Zarub

Zarub [Заруб]. A fortified city of Kyivan Rus’ (11th–13th centuries) located near the Zarubyntsi landmark in Kaniv raion, Cherkasy oblast. Built on the right bank of the Dnipro River opposite the mouth of the Trubizh River, it probably served as an important river crossing. It is mentioned in the chronicles under the years 1096, 1146, 1151, 1156, and 1223 in connection with campaigns against the Cumans. The site was excavated first in 1899 by Vikentii Khvoika, who unearthed a burial site that gave its name to the Zarubyntsi culture. Later excavations in 1948 undertaken by the Institute of Archeology of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR discovered the remains of two stone churches decorated with frescoes, mosaics, and tiles that belonged to the local monastery (11th–12th centuries). Heorhii of Zarub and Klym Smoliatych are known to have been monks at Zarub Monastery.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 5 (1993).]