Smolensk (Смоленск) is a city in western Russia, located on the Dnieper River, the administrative centre of Smolensk Oblast. Its population in 2003 was estimated as 351,100 (325,137 as of 2002 Census). Situated some 360 kilometres (225 mi) west-southwest of Moscow, this walled city was destroyed several times throughout its long history. It was on the invasion routes of both Napoleon and Hitler. Today, Smolensk is noted for electronics, textiles, and food processing.

History

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Origins of the name
The name of the city is derived from the name of the Smolnya Rivulet. The origin of the hydronym is less clear. One possibility is the old Slavic word for black soil, which might have coloured the waters of the long-derelict Smolnya. An alternative origin could be the Russian word smola that means both tar and resin. Pine trees grow in the area, and city was once a center of resin processing and trade.

Medieval origins

Smolensk is among the oldest of Russian cities. The first recorded mention of the city was 863 AD, two years after the founding of ancient Russia. According to Russian Primary Chronicle, Smolensk (probably located slightly downstream, at the archaeological site of Gnezdovo) was the capital of the Slavic Krivichs tribe in 882 when Oleg of Novgorod took it in passing from Novgorod to Kiev. The town was first attested two decades earlier, when the Varangian chieftains Askold and Dir, while on their way to Kiev, decided against messing with Smolensk on account of its large size and population.

The first foreign writer to mention the city was the Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus. In De Administrando Imperio (c. 950) he described Smolensk as a key station on the Road from Varangians to Greeks. The Rus sailed from the Baltics up the Western Dvina as far as they could then they pulled their boats out onto the ground and dragged them along to the upper 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 princedom of Smolensk was founded in 1054. Due to its central position amid Russian lands, the city developed rapidly. By the end of the 12th century the princedom was one of the strongest in Eastern Europe, so that Smolensk dynasty frequently controlled the Kievan throne. Numerous churches were built in the city at that time, including the church of Sts Peter and Paul (1146, reconstructed to its presumed original appearance after WWII) and church of St John the Baptist (1180, also partly rebuilt). The most remarkable church in the city is called Svirskaya (1197, still standing); it was admired by contemporaries as the most beautiful structure to the east of Kiev.
Between Russia, Lithuania, and Poland
Although spared by the Mongol armies in 1240, Smolensk paid tribute to the Golden Horde, gradually becoming a pawn in the long struggle between Lithuania and Muscovy. The last sovereign monarch of Smolensk...