Kniazha Hora

Kniazha Hora [Княжа Гора; Knjaža Hora]. A landmark in the Kaniv Nature Reserve near Kaniv, Cherkasy oblast, and the site of the fortified Kyivan Rus’ city of Roden (Rodnia), which is mentioned in the Primary Chronicle under the year 980. Excavations carried out in 1870–1900 (by such archeologists as Dimitrii Samokvasov and Mykola Biliashivsky) and 1958–65 (headed by Halyna Mezentseva) uncovered the remains of wooden and earthen dwellings, various workshops, other buildings, many farm and artisans' implements, domestic utensils, weapons, and 12 hoards of gold and silver ornaments. Roden's inhabitants were artisans and traders. The city was destroyed during the Mongol invasion of the 1240s. A monograph about Roden and Kniazha Hora by Halyna Mezentseva was published in Kyiv in 1968.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 2 (1988).]