Zalesye

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Zalesye

Zalesye (literally: "over the woods") or Opolye (literally: "in the fields") is a historical region of Russia

Russia

Russia , or the Russian Federation , is a list of countries spanning more than one continent country extending over much of northern Eurasia....
, comprising the north and west parts of Vladimir Oblast

Vladimir Oblast

Vladimir Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . Its administrative center is the medieval Russian capital Vladimir, which is located 190 km to the east from the present-day capital, Moscow....
, the north-east of Moscow Oblast

Moscow Oblast

Moscow Oblast , or Podmoskovye is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia . It is the list of subdivisions of Russia by population Russian federal subject after the city of Moscow....
and the south of Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast is a federal subjects of Russia of Russia , which is located in the Central Federal District, surrounded by Tver Oblast, Moscow Oblast, Ivanovo Oblast, Vladimir Oblast, Kostroma Oblast, and Vologda Oblasts....
. As a kernel of the medieval state of Vladimir-Suzdal

Vladimir-Suzdal

Vladimir-Suzdal Principality , or Vladimir-Suzdal Rus , was a principality which succeeded Kievan Rus as the most powerful Rus' state in the late 12th century and lasted until the late 14th century....
, this area played a vital part in the development of Russian statehood. The name alludes to the deep woods that used to separate the medieval Principality of Rostov

Rostov

Rostov is one of the oldest types of inhabited localities in Russia in Russia and an important tourist centre of the so called Golden ring. It is located on the shores of Lake Nero in Yaroslavl Oblast....
from the Republic of Novgorod and the Dnieper principalities.

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Encyclopedia

Zalesye (literally: "over the woods") or Opolye (literally: "in the fields") is a historical region of Russia

Russia

Vladimir Oblast

Moscow Oblast

Yaroslavl Oblast

Vladimir-Suzdal

The name alludes to the deep woods that used to separate the medieval Principality of Rostov

Rostov

Finnic

Finnic can refer to:* Finnic languages* Finnic peoples Adding long comment tag to protect...
tribes. As time went by, Slavs and Finns mixed ethnically and culturally, thus giving birth to the modern Russian nation

Russians

The Russian people are an East Slavs ethnic group, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries.The English language term Russians is used to refer to the citizens of Russia, regardless of their ethnicity ; in Russian language, the demonym Russian is translated as Rossiyanin ....
.

In the twelfth century, this fertile area, being well protected from Turkic incursions by the forests, provided a favourable oasis

Oasis

In geography, an oasis or cienega is an isolated area of vegetation in a desert, typically surrounding a spring or similar water source. Oases also provide habitat for animals and even humans if the area is big enough....
for Slavic people migrating from the southern borders of Kievan Rus. The population of the area rapidly increased and by 1124 reached the point when Yuri Dolgoruki

Yuri Dolgoruki

Prince Yuri I Dolgoruki , also known as George I of Rus, was the founder of Moscow and a key figure in the transition of political power from Kiev to Vladimir-Suzdal following the death of his elder brother Mstislav I of Kiev....
found it expedient to move his princely seat from Rostov

Rostov

Suzdal

Suzdal is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated north-east of Moscow, from the city of Vladimir, on the Kamenka River....
in Zalesye.

Suzdal was the oldest and most senior town of Opolye. Other important urban centres were established by Yuri in Pereslavl-Zalessky

Pereslavl-Zalessky

Dmitrov

Dmitrov is a Types of inhabited localities in Russia in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located to the north of Moscow. It is located on the Yakhroma River and the Moscow Canal, which connects the Russian capital with the Volga River....
(1154), Starodub-on-the-Klyazma

Starodub-on-the-Klyazma

Starodub-on-the-Klyazma was a prominent urban centre of Russian Opolye from the 12th until the 14th century. Like so many towns in the vicinity, it was named by migrating population for a southern city they came from, in this case, for Starodub in Severia....
(1152), Vladimir-Zalessky (1108), Ksnyatin (1136), and Yaropolch-Zalessky (1136). The monikers Zalessky ("over the woods") and Polsky ("in the fields") were used to distinguish new cities from the eponymous towns now in modern-day Ukraine

Ukraine

Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east; Belarus to the north; Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary to the west; Romania and Moldova to the southwest; and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south....
.

Being perpetually at odds with the powerful Suzdalian boyar

Boyar

A boyar or bolyar was a member of the highest rank of the Feudalism Moscovy, Kievan Rusian, Bulgarian, Wallachian, and Moldavian Aristocracy, second only to the ruling knyazs , from the 10th century through the 17th century....
dom, Yuri even contemplated moving his capital from Suzdal to the new town of Pereslavl-Zalessky

Pereslavl-Zalessky

Pereslavl-Zalessky or Pereyaslavl-Zalessky , is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Yaroslavl Oblast, Russia. It was called Pereyaslavl until the 15th century....
. His unexpected death led to the idea being dropped, but Yuri's son Andrew the Pious finally moved the princely seat to another young town, Vladimir. The old nobility of Rostov and Suzdal, however, arranged Andrew's assassination and a brief civil war for supremacy in Zalesye followed.

During the Mongol invasion of Russia, when the woods were gradually being cleared and new centres developed in Moscow

Moscow

Moscow is the capital and the largest types of inhabited localities in Russia of the Russian Federation. It is also the largest European cities and metropolitan areas, with the Moscow metropolitan area ranking among the largest urban areas in the world....
, Tver

Tver

Tver is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Russia, the administrative center of Tver Oblast. Population: 405,500 ; 408,903 . Tver was formerly the capital of a powerful medieval state and a model provincial town in Imperial Russia with population of 60,000 on...
, and elsewhere, the strategic importance of Zalesye declined. New urban centres were developed around famous monasteries (e.g., Sergiev Posad, Kirzhach

Kirzhach

Kirzhach is a types of inhabited localities in Russia on the Kirzhach River in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, situated in the west of the oblast some west of Vladimir and south of Alexandrov ....
) or royal residences (e.g., Alexandrov

Alexandrov

Alexandrov is a types of inhabited localities in Russia in Vladimir Oblast, Russia, north-east of Moscow. Population: Alexandrov Kremlin served as the capital of Russia for three months under Tsar Ivan IV of Russia until he agreed to return his court and the relics of Moscow which he had taken with him....
, Radonezh

Radonezh

Radonezh , formerly known as Gorodok is a historic types of inhabited localities in Russia in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located about from Sergiyev Posad....
).

Sometimes, the term Zalesye is taken to include the whole Upper Volga and Lower Klyazma

Klyazma River

The Klyazma River is a river in the Moscow Oblast, Nizhny Novgorod Oblast, Ivanovo Oblast and Vladimir Oblasts in Russia, a left tributary of the Oka River....
region. In this sense, Zalesye is equivalent with the territory included within the Golden Ring of Russia

Golden Ring of Russia

The Golden Ring is a ring of cities northeast of Moscow, the capital of Russia. They formerly comprised the region known as Zalesye.These ancient towns, which also played a significant role in the formation of the Russian Orthodox Church, preserve the memory of the most important and significant events in Russian history....
.