Kieff

Kieff, one of the oldest towns of Russia, and ecclesiastically one of the most important, stands on the Dnieper, by rail 586 miles SW. from Moscow and 381 N. from Odessa. According to tradition it was founded before the Christian era. In 882 it was made the capital of the Russian principality, and remained so until 1169. Here in 988 Christianity was first preached in Russia by St Vladimir; and ever since that date Kieff has been one of the chief ecclesiastical and intellectual centres of Russia. The town was captured and nearly destroyed by the Mongols in 1240, and it remained in their hands for eighty years. From 1320 to 1569 it was in the possession of Lithuania, then of Poland down to 1654, in which year it was annexed to Russia. The town is built on elevated ground (350 feet above the river), trenching by ravines, and is connected with the opposite bank of the Dnieper by a fine suspension bridge, built in 1851. The most notable institution in the town is the celebrated Petchersk monastery, which is visited by more than a quarter of a million pilgrims annually. Underneath the monastery are a number of caves, containing tombs of the chief saints of the Russian Church. The cathedral of St Sophia, erected in 1037 on the spot where Yaroslaff defeated (1036) the Petchenegs, contains the tombs of the grand-dukes of Russia, and a magnificent altar, ornamented with beautiful mosaics; the interior of the cathedral resembles a labyrinth. The cathedral church of the Assumption harbours the bones of seven saints brought from Constantinople, and has a beautiful belfry with a peal of twelve bells. Altogether Kieff has nearly seventy churches, many of them with gilded domes and pinnacles, which, seen from a distance, give the city a striking appearance. The university, removed here from Vilna in 1833, has four faculties and (1883) 1700 students. There are also theological colleges, a military school, and an arsenal. The industry is unimportant, except tanning and the manufacture of wax candles. Considerable trade is done, especially at the fairs, the most celebrated of which is held during the last half of January. Pop. (1871) 79,773; (1895) 194,300. The fortress of Kieff, begun by Peter the Great in 1706, and now fortified in modern style, occupies a commanding site on the right bank of the Dnieper, and serves as a chief depot for war material.—The government embraces great part of the Ukraine, and is bounded on the north-east by the river Dnieper, which with its tributaries, the Priepet and others, performs the functions of drainage. Area, 19,685 sq. m., more than one-half of which is arable and one-fifth under wood. Pop. (1897) 3,564,433. Agriculture and horticulture are the chief occupations. The staple industry is the manufacture of beet-root sugar (23,000 men employed in 70 factories); spirits, tobacco, flour, machinery, and leather rank next. Trade is still very largely in the hands of the Jews. In Peter the Great's time the government of Kieff embraced the eastern part of the Ukraine and a large portion of middle Russia.