According to the handwritten Augmented Psalter of 1570 (a book of everyday Christian hymns), kept at the local historico-architectural museum-reserve, Ryazan (Pereyaslavl Ryazansky until 1778) was founded in 1095. On the hill, near the confluence of the Trubezh and Lybed rivers into the Oka, a fortress was built with high walls and patrol towers encircled with a deep ditch. However, this name initially belonged to another town, located 50 km away from the place where the modern city is situated (first mentioned in a written source in 1096)- the capital of grand principality, one of the largest arts and crafts, commerce and culture centers of ancient Rus.

The territory of the modern Ryazan Region was settled by the Slavs in the 10th century-mainly by Vyatichi, who came from the west and gradually merged with indigenous people (Finno-Ugric tribes of Merya, Meshchera, Muroma, Mordva). As evidenced by the earliest preserved collection of chronicles The Tale of Bygone Years (early 12th century), in 964 there came the Grand Prince of Kiev Svyatoslav Igorevich (945-972) who, after he had learnt that the locals paid tribute to the Kha-zar Kaganate*, launched a military campaign against it and defeated it.

Meanwhile, freedom-loving Vyatichi did not want to be governed by Kiev-only in 966 the prince made them his tributaries by force. His son Vladimir had to subjugate them several times before he finally consolidated his rule there.

In 1097, at the Lyubech meeting** it was decided: "Each one shall govern his own patrimony." In particular, the Chernigov patrimony, including Novgorod Seversky, Ryazan,  Murom*** and other apanage principalities,

* Khazar Kaganate (650-969)—a medieval state established by the Turkic nomadic tribe—Khazars. It controlled Ciscaucasia, Low and Middle Volga Region. Azov Region. Eastern Crimea, a part of Eastern Europe up to the Dnieper, etc.-Ed.

** Lyubech meeting—a meeting of six princes (according to The Tale of Bygone Years), held in the town of Lyubech (on the Dnieper) in order to stop land conflicts and join forces against the Polovtsians, who were ruining Rus. At the meeting there was adopted a principle of inheritance of father's lands by princes, which meant establishment of a new political order based on large feudal landownership.--Ed.

*** See: O. Bazanova, "Homeland of Ilva Mtiromets", Science in Russia. No. 6, 2009.--Ed.

was assigned to the heirs of the Grand Prince of Kiev Svyatoslav Yaroslavich (1073-1076). According to Dmitry Ilovaysky (1832-1920), a well-known historian, public figure and publicist, the younger of them Yaroslav, who inherited all lands along the middle and low Oka River, became a founder of the dynasties of Ryazan and Murom princes.

But no meetings and agreements could stop internecine wars tearing apart the country. The same refers to the region under consideration: its history, according to Academician Dmitry Likhachev, the literary critic and tex-tologist, "was full of fratricidal discords among Ryazan princes and their Northern neighbors—princes of Vladimir..., and, at the same time, full of daring campaigns against the Polovtsians*... Ryazan citizens were energetic and enterprising people, and besides, the borderline location of the principality and regular wars with nomads taught them to skillfully handle weapons".

Until the mid-16th century, this principality was an eastern edge of the Russian territory and was often attacked by nomadic stock-breeding tribes, and in 1237 it was the first to face the Tatar-Mongol invasion. According to the first chronicle of Novgorod (13th-14th centuries), their leader Batu Khan sent an envoy to Ryazan demanding "a tithe of everything: people, princes, horses..." The answer was the following: "Our fathers and grandfathers never paid any tribute to anyone and never were slaves, they died for their honor and motherland. We also want to remain faithful to it or die for it."

Prince Yuri addressed his neighbors for help but got no answer and decided to protect the town by his own forces, but on the sixth day of the siege he was killed in action and the town, like neighboring Pronsk, Belgorod and Izheslavl were captured by the adversaries, who killed almost all residents. Their self-sacrificing fight against the conquerors is described in the most important folk monument- The Tale of the Ruin of Ryazan, that survived in the chronicles of 16th and 17th centuries—containing the story about a heroic deed of the voivode Evpaty Kolovrat.

Kolovrat with his small armed force came too late to the support of defenders of the principality, but he caught up with the enemy at Kolomna. A fierce battle flared up: "The fight was severe and terrible, one Ryazan resident fought against a thousand, two—against a multitude of them." "We participated in many battles headed by different rulers in many lands, but never saw such brave and skillful fighters..., and our fathers told nothing about such people...," these words of one of the retinues of Batu Khan are cited by the unknown author of the tale.-"These people are either winged or immortal."

Batu Khan sent his best warriors headed by the batyr Tavrul to defeat the Russian armed force. But Evpaty cut him with his sword down to the saddle. "Red-hot arrows were singing, long spears were clattering, Tatars were falling dead one by one..." But the battle was unequal in force and many defenders of the native land, Kolovrat among them, were killed. Batu Khan highly appreciated their courage and intrepidity, and set free the survivors. In 2007, 770 years after that event, a monument to the hero voivode was opened in the center of Ryazan (sculptor, Oleg Sedov).

Ryazan could not recover from the terrible devastation. That is why the capital of the principality soon moved to Pereyaslavl Ryazansky, located in the forests on an inaccessible steep slope, encircled by fertile flood meadows, more-

* The Polovtsians—the Turkic nomadic people. In the early 11th century they moved from the Volga territory to the Black Sea steppes, crossed the Volga and reached the Danube estuaries, conquered an area from the Danube to Irtysh, which is known as Polovctskaya Steppe.—Ed.

over, the town was connected by the Oka River with other lands that promoted trade relations. All that remained from the former capital (today Old Ryazan settlement)* is now an exceptionally important monument to the pre-Mongolian Rus, a monument to the first significant inhabited locality in our country, where archeological studies are in progress. These studies began in the early 19th century and each field season brings new findings.

Thus, we already know that there were powerful fortifications—an earthen rampart more than 7 m high (its remaining part is about 1.5 km long), strengthened on top by a wall made of logs filled with earth. In the inner protected territory there were two magnificent stone cathedrals decorated with carving from outside and wall painting inside. Archeologists unearthed there many treasures with Arab dirhams, Kievan hryvnias, Byzantine and German coins of the 9th-11th centuries, which indicates trade relations of local merchants. The majority of findings are represented by household items, amulets, accessories for women (glass bracelets, rings, beads), tools of craftsmen, etc. typical of the Russian town of the 11th-13th centuries.

In 2005, there was found a well-preserved and the biggest treasure for this place in the Old Ryazan settlement—a small leather bag full of silver accessories for women of the 12th century: beads, pendants, round kolts** decorated with images of fantastic animals with the head of a bird or the body of a dog, rings, medallions (about 120 items in all). According to experts of the Ryazan Historico-Architectural Museum-Reserve, who work there together with their colleagues from the RAS Institute of Archeology (Moscow), the owners of the jewelry had hidden it before the approach of Batu Khan's horde.

The princedom of Ryazan reached its peak of flourishing and might during the rule of Oleg (1350-1402), an outstanding warrior and politician, whose main concern was the prosperity of his patrimony. But after his death in 1521, as Ilovaysky wrote, "one of the last principalities of the North-Eastern Rus, which was independent politically for a period of four hundred years, deftly and peacefully was annexed to Moscow."

Mute witnesses to the past grandeur of the principality are a rampart and a ditch, which are preserved up till now as parts of the ancient Kremlin laid in 1059 in its capital. Later on the Kremlin was rebuilt several times, which resulted in a unique architectural ensemble consisting of buildings of different centuries: the Archangel Cathedral (15th century), Cathedral of Christ Nativity (burial vault of grand dukes and duchesses;  15th century, rebuilt in 1826), Church of the Holy Spirit (1642), chambers for members of higher orders of clergy (or the Palace of Oleg, 1653-1692), secular constaictions of the 17th century—the most spectacular and fruitful period of the local urban development despite the Polish-Lithuanian intervention of 1611. By the way, at that time the Ryazan voivode Prokopy Lyapunov*** supported Muscovites in their struggle against the enemy.

The Dormition Cathedral (1693-1699) is a gem of the Kremlin; it is the most outstanding architectural monument of the Ryazan Region and one of the most remarkable monuments in our country in general. As for its composition, the cathedral is close to the cathedral of the same name in Vladimir**** constructed in the 12th century; the décor of the Ryazan Dormition Cathedral belongs to the Moscow or Naryshkin baroque style (after the name of main customers—the Naryshkin family, natives of Ryazan). Among the authors of this stone wonder was a gifted serf architect Yakov Bukhvostov. The wonderful white-stone carving that decorates bright-red walls and is especially elegant at the bottom tier of the building is characteristic

* See: V. Darkevich, "Old Russian Towns: An Archeologist's View". Science in Russia, No. 6. 1994.—Ed.

** Kolt—a hollow pendant fixed on a headdress decorated with small gold or silver beads, open work ornament made of thin gold, silver or copper wire, enamel and engravings.—Ed.

*** See: A. Bogdanov, "All of Us Should Be in Chime and Union...". Science in Russia. No. 6, 2007.—Ed. **** See: O. Bazanova. "Sacred Sites of the Land of Vladimir". Science in Russia. No. 4. 2005.--Ed.

of this style and delights visitors no less than the huge dimensions of the cathedral.

The interior of the cathedral is no less impressive than the exterior: the high relief carving decorates every inch of the iconostasis, many large fragments of which are made of a single wood piece. The iconostasis is considered one of the best samples of this art. It was created by Khristoforov, a famous craftsman, who reproduced fantastic interlacements of plants, flowers, vines with grapes, pomegranates and other rare fruits.

Nearby, at the exit from the Kremlin using the bridge over the ditch, there is a well-shaped bell-tower. Donations for its construction started in 1783 and continued for many years. Many architects tried to begin works but the soft soil was not fit for such a big structure, designed to match the regal Dormition Cathedral. The most ingenious solution was offered by the gubemia architect Nikolai Voronikhin, Academician of Architecture, who proposed to construct the fourth tier using metal. Such innovation (wooden frames and trusses were common at that time) allowed to reduce the weight and make the bell-tower as high as it was planned. The works were completed in 1840, and soon after, the old bells, cast in 1676 and 1679 by Fyodor Matorin and Filipp Andreev respectively, began to sound from the belfry.

Let us add that there is an inscription on the cast-iron plate at the bell-tower base: "There was the stone Glebovskaya Tower with gates and loopholes at this place, from where in 1521 the watchman Ivan Khabar Simsky, son of the voivode Vasily Obraztsov, with the help of the gunner Iordan defeated Tatars of the Crimean Khan Magmet-Girey. Before that defeat, Khabar took from the Khan an official document of the Moscow prince on paying tribute to the Crimea and thus saved Ryazan and the honor of the grand prince of Moscow, for which he was given the office of a boyar and his deeds were registered in the record books to remember them forever. See The His-toriesby Karamzin...".

On the Kremlin territory there is also the oldest and biggest Historico-Architectural Museum-Reserve in the region, established in 1884 by the municipal academic committee for archives, and, in 1995, registered in the list of the most valuable objects of cultural heritage of the Russian Federation peoples in accordance with the Decree of the RF President. From the 1990s, some of its buildings have been used together with the Ryazan eparchy; liturgies are held in the Dormition Cathedral, in the Nativity Cathedral, and the Church of St. John the Evangelist.

At present, the museum runs permanent expositions at the Palace of Oleg dedicated to the history of grand principality, where visitors can see archeological findings, weapons of ancient Russian warriors, a sound diorama "Heroic Defense of Old Ryazan during the Tatar-Mongol Invasion of 1237". The Archangel Cathedral exposes icons, wooden polychromatic sculptures, decorative and ornamental needlework, church utensils, old household items, depicting folk customs, are exhibited at the choir building.

A memorial complex was opened in 2003 in the Zabo-rovo settlement (Novoderevensky district, Ryazan Region), the patrimonial estate of the prominent commander Mikhail Skobelev (1843-1882), to commemorate the 160th anniversary of his birth. An intelligent man, advocate of decisive and challenging actions, he cultivated self-esteem and patriotism in soldiers and officers. He regularly appeared at the frontline on horseback in a snow-white uniform, for which he was called a "white general". The gifted commander never lost a single battle, and it is not by chance that he was called "Suvorov's equal" at the Academy of the General Staff. He made a significant contribution to the victory of our country in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, due to which Bulgaria was liberated from the 400-year Ottoman yoke.

The memorial complex includes the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior, where the commander and his parents are buried, a monument to the general (by the Ryazan sculptor Boris Gorbunov) and a museum in the renovated school built for village children in 1881 at his

expense. There visitors can see objects related to different periods of his life, expositions are organized, depicting the history of the Skobelev family and estate. In 2008, another anniversary of the birth of the Russian and Bulgarian national hero, craftsmen of Suzdal made a splendid iconostasis (fine wood gold plated), in the Byzantine-Balkan style for the local church.

There is one more interesting place in the Ryazan Region we must mention here-the Oka Sanctuary, formed in 1935 and in 1985 acknowledged by UNESCO* as a biospheric one. There live 225 species of birds (including wood grouse, hazel grouse, black grouse, crane, ducks, great snipe, snipe, woodcock, black kite, buzzard), 49 species of mammals (in particular, moose, boar, fox, otter, ermine, marten, raccoon dog, muskrat, squirrel, bats), 39 species of fish (perch, pike, crucian carp, ide, roach, bream, etc.).

It is worth mentioning that there have been preserved forests that once covered the central part of European Russia (pine forests with birches and broad-leaved species, oak forests). According to the 17th-18th-century deeds, fur animals, first of all beavers, made up the main wealth of these lands, granted by Ryazan princes to monasteries. However, by the end of the 19th century, all these animals were exterminated, and only thanks to the efforts of specialists working at this environmental research institution, the population has been renewed.

Other local aboriginals—elks—have also increased in number (now their density is 10-17 animals per 1,000 ha). A pack of wolves, living in the sanctuary, ensures natural selection of elks. The number of wolves is also regulated by its employees and does not exceed 8 animals. In a season the carnivores hunt about 60-80 elks on the average.

Wide-scale work to study and protect the muskrat is now in progress; the nursery for Caucasian-Belovezhsky bisons is inhabited by 8 males and 11 females, who were brought there in 1959-1991. Besides, together with American colleagues, local specialists are implementing a program of restoration of the disappearing population of the primordial Russian bird—Siberian crane—a rare species of cranes.

* See: N. Maxakovsky, "Russia in UNESCO World Heritage", Science in Russia, No. 3. 2006.--Ed.