Kieff

Kieff, a government of South-West Russia, bounded on the east by the Dnieper, and including a large part of the Ukraine, with an area of 19,685 square miles. The surface is flat, and towards the north covered with woods. Large crops of excellent wheat are raised, and the manufacture of beetroot sugar is carried on very extensively. The capital, Kieff, picturesquely situated on the right bank of the Dnieper. 350 feet above the river, is one of the most ancient cities in Russia. It was the capital of the whole country from 882 to 1169, and the place where Christianity was introduced into Russia in 988. Kieff is now the seat of one of the four metropolitans, and is regarded as nn especially sacred spot. Besides the Petchersk Monastery, with its subterraneous tombs of saints and martyrs, which are visited by a vast number of pilgrims, and the two cathedrals of St. Sophia (1037) and the Assumption, it contains upwards of sixty churches, whose gilded domes and minarets give the city, when viewed from a distance, a very brilliant aspect. The university was transferred to Kieff from Vilna in 1833. The Dnieper is here crossed by a magnificent suspension bridge, constructed in 1851. The city really consists of three contiguous but distinct towns - Kieff, Petchersk, and Podol - each of which has its own system of fortifications. The manufactures are unimportant, but there is a thriving trade, which has increased with the progress of Odessa.