I. City and Metropolitan See

According to legend, Kiev (Ukrainian: Kyiv) was founded by the brothers Kij, Šček, and Choriv on the west bank of the river Dnieper (Dnepr). Owing to its favorable location on the trade route “from the Varagians to the Greeks,” Kiev developed into a political center of the ¶ medieval Rus', which was characterized by the integration of Slavic and Scandinavian elements. Kiev owed its growing prosperi…