Away from the Varangians to the Greeks

Varangian trade routes. The trade route to Byzantium is shown in blue.

The route from the Varangians to the Greeks ( Russian: Путь из варяг в греки ) was a ( trade ) route across the waterways of Eastern Europe used by medieval merchants and warriors . It connected the Baltic Sea region with the Byzantine Empire . The route played an important role in the expansion of the Varangian rule over the area of the Eastern Slavs, which they called Gardarike (empire of castles), and in the establishment of the Kievan Rus .

course

The route led from the Baltic Sea along the Neva to Lake Ladoga , from there over the Volkhov to the Ilmen Lake , then over the Lowat . There the boats were transported over a short portage to the Western Dvina and the journey continued upstream.

Another route led from the Western Dvina to the Kasplja and from there via a portage to the upper Dnepr at the important trading center Gnjosdowo near today's Smolensk . Then you could sail south to the Black Sea .

At the same time there was also an eastern waterway over the Volga and the Caspian Sea to Persia .

meaning

Initially, this path, like the parallel ones, was used by the Vikings for raids on economically and culturally developed cities and countries in Europe, including the Byzantine Empire. Later it became the trade route between Northern Europe and Byzantium. With the progressive development of this route, the Scandinavians brought the adjacent areas with Slavic population under their control. The Warsaw-Slavic history was eventful at the beginning with the conquests of the Varangians and their renewed expulsions. Later, however, the Varango-Slavic city-states and principalities of the Varagian Rurikid dynasty emerged. This happened first in Novgorod , then in Staraya Ladoga , in Smolensk (see Gnesdowo ) and in Kiev . When the ruled areas were merged into a unified state, Kiev took on the role of the center.

Over time, the importance of the path decreased. The fragmentation of the Rus principalities, the decline of Byzantium, the centralization of Scandinavia and finally the Mongol invasion put an end to the use of the route.

literature

Heinrich Kunstmann : The Slavs. her name, her migration to Europe and the beginnings of Russian history in a historical and onomastic point of view. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-515-06816-3 (preview) .
Article Path from the Varangians to the Greeks in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BSE) , 3rd edition 1969–1978 (Russian)
Warägerweg im Brockhaus-Efron (Russian)
Henryk Samsonowicz : The Baltic Sea - Black Sea trade route in the 13th and 14th centuries, in Der hansische Sonderweg? Contributions to the social and economic history of the Hanseatic League . Ed. Michael North , Stuart Jenks . Böhlau, Cologne 1993 ISBN 9783412114923 pp. 23-30

media

Journey to the Black Sea : The Gold Treasures of Byzantium , broadcast in the Terra X series , 2004 (description)

supporting documents

↑ Used in German historiography as a translation of the fixed Russian term, see Heinrich Kunstmann : Die Slaven. her name, her migration to Europe and the beginnings of Russian history in a historical and onomastic point of view. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-515-06816-3 , p. 216.

[1] Used in German historiography as a translation of the fixed Russian term, see Heinrich Kunstmann : Die Slaven. her name, her migration to Europe and the beginnings of Russian history in a historical and onomastic point of view. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-515-06816-3 , p. 216.