304 



EUSSIA IN EUEOPE. 



enemies from all quarters. It was destroyed four times — in 1171 by Andrew, 

 Prince of Susdalia ; in 1240 by the Mongolian Batu-Khan ; in 1416 by the 

 Tatars; and in 1584 by the Crim Tatars, after which its very site was said to 

 have remained deserted for ten years. But it rose from its ruins, and although 

 ceasing to be the centre of the Slav confederacies, and often cut off from direct 

 communication with the sea, it retained a foremost rank amongst Slav cities, 

 and is even still the fifth in population of the empire. 



Kiev occupies an area of about 20 square miles on the terrace and slopes of 

 the hills, rising 350 to 450 feet above the right bank of the river, along which the 



Fig 156.— A Kiev Pilgrim. 



^ J- -, 



houses stretch for a distance of 6 miles in sufficiently compact masses to give the 

 place coherency. Nevertheless there are extensive tracts still unoccupied, except 

 perhaps by a few mud hovels, or crossed by avenues as broad as squares. Hence, with- 

 out spreading outwards, the present population might be doubled or trebled by cover- 

 ing the waste grounds. Each of its several quarters presents special features, 

 as, for instance, Podol, near the river, the centre of trade and industries, south of 



