Editing Smolensk (section)

=== Medieval origins ===
{{see also|Principality of Smolensk}}
[[File:Свирская Церковь.jpg|thumb|left|St. Michael's Church (Svirskaya) was built in 1180–1197 and is one of the few surviving structures in Russia from before the Mongol conquests.]]
Smolensk is among the oldest Russian cities. The first recorded mention of the city was 863 AD, two years after the founding of [[Kievan Rus']]. According to [[Primary Chronicle|Russian Primary Chronicle]], Smolensk (probably located slightly downstream, at 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 [[Veliky Novgorod|Novgorod]] to [[Kiev]]. The town was first attested two decades earlier, when the [[Varangians|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 the city was the Byzantine Emperor [[Constantine VII|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 [[Daugava River|Western Dvina]] ([[Daugava]]) River as far as they could then they [[portage]]d their boats to the upper [[Dnieper River|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 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 [[church (building)|churches]] were built in the city at that time, including the church of Sts.&nbsp;Peter and Paul (1146, reconstructed to its presumed original appearance after [[World War II]]) and the church of St.&nbsp;[[John the Baptist]] (1180, also partly rebuilt). The most remarkable church in the city is called [[Svirskaya Church|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 the disintegration of [[Kievan Rus']], and although it was not as strong as the [[Novgorod veche|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.<ref>{{cite book|title=Смоленская земля в IX-XIII вв.|last=Алексеев|first=Л. В.|year=1980|publisher=Наука|location=Moscow|pages=111–115|language=ru}}</ref>