example, that a ghost of a witch lives on the mountain, who terrified the people even under Oleg - they say, every night she goes hunting: looking for beautiful girls strolling in order to "take away" their beauty.
History in the trash
Mount Schekavitsa is also good because Kiev is visible from it 360 degrees. It is better to look at the capital at night - the lights of the big city look much better than the industrial zone located at the foot of the mountain with a bunch of factories. And Shchekavitsa itself looks more attractive in the dark - you can't see the pits with garbage that vacationers leave in a historical place after partying.
The well-known legend, which "The Tale of Bygone Years" precedes the story of the beginning of the Russian land, says that the glades "living an individual and owning their clans in their places" had three brothers - Kyi, Schek and Khoriv, and their sister was called Lybed. At first, Kiy sat on the mountain, where Borichev Vzvoz later arose, Shchek on the mountain, which was called Schekovitsa, and Khoriv on the third mountain, which was nicknamed Horivitsa by his name. Then the younger brothers erected a city in the name of their elder brother and named him Kiev.
There was a forest around the city and a large forest, with hunting grounds. Neveglas (ignorant people), the chronicler notes, say that Kiy was not a princely family, but was a simple carrier on the Dnieper. But this is not so: if Kiy was a carrier, he would not have gone with an army to Constantinople, but he fought for many countries and signed a peace treaty with the Tsar of Constantinople and received great honor from him and from everyone. He also went to the Danube in the Bulgarians and loved these places and cut down the hail, wanting to sit there with his kin. The local military people drove him away, but that town is still called Kievets Danube. After that, Kiy went to the Kama Bulgarians, defeated them, and returning to Kiev, he died; at the same time his brothers Shchek and Horeb and their sister Lybid died.
This legend has been studied many times from a variety of perspectives. Historians were primarily interested in the names of the founding brothers. The Slavic origin of the name of the eldest of the brothers, Kiya, is established with a sufficient degree of evidence. One of the meanings of the Old Russian word "cue" (in the archetype sounded like "kuv") - club, hammer * - indicates his connection with blacksmithing, the secrets of which, in the concept of people of archaic societies, were owned by gods, heroes and magicians. It is no coincidence that later in Ukraine there was a legend about a blacksmith-snake-fighter, who defeated a snake that imposed extortions on the country, harnessed it to a plow and plowed the land; from the furrows arose the Dnieper, the Dnieper rapids and ramparts along the Dnieper (Zmievy ramparts) [ Ivanov V.V., Toporov V.N. Slavic mythology: Encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1995.S. 222].
* B. A. Rybakov notes that “... in this sense, the name of the founder of Kiev resembles the name of the emperor (more correctly, the king. - S. Ts.) Karl Martell - Karl Molot (Rybakov B. A. Ancient Russia: Legends. Epics. Chronicles. M. , 1963.S. 25).
In relation to Schek, VK Bylinin proposed a Türkic etymology: "The name of Cheeks, Shcheka, is possibly a Slavicized pronunciation of the Türkic lexeme" cheka "," chekan "(battle ax, ax) ..." [ Bylinin V. K. To the question of the genesis and the historical context of the chronicle "Legend of the founding of Kiev" // Hermeneutics of Old Russian literature X - XVI centuries. M., 1992.Sat. 3.P. 18]. Indeed, the famous Bulgarian nobleman Chok, who lived at the beginning of the 9th century. The name Shok (Saac) is also found in the Hungarian chronicles. But even more likely is the origin of the "mountain" Schekovitsa from the Slavic word cheeks in the meaning of "steep, mountainous river banks."
Finally, linguists associate Horeb with the Iranian-Avestan word huare - the sun [ Danilevsky I. N. Ancient Russia through the eyes of contemporaries and descendants (IX-XII centuries). M. 1999.S. 70]. A biblical reading of this name is also proposed - after the name of Mount Horeb in the Arabian Desert, whose eastern ridge is Sinai. However, this option is unlikely, since it implies a completely different cultural and religious subtext.
This is the "etymological" reading of the legend about the founding of Kiev.
However, it is hardly possible to speak about the true historicity of these characters, especially the brothers and sisters of Kiya, who do not play any independent role and die en masse immediately after the death of their older brother. Most likely, we are dealing with a typical case of "folk etymology" - the desire to explain the origin of Kiev, local tracts (Schekovitsa, Horivitsa) and the Lybedi River by creating the corresponding mythological heroes.
The “History of Taron” (Taron is the historical region of Greater Armenia, on the territory of the modern Turkish vilayet of Mush), a work of the 7th or 8th century, attributed to two authors: the Syrian bishop Zenob Glak and John Mamikonian, the abbot of the monastery of Surb -Karapet. It also contains the tradition of three brothers, and the names of two of them will seem surprisingly familiar to us.
So, the semi-legendary king Valarshak (from the Parthian clan of Arshakids, the governor of the province of Armenia, who lived at the turn of the 3rd-2nd centuries BC) sheltered in his possessions two brothers - Gisanei and Demeter, princes of the Indians, expelled by enemies from their country. But fifteen years later, Valarshak himself executed them for some kind of offense. The killed brothers were succeeded by their sons - Kuar, Meltey (Meldes) and Horean. " Quar, - says on the pages of the "History of Taron", - built the city of Kuara, and he was named Kuara by his name, and Meltey built his city on the field and named it after Meltey; and Horean built his city in the Paluni region and named it Horean. And over time, after consulting, Kuar and Meltey and Horean climbed Mount Karkeya and found there a wonderful place with a good air, since there was space for hunting and coolness, as well as an abundance of grass and trees. And they built a village there ... "
It is remarkable that the chronicle legend not only preserves the names of the two brothers from the Armenian legend in a recognizable form, but, at the same time, accurately reproduces the stages of the construction activity of the Armenian trinity (Kiy, Shchek and Khoriv also initially “sit” each in their “city”, and then they build a common one - in honor of the older brother, Kiy) and even copies the natural conditions, among which there is a fourth, the main city, and the economic activities of its inhabitants - "the forest and the forest is great" around Kiev, where Kiy, Schek and Khoriv "byahu catching the beast ".
The question of why the Kiev and Armenian chroniclers, separated by thousands of miles and several centuries, told the same story almost word for word, has no clear answer. Of course, there is no need to talk about the borrowing of the ancient Russian tradition by the Armenian chroniclers. The legend set forth in the "History of Taron" is quite original, since it has indisputable local roots. Already in the pantheon of the Kingdom of Van (another name is the state of Urartu, IX-VI centuries BC), the deity Kuera / Kuar is known, apparently associated with the cult of thunder and fertility [ Arutyunova-Fedonyan V. A. Thunder deity in Taron // Bulletin of PSTGU III: Philology 2008. Vol. 4 (14). S. 16, 17, 20 - 22; Eremyan S.T. On some historical and geographical parallels in the "Tale of Bygone Years" and "History of Taron" by John Mamikonyan // Historical ties and friendship of the Ukrainian and Armenian peoples. Kiev, 1965.S. 151 - 160]. The onomastics of the Near East also retained the consonant names: Melde (now the village of Mehdi in Western Armenia), Hariv (Herat), Khorean / Hoarena (in Media), the cities of Melitta and Kavar, the biblical city of Harran and the Horri people, the theophoric name Malkatu (daughter of the Assyrian god Bel-Harran), finally, the Armenian princely family of Paluni and the historical region of the same name in Greater Armenia.
However, the opposite assumption looks just as unlikely - about the transfer of the legend from Armenia to ancient Russia, in favor of which there is absolutely no historical evidence. And most importantly, the toponym "Kiev" and the names derived from it refer not to one Old Russian, but to the common Slavic onomasticon. Indeed, in addition to Kiev on the Dnieper in the X-XIII centuries. in the lands of the southern, western and eastern Slavs, more than seven dozen Kievs, Kievtsy, Kievichi, Kievishch, etc. arose. [ Kovachev N.P. The Middle Age village of Kiev, the anthroponyms of Kiy and the reflection of this in the Blarskata and Slavic toponyms // Izvestiya na Instituta Za Bulgarish esik. Book. Xvi. Sofia, 1968].
Therefore, it is necessary either to recognize that the legend about Kuar / Kie belongs to the common Indo-European mythological fund, or to look for cultural intermediaries who could contribute to the spread of the legend in Armenia and among the Slavs. Venets, for example, are suitable for this role. Strabo mentions not only the western direction of migration of the Veneti from Paphlagonia to Europe, but also writes about the movement of a part of the Venetian tribes to the east. His gaze traces their path up to Cappadocia, behind which in the XIII-VII centuries. BC e. the beginning of the region occupied by the Urartian tribes. In this regard, the fathers of Kuar, Meltei and Horean from the Armenian legend - the Indus princes, who remind of the Indus merchants who, according to Roman writers, sail in the European north along the "Indian Ocean" ("Venedian Sea"), draw attention to themselves. Perhaps in both cases we are talking about Windows, Veneti.
If the legend of interest to us was part of the Venetian epic, then the Slavs could get acquainted with it during the period of Venetian domination in the Polish "Glades" on the Kiev "mountains", among the "pine forest and forest"). Having become a part of Slavic legends, the legend of the three brothers was subsequently rethought in relation to the history of ancient Russia: the replacement of Meltey by Shchek confirms this later “historicization” of it. However, all this is on the basis of a hypothesis.
The connection between the ancient Russian Kiy and the Danube is also interesting (the campaigns against Constantinople, the foundation of the Kievts of the Danube). Byzantine monument of the 7th century "Miracles of Demetrius of Thessaloniki" knows Prince Kuver, prince of the Slavic region of Srem (Sirmiy) in Croatia, where he was forced to move from the Northern Carpathian region. As a subject of the Avar Kagan, Kuver rebelled against the Avars, inflicted several defeats on them and tried to establish a principality in the Byzantine Balkans in the Thessaloniki (Thessaloniki) region, but failed.
Thus, it seems that the creators of the Old Russian legend about Kiev used fragments of the epic of the Danube Slavs about Prince Kuver - a possible candidate for the role of the founder of the Kievets of Danube mentioned in the chronicle. However, attempts to localize this toponym were unsuccessful. It should be noted that the medieval Danube and its tributaries were full of "Kievs", only in the area between the cities of Veliko Tarnovo and Ruse there were several of them.
The emergence of Kiev according to archaeological data
The archeology of ancient Kiev also sheds very little light on its origin due to the fact that the historical interpretation of most of the finds causes ongoing controversy.
The historical core of Kiev consists of several cultural layers, the direct continuity between which, however, is not traced. This indicates that for a significant part of its early history, the city existed as a pre-Slavic settlement belonging to an unknown ethnic group (or groups).
The oldest finds on the territory of Kiev date back to Roman times (Zarubinets culture). But it is hardly with them that you can start counting the history of the city. In the historical part of Kiev, they are practically absent; furthermore, there is no evidence of urban life among them. Apparently, in the area of the future city there was an unfortified settlement, whose inhabitants in the II-III centuries. engaged in transportation across the Dnieper and trade with the Roman Taurida. With the beginning of the Great Migration of Peoples, life in the settlement gradually died out.
The next stage in the formation of Kiev was associated with the settlement on the Castle Hill - an impregnable cliff, ascended 70 meters above the level of the Dnieper. In the VI-VIII centuries. this place was inhabited by a few Slavic clans, originating from different regions of the Slavic area, which is confirmed by the massive finds of Slavic ceramics. However, the first attempt of the Slavs to gain a foothold on the Castle Hill was not successful. The most ancient inhabitants of the local settlement did not consider it necessary to build fortifications and in the end left it - excavations revealed a sterile layer of clay separating the settlement of the 6th-8th centuries. from cultural strata of a later era.
However, already in the IX century. The northwestern part of Zamkova Gora is once again inhabited by Slavic settlers who combined farming, hunting and fishing with handicraft activities.
From that time on, the active settlement of the surrounding heights began. On the neighboring Starokiyevskaya Hill, located south of Zamkovaya, another settlement with an area of about 2 hectares appears. Reliably protected from three sides by steep slopes, it is fenced in from the south by an artificial defensive structure - a rampart and a ditch four meters deep. The remains of a mysterious stone structure, usually interpreted as a pagan temple, were also found here.
Around the same time, a settlement appeared on Lysaya Gora, surrounded by a moat and an earthen rampart. The appearance of a number of small estates and individual courtyards on the Detinka and Schekavitsa mountains is not excluded.
From Constantine Porphyrogenitus it is known that even in the middle of the 10th century. one of these fortified settlements still had a separate name - Samvatos, probably formed from a Slavic personal name (a tombstone was found near Constantinople, dated 559, with the inscription: "Khilbudy, son of Samvatas"; Procopius of Caesarea mentions the Slavic (Ant) leader Hilbudiya, due to which it can be assumed that the name Samvatas also belonged to the Slavic name-book).
Thus, archaeological research suggests that the pre-urban stage in the development of Kiev continued at least until the last quarter of the 9th century. But even for this time, the available material still gives a picture of small, topographically isolated settlements, whose character and function remain unclear.
First settlements
Kiev. The first settlements on the territory of modern Kiev appeared 15 to 20 thousand years ago. According to legend, at the end of the 5th-beginning of the 6th century. AD brothers Kyi, Schek and Khoriv and their sister Lybed chose a place on the slopes of the Dnieper and founded a city on the steep right bank and named it, in honor of their elder brother, Kiev. The place for the city was well chosen - the high slopes of the Dnieper served as good protection from the raids of nomadic tribes. Kiev princes, for greater security, erected their palaces and churches on the high Starokievskaya mountain. Merchants and artisans lived near the Dnieper, where the present Podil is located. At the end of the IX century. n. e., when the Kiev princes finally managed to unite scattered and scattered tribes under their rule, Kiev became the political and cultural center of the Eastern Slavs, the capital of Kievan Rus, an ancient Russian centralized state. Due to its location on the trade routes "from the Varangians to the Greeks", Kiev for a long time maintained strong political and economic ties with the countries of Central and Western Europe.
Rapid development
Kiev begins to develop especially rapidly during the reign of Vladimir the Great (980 - 1015), who baptized Russia in 988. Under Vladimir the Great, the first stone church was built in Kiev - the Church of the Tithes. In the 11th century, under the rule of Yaroslav the Wise, Kiev became one of the largest centers of civilization in the Christian world. Sophia Cathedral and the first library in Russia were built. In addition, at that time the city had about 400 churches, 8 markets and more than 50,000 inhabitants. (For comparison: at the same time in Novgorod, the second largest city in Russia, there were 30,000 inhabitants; in London, Hamburg and Gdansk - 20,000 each). Kiev was one of the most prosperous craft and trade centers in Europe. However, after the death of Prince Vladimir Monomakh (1125), the process of fragmentation of the unified Kiev state began. By the middle of the XII century. Kievan Rus breaks up into many independent principalities. External enemies were quick to take advantage of the situation. In the fall of 1240, countless hordes of Batu, the grandson of Genghis Khan, appeared under the Kiev walls. The Mongol-Tatars managed to take the city after a protracted and bloody battle. The siege lasted 10 weeks and 4 days. In the end, the Tatar-Mongols found a weak spot in the fortification system - the Lyadsky Gate (they were located in the area of modern Independence Square). But, even breaking into the city, the Horde did not immediately manage to capture Kiev - the city had more than one strip of fortifications. The resistance of the inhabitants was so stubborn that the khan was forced to give his troops a break. But on December 4, 1240 Kiev fell.
Times of the Tatar-Mongol yoke and Lithuanian expansion
Furious with an unprecedented rebuff, the Tatar-Mongols killed more than half of the civilian population, almost all artisans were driven into slavery. The scale of the tragedy is confirmed by archaeological excavations, as a result of which there are both single skeletons and huge mass graves numbering more than one thousand skeletons. Of the fifty thousand population, after the Batu pogrom, no more than 2 thousand inhabitants remained in the city. The city itself suffered no less damage. The Assumption, St. Sophia Cathedral, the Trinity Gate Church (now the main entrance to the Lavra) were damaged, the Church of the Savior on Berestovo, the Irininskaya Church, almost all Kiev gates were destroyed. Kiev practically ceased to exist. At the end of the XIII - beginning of the XIV centuries. there is little information about Kiev, it is only known that the city was gradually reviving. At that time, life from the Upper City moved to the craft areas - Podol and Pechersk. At the beginning of the 15th century. begins the offensive of Lithuania on Orthodoxy, more and more inclined towards Catholicism under the influence of Poland. From now on, only Catholics can hold important government posts, they are given wide privileges, and the collection of money for the construction of a Catholic monastery begins. Throughout the XV century. the situation between the ruling class and ordinary people is becoming more and more aggravated. More and more people leave in summer for fishing in the lower reaches of the Dnieper, returning only in winter. Soon, such people separated into a special class, and began to be called Cossacks. In the middle of the 15th century. The voivode prohibits the Kiev Cossacks from living within the city, so they build their dwellings - smoking camps on a free territory located near the city. Until now, this area is called Kurenevka.
Particularly violent protest of the population was caused by the so-called "dark law" prohibiting citizens from lighting their houses at nightfall, adopted under the pretext of frequent fires in Kiev (at that time the city had practically no stone, residential buildings, and even the prince's castle was wooden).
A huge fine was charged for the violation. The meaning of the law was extremely simple: not to let the artisans of Podil work after dark. As a result of the armed conflict, the decree was canceled. Lithuanian and Polish tycoons are buying up more and more Kiev lands. One of the largest landowners in Kiev was Biskup. In 1506. Podolsk burghers fenced Biskupshchina from their territories with a high earthen rampart in order to protect their lands from the encroachments of foreigners. This shaft was located between the modern streets of Nizhniy and Upper Val. In the XV century. Kiev was granted the Magdeburg Law, which ensured a much greater independence of the city in matters of international trade and significantly expanded the rights of the urban estates - artisans, merchants and burghers. In 1569, after the signing of the Union of Lublin, Poland and Lithuania united into one state, known in history as the Rzeczpospolita, and gradually asserted their dominance over Ukraine. The cruelty and arbitrariness of foreigners, Poles, Lithuanians and Jews led to numerous uprisings of the Ukrainian people.
In the XVI-XVII centuries. the city's population is growing rapidly. According to the census of 1571. in Kiev, there are already 40 thousand. houses. The territory of the city is also increasing, but Kiev still remained divided into three historical parts: the Upper City, Podol and Pechersk. The most actively populated area at this time was Pechersk, especially the regions adjacent to the Pechersky Monastery. The trade turnover is increasing, the number of specialties is growing, of which there are already about a hundred. In the first half of the 17th century. active rebuilding of the Upper Town begins. Many churches and monasteries, destroyed during the Tatar-Mongol invasion, are being restored. An outstanding role in the cultural upsurge of Kiev in the first half of the 17th century. played by the Kiev Metropolitan Petro Mohyla. It was he who initiated the restoration of St. Sophia and Assumption Cathedrals, the Church of the Savior on Berestovo - the most ancient monuments of Kiev. It was he who founded the first higher educational institution in the city - now it is the Kiev-Mohyla Academy, located in Podil. In 1648, the inhabitants of Ukraine began an armed struggle against foreign oppressors. The uprising was led by the hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Soon, most of Ukraine and Kiev were liberated. Facing the need to fight on several fronts - with the Polish and Lithuanian knights in the west, the Crimean khan and the Turkish sultan in the south, Khmelnitsky perspicaciously recalled that he belongs to the triune Russian people of Great Russians, Little Russians and Belarusians and turned to the Russian for military assistance the king. The help of fellow believers and half-brothers was not long in coming, Poles, Tatars and Jews were beaten and fled. The agreement on the reunification of the Russian lands was concluded in 1654 in Pereyaslav (Pereyaslavskaya Rada).
Heyday
After the reunification, the time of prosperity comes for Kiev. The city is growing. Construction begins on the side of Lukyanovka. Kirillovskaya Street is being laid (now Frunze Street). At the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. a new surge in church building begins. They were built mainly with the money of rich Cossacks. The architectural style of these buildings became known as "Cossack Baroque". Civil construction is also developing, private estates of Hetman Mazepa are being built. After the hetman's betrayal of the all-Russian cause, his going over to the side of the Swedes and the subsequent defeat of the Swedes and traitors, Mazepa's possessions in Kiev were demolished by Peter the Great. Peter's reign was a milestone for Kiev. At this time, there is a sharp economic upturn, an increase in the military power of the state. Peter considered Kiev the most important strategic point, therefore, in 1707, with his direct participation, the Pechersk Fortress was laid. Already in 1709, there were up to 5 thousand troops. In the same year, the Kiev troops, consisting mainly of Cossacks, were ordered to prepare for defense against the Swedes, but the latter bypassed the city. In the 18th century, the long-awaited unification of two parts of Kiev takes place: Pechersk and the rest of the city. They begin to build up Lipki. From the end of the 18th century to this day, this area has been considered elite. In 1797 the first building appeared on Khreshchatyk. Since the middle of the 19th century it has been the central street of the city. the territorial and economic growth of the city continues. New houses are being built, streets are being laid. The territories adjacent to Khreshchatyk are especially rapidly populated. Lipki was finally formed as an elite district. There is a significant increase in production. Frequent fires remain one of the troubles of Kiev. They occur especially often in Podil and Pechersk. These areas are easy prey for fires - mostly wooden areas where houses are not separated from each other, but wall to wall. The last of the largest fires in Kiev happened in 1811. The hem burned for three days, thick smoke was visible at a distance of 130 km from the city. After the fire in Podol, only two streets remained that did not suffer from the fire - Voloshskaya and Mezhygorskaya. Despite this, the area quickly recovered. After the social reforms of 1861 and the abolition of serfdom, further improvements took place in the cultural and economic life of Kiev. The number of hospitals, almshouses and educational institutions has increased. After construction in the 1860s. Odessa-Kursk railway line, with developed by that time navigation along the Dnieper, Kiev is becoming a major transport and trade center. Bidding on the Kiev grain and sugar exchanges determined the world prices for these products. The first in Russia (and second in Europe) electric tram was launched in Kiev in 1892 along the route connecting Podol and the Upper Town and passing along the present Vladimirsky descent. Domestic and foreign industrialists invested significant funds in the city. The infrastructure of Kiev has developed rapidly. In 1871, the first permanent chain bridge across the Dnieper was opened, the longest at that time in Europe, a permanent building for the circus appeared (on Gorodetsky street). The governors constantly worried about the decent appearance of the city. In the late XIX - early XX centuries. Kiev was one of the most beautiful and comfortable cities in Europe - "a pearl in the setting of the royal crown."
XX century
At the beginning of the 20th century, the situation in Kiev is aggravated. At that time, the entire Russian Empire was experiencing an acute economic crisis associated with the Russo-Japanese War and poor harvests in 1902-03. But Kiev, in comparison with Moscow and St. Petersburg, feels more relaxed. There were unrest among the workers in Kiev, but their scale was much smaller than in the capitals. During the 1917 revolution and the 1918-1922 civil war, power in the city changed with kaleidoscopic speed. The government of the Central Rada was driven out by detachments of the Red Guards, after which hetman Skoropadsky came, who was replaced by the Directory, Petliura, White Guards, Germans, White Poles, Batka Makhno. During 1920-21 Kiev passed from hand to hand dozens of times. Pogroms in the city have become commonplace. Depending on their views, the armies massacred that part of the population of Kiev that they did not particularly like, Jewish pogroms were especially frequent. Throughout its history, Kiev was familiar with this phenomenon - the first Jewish pogroms were noted under Vladimir Monomakh in 1113. The establishment of Soviet power in Kiev, the formation of the USSR opened a new page in the life of the city. Large-scale industrial construction partly changed the face of the city, according to the general reconstruction plan of 1936, voids in the central streets were built up, new quarters were built. During the years of Stalin's five-year plans, many new factories and plants were built in the city, old ones were reconstructed. Kiev became the center of medium and precision engineering, light industry. River and sea vessels were built and equipped in the city, electric cables, photoreagents, scientific instruments were produced. On June 22, 1941, German planes bombed the city. “Kiev was bombed, they announced to us, this is how the war began” - the words of a famous Soviet song. During the fighting in 1941, which lasted 72 days, the city was seriously damaged. The Nazis established a regime of bloody terror, however, during the occupation, several underground groups were still operating in the city. One hundred thousand people from Kiev were hijacked to work in Germany. The rapid advance of the Soviet troops in November 1943 did not allow the Nazis to completely destroy the city, although they managed to dismantle more than 60 kilometers of tram tracks and many stone buildings for their needs. As a result of the fighting, the main thoroughfare of the city, Khreshchatyk, was almost completely destroyed. After the Victory, the city recovers the damage caused by the war and becomes the third most important city in the USSR. Kiev was awarded the title of Hero City for the courage that its inhabitants showed during the war.
Modern Kiev
After the war, housing construction was widely developed in Kiev, and in fifteen years several new micro-districts were built - Pervomaisky, Otradnoye, Nivok. In 1960, the third Kiev water supply system was commissioned, the city funicular was reconstructed, a metro was built, seven bridges were thrown over the Dnieper. Today Kiev is the largest and most beautiful city with a population of over two and a half million people. Half of the city's territory is occupied by reservoirs and green areas, which makes Kiev unusually cozy and fresh. The city has two airports, a railway station, three dozen museums and the same number of theaters. Kiev is a major scientific center; tourism is well developed in the city.
Kievan Rus - one of the largest states of medieval Europe - took shape in the 9th century. as a result of the long internal development of the East Slavic tribes.
According to the chronicles, in 862, several tribes at once - the Ilmenian Slovenes, Chud, Krivich - called on three Varangian brothers Rurik, Truvor and Sineus to reign in Novgorod. This event was called "the vocation of the Varangians". According to historians, the vocation was due to the fact that the tribes living on the territory of the future Rus were constantly overwhelmed by internecine wars, and they could not decide in any way who should rule. And only with the arrival of the three brothers, civil strife ceased and the Russian lands began to gradually unite, and the tribes turned into a kind of state.
Before the vocation of the Varangians, numerous scattered tribes lived on Russian lands, which did not have their own state and system of government. With the arrival of the brothers, the tribes began to unite under the rule of Rurik, who along with him brought his entire family. It was Rurik who became the founder of the future princely dynasty, which was destined to rule in Russia for a single century.
Despite the fact that the first representative of the dynasty is Rurik himself, very often in the annals the Rurik family is led from Prince Igor, the son of Rurik, since it was Igor who was not called, but the first truly Russian prince. Disputes about the origin of Rurik himself and the etymology of his name are still ongoing.
The Rurik dynasty ruled the Russian state for over 700 years. The first princes from the Rurik family (Igor Rurikovich, Oleg Rurikovich, Princess Olga, Svyatoslav Rurikovich) initiated the process of forming a centralized state on Russian lands.
In 882, under Prince Oleg, the city of Kiev became the capital of a new state - Kievan Rus.
In 944, during the reign of Prince Igor, Rus for the first time concluded a peace treaty with Byzantium, stopped military campaigns and got the opportunity to develop.
In 945, Princess Olga first introduced a fixed amount of rent - tribute, which marked the beginning of the formation of the state tax system. In 947 the Novgorod lands were subjected to administrative-territorial division.
In 969, Prince Svyatoslav introduced a system of governorship, which helped the development of local self-government, in 963 Kievan Rus was able to subjugate a number of significant territories of the Tmutarakan principality - the state expanded.
The formed state came to feudalism and the feudal system of government during the reign of the Yaroslavichs and Vladimir Monomakh (second half of the 11th-first half of the 12th century). Numerous internecine wars led to a weakening of the power of Kiev and the Kiev prince, to the strengthening of local principalities and a significant division of territories within one state. Feudalism held out for quite a long time and seriously weakened Russia.
From the second half of the 12th century to the middle of the 13th, the following representatives of the Rurikovichs ruled in Russia - Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vsevolod Big Nest. During this period, although the princely feuds continued, trade began to develop, individual principalities grew greatly economically, and Christianity developed.
From the second half of the 13th century to the end of the 14th century, Russia found itself under the yoke of the Tatar-Mongol yoke (the beginning of the Golden Horde period). The ruling princes more than once tried to throw off the oppression of the Tatar-Mongols, but they did not succeed, and Russia gradually fell into decay due to constant raids and devastations. Only in 1380 was it possible to defeat the Tatar-Mongol army during the Battle of Kulikovo, which was the beginning of the process of liberating Russia from the oppression of the invaders.
After the overthrow of the oppression of the Mongol-Tatars, the state began to recover. The capital was moved to Moscow during the reign of Ivan Kalita, the Moscow Kremlin was built under Dmitry Donskoy, the state was actively developing. Vasily II finally united the lands around Moscow and established the practically indestructible and sole authority of the Moscow prince on all Russian lands.
The last representatives of the Rurik family also did a lot for the development of the state. During the reign of Ivan 3, Vasily 3 and Ivan the Terrible, the formation of a new centralized state began with a completely different way of life and a political and administrative system similar to the estate-representative monarchy. However, the Rurik dynasty was interrupted on Ivan the Terrible and soon the “Time of Troubles” came in Russia, when it was not known who would take the post of ruler.
4. The rise and fall of the Old Russian state. The period of feudal fragmentation.
The Old Russian state, or Kievan Rus, is the first large stable association of the Eastern Slavs. His education became possible with the formation of feudal (land) relations. The state included 15 large regions - territories of tribal associations (glades, Drevlyans, Dregovichs, Ilmen Slovenes, Radimichs, Vyatichs, northerners, etc.). The most developed economically and politically were the lands of the Ilmen Slovenes (Novgorod) and Polyans (Kiev), the unification of which by the Novgorod prince Oleg brought the economic base under the emerging state.
800-882 biennium - the initial stage of the unification of the East Slavic tribes, the formation of two centers of statehood (Kiev and Novgorod) and their unification by Oleg;
882-912 biennium - the strengthening of the Old Russian state by Oleg, the inclusion of neighboring East Slavic tribes in its composition. Oleg's first trade agreements with Byzantium (907 and 911);
912-1054 biennium - the flourishing of the early feudal monarchy, the rise of productive forces, the development of feudal relations, the struggle against nomads, a significant increase in territory due to the entry into the state of all East Slavic tribes. Establishing close relations with Byzantium. Adoption of Christianity (988-989). Creation of the first set of laws - "Yaroslav's Truth" (1016). The most prominent political figures of this period are Igor, Olga, Svyatoslav, Vladimir I, Yaroslav the Wise;
1054-1093 biennium - the first tangible phenomena of the collapse of the early feudal state, the specific princedoms of the heirs of Yaroslav the Wise, the intensification of the inter-princes' struggle; on the great reign of Kiev, Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod replace each other - the triumvirate of the Yaroslavichs. Further development of feudal relations. The rise of popular uprisings. The emergence of a new set of laws - "Pravda Yaroslavichi" (1072), which supplemented "Pravda Yaroslav" and became known as "Russian Truth";
1093-1132 biennium - a new strengthening of the feudal monarchy. The onslaught of the Polovtsians forced the appanage princes to unite their efforts under the rule of the Grand Duke of Kiev. Improving legal and political relations. The new legislative code - "The Charter of Vladimir Monomakh" (1113) - became an integral part of the "Russian Pravda", which is now considered to be the "Extensive Russian Pravda". After the disappearance of the Polovtsian threat, the state disintegrates. The most prominent political figures are Vladimir II Monomakh and Mstislav the Great.
In the second half of the 11th century. in Russia, signs of increasing feudal fragmentation are becoming more and more apparent.
Prince Yaroslav the Wise found the fatherly throne in a fierce internecine struggle. With this in mind, he left a will, in which he clearly defined the inheritance rights of his sons. He divided the entire Russian land into five "districts" and determined which of the brothers to reign in which. The Yaroslavich brothers (Izyaslav, Svyatoslav, Vsevolod, Igor, Vyacheslav) fought together for two decades against the invasions and preserved the unity of the Russian land.
However, in 1073 Svyatoslav expelled his brother Izyaslav from Kiev, deciding to become the sole ruler. Izyaslav, having lost his possessions, wandered for a long time and was able to return to Russia only after the death of Svyatoslav in 1076. Since that time, a bloody struggle for power began.
The bloody turmoil was based on the imperfection of the specific system created by Yaroslav, which could not satisfy the growing clan of Rurikovich. There was no clear order in the distribution of inheritance and inheritance. According to the old custom, the eldest of the family should have inherited the reign. But the Byzantine law, which came with the adoption of Christianity, recognized inheritance only by direct descendants. The inconsistency of inheritance rights, the uncertainty of the boundaries of inheritance gave rise to more and more civil strife.
The bloody feuds were aggravated by the continuous raids of the Polovtsians, who skillfully used the disunity of the Russian princes. Some princes took the Polovtsians as allies and brought them to Russia.
In 1097, on the initiative of Vladimir Vsevolodovich Monomakh, the son of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich, a congress of princes was held in Lyubech. In order to end civil strife, it was decided to establish a new procedure for organizing power in Russia. In accordance with the new principle, each principality became the hereditary property of a local princely family.
The adopted law became the main reason for the feudal fragmentation and destroyed the integrity of the ancient Russian state. It became a turning point, as there was a turning point in the distribution of land ownership in Russia.
The fatal mistake in lawmaking did not make itself felt immediately. The need for a joint struggle against the Polovtsians, the strong power and patriotism of Vladimir Monomakh (1113-1125) temporarily postponed the inevitable. His work was continued by his son Mstislav the Great (1125-1132). However, since 1132, the former counties, having become hereditary "fathers", gradually turned into independent principalities.
In the middle of the 12th century. feuds reached an unprecedented acuteness, the number of their participants increased due to the fragmentation of the princely possessions. At that time in Russia there were 15 principalities, in the next century - 50, and during the reign of Ivan Kalita - 250. Many historians consider one of the reasons underlying these events, the large families of princely families (distributing lands by inheritance, they multiplied the number of principalities ).
The largest state entities were:
TO Iev principality (despite the loss of the all-Russian status, the struggle for its possession continued until the invasion of the Mongol-Tatars);
V Ladimiro-Suzdal principality (in the 12-13th centuries the economic growth began, the cities of Vladimir, Dmitrov Pereyaslavl-Zalessky, Gorodets, Kostroma, Tver, Nizhny Novgorod appeared);
H Yernigov and Smolensk principalities (the most important trade routes to the upper Volga and Dnieper);
G Alitsko-Volyn principality (located in the interfluve of the Bug and Dniester rivers, the center of arable land-owning culture);
P the olotsk-Minsk land (had an advantageous location at the crossroads of trade routes).
Feudal fragmentation is characteristic of the history of many states of the Middle Ages. The uniqueness and grave consequences for the Old Russian state were in its duration - about 3.5 centuries.