A town on the River Dnieper in western Russia, whose archaeology suggests a 7th-century origin, although the site was first mentioned in 907 as founded by the Swedish Vikings. It was one of the chief towns of Kievan Rus and center of a princedom. Its Spassky Cathedral dates from 1024. It was principally a trading town on the north-south route across eastern Europe between the Black Sea and Baltic areas.