Kievan Rus Architecture

Architecture in Kievan Rus' was centered on the cities of Kiev and Novgorod and represents the earliest period of both Russian and Ukrainian architecture, building on Byzantine foundations while introducing its own innovations and features. Most of what survives from this period consists of Russian Orthodox churches or fragments of city gates and fortifications. After Kievan Rus' broke apart and the Mongols invaded in the first half of the thirteenth century, its architectural tradition continued in the principalities of Novgorod, Vladimir-Suzdal and Galicia-Volhynia, directly shaping the later architecture of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.