Editing Sarkel (section)

== History ==
[[File:Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132) en.svg|thumb|200px|Principalities of Kievan Rus' (1054-1132).]]
The city served as a bustling commercial center, as it controlled the [[Volga]]-Don portage, which was used by [[Rus' people|the Rus]] to cross from the [[Black Sea]] to the Volga and thence to the Caspian and Baltic.<ref>[[Carl L. Thunberg|Thunberg, Carl L.]] (2011). ''Särkland och dess källmaterial''. Göteborgs universitet. CLTS. pp. 20-22. {{ISBN|978-91-981859-3-5}}.</ref> The route was known as the "[[Khazarian Way]]". A garrison fortified at Sarkel included [[Oghuz Turks|Oghuz]] and [[Pecheneg]] mercenaries.

Sarkel's fortress and city were captured by [[Kievan Rus']] under prince [[Sviatoslav I, Prince of Kiev|Sviatoslav I]] in 965. The city was renamed '''Belaya Vezha''' (Slavic for ''White Tower'' or ''White Fortress'') and settled by Slavs. It remained Slavic until the 12th century, when the district was taken over by the [[Kipchaks]].

[[Mikhail Illarionovich Artamonov|Mikhail Artamonov]] excavated the site in the 1930s. It was the most ambitious excavation of a Khazar site ever undertaken. Among many Khazar and Rus items, Artamonov discovered Byzantine columns used in the construction of Sarkel. The site is now submerged by the Tsimlyansk Reservoir, completed in 1952, so no further excavations may be conducted.