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73-682: The first or the short redaction (also known as Chronicle of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania or Letopisec Litovskii ) was compiled sometime in the 1420s in Smolensk , when Vytautas the Great hoped to be crowned as King of Lithuania . This redaction included the earliest known historical account produced in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania: Dis ist Witoldes sache wedir Jagalan und Skargalan , a complaint and memorial written by Vytautas in 1390 during

146-642: A Ukrainian national identity gradually dominating over much of present-day Ukraine in the 19th and 20th centuries, the endonym Rusyn is now mostly used among a minority of peoples on the territory of the Carpathian Mountains , including Carpathian Ruthenia . The word Ruthenia originated as a Latin designation of the region its people called Rus' . During the Middle Ages, writers in English and other Western European languages applied

219-766: A country extending from the Baltic Sea to the Caspian Sea and from the Don River to the northern ocean. It is a source of beeswax , its forests harbor many animals with valuable fur , and the capital city Moscow ( Moscovia ), named after the Moskva River ( Moscum amnem ), is 14 miles in circumference. Danish diplomat Jacob Ulfeldt , who traveled to Muscovy in 1578 to meet with Tsar Ivan IV , titled his posthumously (1608) published memoir Hodoeporicon Ruthenicum ("Voyage to Ruthenia"). In Kievan Rus',

292-664: A fragment (about one-fifth of the original) of the third redaction at the National Archives in Kraków  [ pl ] and published it in 2018. The patriotic themes were even more prevalent than in the second redaction. It continued to elaborate on the Palemon legend: to improve chronology Palemon was moved to the 5th century Rome, devastated by Attila the Hun , and Mindaugas and other historical dukes were incorporated into

365-826: A large number of churches and cathedrals. The most famous of these are the Cathedral of the Assumption , the Immaculate Conception Church , and the Church of St. Michael the Archangel, which is one of the few structures from before the Mongol invasion remaining in Russia. The Smolensk Kremlin , built at the end of the 16th century during the reign of Tsars Fyodor I Ioannovich and Boris Godunov , under

438-513: A nationalist movement. After 1918, the name Ruthenia became narrowed to the area south of the Carpathian Mountains in the Kingdom of Hungary , also called Carpathian Ruthenia ( Ukrainian : карпатська Русь , romanized :  karpatska Rus , including the cities of Mukachevo , Uzhhorod , and Prešov ) and populated by Carpatho-Ruthenians , a group of East Slavic highlanders. While Galician Ruthenians considered themselves Ukrainians,

511-460: A part of Zakarpattia Oblast in present-day Ukraine), became subordinated to the Kingdom of Hungary in the 11th century. The Kings of Hungary continued using the title "King of Galicia and Lodomeria" until 1918. By the 15th century, the Moscow principality had established its sovereignty over a large portion of former Kievan territory and began to fight Lithuania over Ruthenian lands. In 1547,

584-577: Is twinned with: Smolensk Strait between Livingston Island and Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands , Antarctica is named after the city. A Soviet post World War II project planned the creation of a light cruiser vessel named Smolensk. It was never constructed. Ruthenia Ruthenia is an exonym , originally used in Medieval Latin , as one of several terms for Kievan Rus' . Originally,

657-462: Is one of the oldest cities in Russia. It has a population of 316,570 ( 2021 Census ) . The name of the city is derived from the name of the Smolnya River. Smolnya river flows through Karelian and Murmansk areas of north-western Russia. The origin of the river's name is less clear. One possibility is the old Slavic word смоль ( smol' ) for black soil , which might have colored

730-629: The Archaeographic Commission became interested in collecting and publishing all known manuscripts of the Lithuanian Chronicles . Twelve manuscripts were published in 1907 as volume 17 of the Complete Collection of Russian Chronicles as West Russian Chronicles ( Russian : Западнорусские летописи ), which became the standard reference. The collection, newly compiled and edited by Mikałaj Ułaščyk ,

803-777: The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was proclaimed in Smolensk, but its government moved to Minsk as soon as the German forces had been driven out of the city several days later. In 1940, 18 km (11 mi) from Smolensk, the Katyn Massacre occurred, in which some 22,000 Polish POWs were murdered by the NKVD . At this time Boris Menshagin was mayor of Smolensk, with his deputy Boris Bazilevsky. Both of them would be key witnesses in

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876-634: The Cold War on the local workings of the Soviet government during its first two decades. The archives were returned to Russia by the United States in 2002. On 10 April 2010, a Tu-154 military jet carrying Polish president Lech Kaczyński , his wife, and many notable political and military figures crashed in a wooded area near Smolensk while approaching the local military airport. All ninety-six passengers died immediately on impact. The purpose of

949-545: The Conference of Lutsk in 1429, etc. Among them were some factual stories, including Algirdas ' three sieges of Moscow . This format differed significantly from other Slavic chronicles that tended to list inter-related events year-by-year. The second redaction also considerably trimmed and fragmented parts about Ruthenia and the Principality of Moscow ; thus the text became primarily about Lithuania. The chronicle

1022-710: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania , some of Smolensk's boyars (e.g., the Sapiehas ) moved to Vilnius ; descendants of the ruling princes (e.g., the Tatishchevs , Kropotkins , Mussorgskys , Vyazemskys ) fled to Moscow . Three Lithuanian Smolensk regiments took part in the 1410 Battle of Grunwald (Tannenberg) against the Teutonic Knights . It was a severe blow to Lithuania when the city was taken by Vasily III of Russia in 1514. To commemorate this event,

1095-644: The Khmelnytsky Uprising and the Swedish deluge . After another siege, on 23 September 1654, Smolensk was recaptured by Russia. In the 1667 Truce of Andrusovo , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth renounced its claims to Smolensk. Smolensk has been a special place to Russians for many reasons, not least for the fact that the local cathedral housed one of the most venerated Orthodox icons, attributed to St. Luke . Building

1168-597: The Lithuanian Civil War (1389–1392) . It detailed his power struggles against cousins Jogaila and Skirgaila in 1379–1390 and supported his claims to his patrimony in Trakai and title of Grand Duke of Lithuania. Two translations of this document survive: Latin Origo regis Jagyelo et Witholdi ducum Lithuanie from the 15th century and Ruthenian Litovskomu rodu pochinok from the 14th century. Later this document

1241-486: The Mongol Invasion of Kievan Rus' and a massive devastation of the core territory, the name Rus' was succeeded by Galician-Volhynian principality , which declared itself as Kingdom of Rus' . European manuscripts dating from the 11th century used the name Ruthenia to describe Rus' , the wider area occupied by the early Rus' (commonly referred to as Kievan Rus ' ). This term was also used to refer to

1314-517: The Mongol armies in 1240, Smolensk paid tribute to the Golden Horde , gradually becoming a pawn in the long struggle between Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Grand Duchy of Moscow . The last sovereign monarch of Smolensk was Yury of Smolensk ; during his reign the city was taken by Vytautas the Great of Lithuania on three occasions: in 1395, 1404, and 1408. After the city's incorporation into

1387-658: The Nuremberg Trials over the massacre. During World War II , Smolensk once again saw wide-scale fighting during the first Battle of Smolensk when the city was captured by the Germans on 16 July 1941. The first Soviet counteroffensive against the German army was launched in August but failed. However, the limited Soviet victories outside the city halted the German advance for a crucial two months, granting time to Moscow's defenders to prepare in earnest. Over 93% of

1460-516: The Palemonids dynasty and became the first ruler of Lithuania. This legendary part was then followed by the revised first redaction, detailing the lineage of the Gediminids . Mindaugas , the first King of Lithuania crowned in 1253, and other earlier historically attested dukes were skipped entirely. The elaborate story that Lithuanians were of noble Roman origins had no historical basis and

1533-580: The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1611 after a long twenty-month siege , during the Time of Troubles and Dimitriads . Weakened Muscovy temporarily ceded Smolensk land to the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the Truce of Deulino . The city was granted Magdeburg rights in 1611 and was the seat of Smolensk Voivodeship for the next forty-three years. To recapture the city, the Tsardom of Russia launched

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1606-505: The Ruthenian Voivodeship was established in the territory of Galicia-Volhynia and existed until the 18th century. These southern territories include: The Russian Tsardom was officially called Velikoye Knyazhestvo Moskovskoye (Великое Княжество Московское), the Grand Duchy of Moscow , until 1547, although Ivan III (1440–1505, r.  1462–1505 ) had earlier borne the title "Great Tsar of All Russia". During

1679-598: The Tsar founded the Novodevichy Convent in Moscow and dedicated it to the icon of Our Lady of Smolensk . In order to repel future Polish–Lithuanian attacks, Boris Godunov made it his priority to heavily fortify the city. The stone kremlin constructed in 1597–1602 is the largest in Russia. It features thick walls and numerous watchtowers. Heavy fortifications did not prevent the fortress from being taken by

1752-628: The USSR , as the Soviet government considered them to be Ukrainian. A Rusyn minority remained, after World War II, in eastern Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia ). According to critics, the Ruthenians rapidly became Slovakized . In 1995 the Ruthenian written language became standardized. Following Ukrainian independence and dissolution of the Soviet Union (1990–91), the official position of

1825-402: The 13th century, western Ruthenian principalities became incorporated into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , after which the state became called the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Ruthenia. The Polish Kingdom also took the title King of Ruthenia when it annexed Galicia. These titles were merged when the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was formed. A small part of Rus' ( Transcarpathia , now mainly

1898-742: The 16th century. This myth served Lithuanian interests in conflicts with Poland and Muscovy. Poland, then in personal union with Lithuania , claimed that it brought civilization to this barbaric pagan land. By creating fanciful genealogies, linking Lithuanians with noble Romans, the Lithuanian nobility could counter these claims and demand political independence. This redaction rarely included dates and contained several independent stories that were cherished by 19th century nationalists: legends how Gediminas founded Vilnius because of his dreams of Iron Wolf , how Kęstutis took pagan priestess Birutė for his wife, how Vytautas lavishly treated his guests at

1971-489: The 1880s through the first decade of the 20th century, the popularity of the ethnonym Ukrainian spread, and the term Ukraine became a substitute for Malaya Rus' among the Ukrainian population of the empire. In the course of time, the term Rus became restricted to western parts of present-day Ukraine ( Galicia /Halych, Carpathian Ruthenia ), an area where Ukrainian nationalism competed with Galician Russophilia . By

2044-608: The Carpatho-Ruthenians were the last East Slavic people who kept the historical name ( Ruthen is a Latin form of the Slavic rusyn ). Today, the term Rusyn is used to describe the ethnicity and language of Ruthenians , who are not compelled to adopt the Ukrainian national identity . Carpathian Ruthenia ( Hungarian : Kárpátalja , Ukrainian : Закарпаття , romanized :  Zakarpattia ) became part of

2117-749: The French and Spanish press as "troublemaking".) On 15 March 1939, the Ukrainophile president of Carpatho-Ruthenia, Avhustyn Voloshyn , declared its independence as Carpatho-Ukraine . On the same day, regular troops of the Royal Hungarian Army occupied and annexed the region. In 1944 the Soviet Army occupied the territory , and in 1945 it was annexed to the Ukrainian SSR . Rusyns were not an officially recognized ethnic group in

2190-418: The Grand Duchy of Lithuania and Samogitia ) was compiled in the second half of the 15th and the beginning of the 16th century (the final version probably came into existence around the 1520s at the court of Albertas Goštautas ). The redaction traced back the foundations of the Lithuanian state to the 1st century, when legendary Palemon escaped from Roman Empire and settled at the mouth of Dubysa . He founded

2263-412: The Lithuanian claims against Poland in the Lithuanian Civil War , a description of power struggles between Švitrigaila and Sigismund Kęstutaitis , a short summary of Moscow's chronicles (854–1428), and latest events in Smolensk (1431–1445). The compilation also did not survive in its original state. It is known from several manuscripts: The second, more extensive, redaction (also known as Chronicle of

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2336-622: The Moscow principality adopted the title of The Great Principat of Moscow and Tsardom of the Whole Rus and claimed sovereignty over "all the Rus'" — acts not recognized by its neighbour Poland. The Muscovy population was Eastern Orthodox and preferred to use the Greek transliteration Rossiya (Ῥωσία) rather than the Latin "Ruthenia". In the 14th century, the southern territories of Rus', including

2409-550: The Slavs of the island of Rügen or to other Baltic Slavs, whom 12th-century chroniclers portrayed as fierce pirate pagans—even though Kievan Rus' had converted to Christianity by the 10th century: Eupraxia , the daughter of Rutenorum rex Vsevolod I of Kiev , had married the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV in 1089. After the devastating Mongolian occupation of the main part of Ruthenia which began in

2482-687: The Ukrainian nation; and Ruthenophiles, who claimed that Carpatho-Ruthenians were a separate nation and who wanted to develop a native Rusyn language and culture. In 1938, under the Nazi regime in Germany, there were calls in the German press for the independence of a greater Ukraine, which would include Ruthenia, parts of Hungary, the Polish Southeast including Lviv, the Crimea, and Ukraine, including Kyiv and Kharkiv. (These calls were described in

2555-702: The VI convocation was elected on 13 September 2020. The party composition of the current city council is as follows: United Russia – 23 deputies, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation – 4 deputies, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia – 1 deputy, A Just Russia – 1 deputy, Party of Pensioners – 1 deputy. Smolensk has a warm-summer humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfb ). By European standards,

2628-541: The administrative center of Smolensky District , even though it is not a part of it. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as Smolensk Urban Okrug —an administrative unit with the status equal to that of the districts . As a municipal division , this administrative unit also has urban okrug status. Chairman of the City Council of the VI convocation (since 24 December 2021) – Anatoly Ovsyankin ( United Russia ). The Smolensk City Council of

2701-623: The advent of professional historiography in the late 18th and early 19th centuries when historians began to critically analyze primary sources to verify various claims. That necessitated the publication of primary sources. The first Lithuanian Chronicle, the Supraśl Manuscript , was published in 1823 by Ignacy Daniłowicz  [ pl ] . In 1846, Teodor Narbutt published the Bychowiec Chronicle . Other historians published other manuscripts that they had found. In 1860s,

2774-560: The archaeological site of Gnezdovo ) was located on the area settled by the East Slavic Radimichs tribe in 882 when Oleg of Novgorod took it in passing from Novgorod to Kiev . The town was first attested two decades earlier, when the Varangian chieftains Askold and Dir , while on their way to Kiev, decided against challenging Smolensk on account of its large size and population. The first foreign writer to mention

2847-420: The chronicles of Maciej Stryjkowski ; also Narbutt is suspected to have falsified several other historical documents. However, new evidence came to light that portions of the chronicle were published in 1830. Historians now suggest that similarity with Stryjkowski's works resulted from using the same document, maybe even the original third redaction, as the source. Further, in 2011, Lithuanian historians discovered

2920-511: The church of Sts. Peter and Paul (1146, reconstructed to its presumed original appearance after World War II ) and the church of St.  John the Baptist (1180, also partly rebuilt). The most remarkable church in the city is called Svirskaya (1197, still standing); it was admired by contemporaries as the most beautiful structure east of Kiev . Smolensk had its own veche since the very beginning of its history. Its power increased after

2993-439: The city was destroyed during the fighting; the ancient icon of Our Lady of Smolensk was lost. Nevertheless, it escaped total destruction. In late 1943, Hermann Göring had ordered Gotthard Heinrici to destroy Smolensk in accordance with the Nazi "scorched earth" policy. He refused and was punished for it. The city was finally liberated on 25 September 1943, during the second Battle of Smolensk . The rare title of Hero City

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3066-835: The city was the Byzantine Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus . In De Administrando Imperio (c. 950) he described Smolensk as a key station on the trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks . The Rus' people sailed from the Baltic region up the Western Dvina ( Daugava ) River as far as they could then they portaged their boats to the upper Dnieper . It was in Smolensk that they supposedly mended any leaks and small holes that might have appeared in their boats from being dragged on

3139-401: The city. In celebration the Central Bank of Russia issued commemorative coins made of precious metals. Owing to its long and rich history, Smolensk is home to many examples of Russian architecture ranging from the Kievan Rus period to post-WWII Stalinist style . Although the city was destroyed several times over, many historically and culturally significant buildings remain, including

3212-399: The city. Total losses were estimated at 30,000 men. Apart from other military monuments, central Smolensk features the Eagles monument, unveiled in 1912 to mark the centenary of Napoleon's Russian campaign . At the beginning of World War I , the 56th Smolensk Infantry Division was first assigned to the First Army of the Imperial Russian Army . They fought at the Battle of Tannenberg . It

3285-626: The climate is quite cold for its latitude on 54°N . The far inland position warms springs up relatively quickly, with May being quite a bit milder than September. Smolensk has several factories including the Smolensk Aviation Plant and several electronics and agricultural machinery factories. Smolensk is located on the M1 main highway and Moscow–Brest Railway . Since 1870, there is a railway connection between Smolensk and Moscow. Local public transport includes buses and trolleybuses. Public transportation network includes buses, trolleybuses, trams, and marshrutkas . There are two airports located in

3358-1063: The disintegration of Kievan Rus' , and although it was not as strong as the veche in Novgorod , the princes had to take its opinion into consideration; several times in 12th and 13th centuries there was an open conflict between them. [REDACTED] Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1404–1514 [REDACTED] Principality of Moscow 1514–1547 [REDACTED] Tsardom of Russia 1547–1611 [REDACTED] Poland–Lithuania 1611–1656 [REDACTED] Tsardom of Russia 1656–1721 [REDACTED] Russian Empire 1721–1812 [REDACTED] French occupation 1812 [REDACTED] Russian Empire 1812–1917 [REDACTED] Russian Republic 1917–1918 [REDACTED] Belarusian People's Republic 1918–1919 [REDACTED] Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia 1919 [REDACTED] Russian SFSR 1919–1922 [REDACTED]   Soviet Union 1922–1941 [REDACTED] German occupation 1941–1943 [REDACTED]   Soviet Union 1943–1991 [REDACTED]   Russia 1991–present Although spared by

3431-417: The early 20th century, the term Ukraine had mostly replaced Malorussia in those lands, and by the mid-1920s in the Ukrainian diaspora in North America as well. Rusyn (the Ruthenian) has been an official self-identification of the Rus' population in Poland (and also in Czechoslovakia ). Until 1939, for many Ruthenians and Poles, the word Ukrainiec (Ukrainian) meant a person involved in or friendly to

3504-450: The early modern period, the term Ruthenia started to be mostly associated with the Ruthenian lands of the Polish Crown and the Cossack Hetmanate . Bohdan Khmelnytsky declared himself the ruler of the Ruthenian state to the Polish representative Adam Kysil in February 1649. The Grand Principality of Ruthenia was the project name of the Cossack Hetmanate integrated into the Polish–Lithuanian–Ruthenian Commonwealth . The use of

3577-468: The government and some Ukrainian politicians has been that the Rusyns are an integral part of the Ukrainian nation. Some of the population of Zakarpattia Oblast of Ukraine have identified as Rusyn (or Boyko, Hutsul, Lemko etc.) first and foremost; a subset of this second group has, nevertheless, considered Rusyns to be part of a broader Ukrainian national identity. In 1844, Karl Ernst Claus , Russian naturalist and chemist of Baltic German origin, isolated

3650-416: The ground and they used tar to do that, hence the city name. The Principality of Smolensk was founded in 1054. Due to its central position in Kievan Rus' , the city developed rapidly. By the end of the 12th century, the princedom was one of the strongest in Eastern Europe , so that Smolensk princes frequently controlled the Kievan throne. Numerous churches were built in the city at that time, including

3723-466: The legend. It also concentrated more on the Catholic Church than earlier revisions, which paid closer attention to Eastern Orthodoxy . It is an important source for the late 15th century events, especially years of Alexander Jagiellon . The popularity of the Chronicle of Poland, Lithuania, Samogitia and all of Ruthenia , published by Maciej Stryjkowski in 1582, pushed the old handwritten Lithuanian chronicles into obscurity. They were rediscovered with

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3796-507: The mountain. Smolensk is situated on seven hills (mountains). The old part of the city occupies the high, rugged left (south) bank of the Dnieper River. The area features undulating terrain, with a large number of tributaries, creeks and ravines. Smolensk is among the oldest Russian cities of the known Rus' era. The first recorded mention of the city was 863 AD, two years after the founding of Kievan Rus' . According to Russian Primary Chronicle , Smolensk (probably located slightly downstream, at

3869-524: The name Rus' , or Rus'ka zemlia (land of Rus'), described the lands between Kiev , Chernihiv and Pereyaslav , corresponding to the tribe of Polanians , which started to identify themself as Rus' ( Ukrainian : Русь, Русини ) approximately in 9th century. In a broader sense, this name also referred to all territories under control of Kievan princes , and the initial area of Rus' land served as their metropole , yet this wider meaning declined when Kiev lost its power over majority of principalities. After

3942-511: The new Cathedral of the Assumption was a great project which took more than a century to complete. Despite slowly sinking into an economic backwater, Smolensk was still valued by the Tsars as a key fortress defending the route to Moscow . It was made the seat of Smolensk Governorate in 1708. In August 1812, two of the largest armies ever assembled clashed in Smolensk. During the hard-fought battle , described by Leo Tolstoy in War and Peace (Book Three Part Two Chapter 4), Napoleon entered

4015-420: The newly founded Hungarian Kingdom in 1000. In May 1919, it was incorporated with nominal autonomy into the provisional Czechoslovak state as Subcarpathian Rus' . Since then, Ruthenian people have been divided into three orientations: Russophiles , who saw Ruthenians as part of the Russian nation; Ukrainophiles , who like their Galician counterparts across the Carpathian Mountains considered Ruthenians part of

4088-399: The outskirts of the city; Smolensk South (civilian) and Smolensk North (military); however, there are no regular flights scheduled to Smolensk South Airport. Smolensk is home to the Smolensk State University (SMOLGU) and the Smolensk State Medical University (affiliated as university in 2015) (SSMU); together with colleges of further education and other educational institutes. Smolensk

4161-461: The principalities of Galicia–Volhynia and Kiev , became part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , which in 1384 united with Catholic Poland in a union which became the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569. Due to their usage of the Latin script rather than the Cyrillic script , they were usually denoted by the Latin name Ruthenia . Other spellings were also used in Latin, English , and other languages during this period. Contemporaneously,

4234-402: The so-called " Smolensk War " against the Commonwealth in 1632. After a defeat at the hands of king Wladislaw IV , the city remained in Polish–Lithuanian hands. In 1632, the Uniate bishop Lew Kreuza built his apartments in Smolensk; they were later converted into the Eastern Orthodox Church of Saint Barbara . The hostilities resumed in 1654 when the Commonwealth was being affected by

4307-417: The supervision of the architect Fyodor Kon , is one of the greatest achievements of Russian medieval architecture and military engineering. Being the site of many great battles in Russian history, Smolensk is home to many monuments commemorating its rich military history. Smolensk serves as the administrative center of the oblast and, within the framework of administrative divisions , it also serves as

4380-406: The term Rus' land referred to a triangular area, which mainly corresponds to the tribe of Polans in Dnieper Ukraine . Ruthenia was used to refer to the East Slavic and Eastern Orthodox people of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland , and later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and Austria-Hungary , mainly to Ukrainians and sometimes Belarusians , corresponding to

4453-399: The term Rus/Russia in the lands of Rus' survived longer as a name used by Ukrainians for Ukraine. When the Austrian monarchy made the vassal state of Galicia–Lodomeria into a province in 1772, Habsburg officials realized that the local East Slavic people were distinct from both Poles and Russians and still called themselves Rus. This was true until the empire fell in 1918. In

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4526-407: The term to lands inhabited by Eastern Slavs . Rusia or Ruthenia appears in the 1520 Latin treatise Mores, leges et ritus omnium gentium, per Ioannem Boëmum, Aubanum, Teutonicum ex multis clarissimis rerum scriptoribus collecti by Johann Boemus . In the chapter De Rusia sive Ruthenia, et recentibus Rusianorum moribus ("About Rus', or Ruthenia, and modern customs of the Rus'"), Boemus tells of

4599-410: The territories of modern Belarus , Ukraine , Eastern Poland and some of western Russia . Historically, in a broader sense, the term was used to refer to all the territories under Kievan dominion (mostly East Slavs). The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria (1772–1918), corresponding to parts of Western Ukraine , was referred to as Ruthenia and its people as Ruthenians . As a result of

4672-441: The upper Dnieper River , which crosses the city within the Smolensk Upland , which is the western part of the Smolensk–Moscow Upland . The Dnieper River flows through the city from east to west and divides it into two parts: the northern (Zadneprove) and southern (center). Within the city and its surroundings the river takes in several small tributaries . In the valleys are stretched streets, high ridges, hills, and headlands form

4745-504: The visit was to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Katyn massacre . In June 2013, archaeologists of the Russian Academy of Sciences discovered and unearthed ancient temples in Smolensk dated to the middle to second half of the 12th century, built on the left bank of the Dnieper River. At the time the city was the capital of Smolensk principality . In September 2013, Smolensk widely celebrated its 1,150th anniversary with funds spent on different construction and renovation projects in

4818-399: The waters of the Smolnya. An alternative origin could be the Russian word смола ( smola ), which means resin , tar , or pitch . Pine trees grow in the area, and the city was once a center of resin processing and trade. The Byzantine emperor Constantine VII (r. 913–959) recorded its name as Μιλινισκα ( Miliniska ). The city is located in European Russia on the banks of

4891-400: Was bestowed on Smolensk after the war. After the Germans captured the city in 1941, they found the intact archives of the Smolensk Oblast Committee of the Communist Party, the so-called Smolensk Archive . The archive was moved to Germany, and a significant part of it eventually ended up in the United States, providing Western scholars and intelligence specialists with unique information during

4964-400: Was discarded by modern historians as nothing more than a myth. While many modern historians discount the text as useless, it can still provide useful bits and pieces of Lithuanian history as it incorporates many garbled fragments of earlier, now lost, documents and chronicles. Also, the mythical Palemon is a good evidence of political tensions and cultural ideology of the Lithuanian nobles in

5037-404: Was expanded to include events up to 1396. It formed the backbone of the first chronicle. The first redaction survived only from later manuscripts and compilations. The earliest known compilation was prepared in Smolensk around 1446 by bishop Gerasim and his clerk Timofei. The compilation also included a praise to Vytautas, written by Gerasim, a story about Podolia , written in 1431–1435 to support

5110-401: Was popular and often copied. It shaped the political mentality of the Lithuanian nobility, formed the basis for the Lithuanian historiography until the dawn of the 20th century, and inspired many literary works. Several manuscripts are known: The third and most extensive redaction is known as the Bychowiec Chronicle . It is based on the second redaction. It is believed that this redaction

5183-476: Was prepared around the same time as the second redaction with support from Albertas Goštautas . The only known version was discovered in a manor owned by Aleksander Bychowiec and was published in full by Teodor Narbutt in 1846. This chronicle was updated to include events up to 1574. Initially there were doubts if the chronicle is authentic and some suggested that Narbutt falsified it. The doubts were inspired by its sudden discovery and its peculiar similarity with

5256-548: Was published as volumes 32 (1975) and 35 (1980) of the Complete Collection . However, despite the discovery of several other manuscripts since 1907, the new volumes did not include them. Smolensk Smolensk is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast , Russia , located on the Dnieper River, 360 kilometers (220 mi) west-southwest of Moscow . First mentioned in 863, it

5329-736: Was subsequently transferred to the 10th Army and fought at the Second Battle of the Masurian Lakes . In March 1918 , the Belarusian People's Republic , proclaimed in Minsk under the German occupation, declared Smolensk part of it. In February–December 1918, Smolensk was home to the headquarters of the Western Front, North-West Oblast Bolshevik Committee and Western Oblast Executive Committee. On 1 January 1919,

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