Text The founders of Kyiv

The founders of Kyiv

Every old town or city has its own history. And Kyiv has its history too. Now nobody knows how the city started. Different documents say different things. But there are some legends, that say who and how founded the city.

One legend says that many years ago Apostle Andrew travelled along a beautiful river. He came to the place where the city of Kyiv now stands. He stopped there for a night. When he got up in the morning, he said to the people who were with him: “Do you see these hills? There will be a great city here, and there will be many churches.” The Apostle put a cross on one of the hills and went on.

Another legend says that about 1500 years ago, when the Dnipro river was called Slavutich, three brothers – Kyi, Shchek, Khoryv, and their sister Lybid lived on the bank of the river. The eldest brother was a good boatman. He made boats and helped people travel across the river. His brothers hunted and the sister gathered berries for her brothers. But Kyi had a dream – he wanted to change something. So he decided to build a bigger boat with a sail and travel along the river.

The three brothers and their sister sailed along the river. One day they saw a magnifi cent place with high hills which were diffi cult to climb. In the forests around them there were a lot of animals and birds.

“Here will be our city.” said Kyi. The brothers decided to build their homes on different hills and their sister asked to help her build a house near a stream between the hills. Soon there was a town on that place. In the new town everyone did some work. Kyi liked to be near the river, where he caught fi sh.

Hey, brothers, I have made a new boat. Come and see it. Well. Where is your new boat?

I think it’s a good and strong boat. But where is Khoryv? Kyi, I see this is the biggest boat, you have ever made. And it has a sail.

I am over here. What’s the matter?

Look at the boat. What do you think of it?

Would you like some fresh berries? Of course! What are we going to do with this boat?

With this boat we’ll travel along the river. We’ll fi nd a good place and will found a city there. Do you agree?

Yes we do. Let’s go.

Shchek made beautiful pots and many people came to buy them. Khoryv played musical instruments and Lybid made clothes for her brothers…

More and more people came to live near the hills. Kyi became the Prince. As you could understand, the city was named after the elder brother - Kyi, and two of Kyiv hills are called after the other brothers – Khoryvytsia and Schekavytsia.

People who lived in Kiev were quite rich because Kyiv was in a very good place. The Slavutych was the road to the Black sea, and traders from the Black sea and Southern regions could easily get there. In a short time, Kyiv became a big trading centre. 1 Did you get it?

1. Say if the following is true or false. Correct the false statements. Documents say that Kyiv was founded by Apostle Andrew. 2. False. Documents don’t say that. It is just a legend… 3. Kyi wanted to travel along the river. 4. At that time the Dnipro was called Slavutych. 5. Not all brothers wanted to travel with Kyi 6. Brothers decided to stop when they saw a city on hills. 7. Lybid built her house on a hill 8. In the new city Kyi became the Prince. 9. One of the hills is called after Lybid. Many people wanted to live in Kyiv.