The archaeological site comprises a "citadel" (gorodishche) (Russian: Городище), formerly situated at the confluence of the Rivers Dnieper and Svinets, and a ring of ancient rural settlements (selitba) which occupy an area of 17.5 hectares, of which roughly 5,000 square metres (54,000 sq ft) had been excavated by the end of the 20th century.

[4] The site at Gnezdovo first drew the attention of archaeologists in 1867 during the construction of the Orel-Vitebsk railway when a hoard was discovered containing 10th century silver ornaments.

The metal objects represented include hauberks (not typical for Scandinavian sites), helmets, battle-axes, Carolingian swords, and arrows.

Among the more surprising discoveries were an early folding razor with a copper handle and a pivoted scissors, probably the earliest found in Eastern Europe.

[citation needed] The most unexpected discovery at Gnyozdovo was a Kerch amphora with the earliest inscription attested in the Old East Slavic.

Written evidence that directly mentions Gnezdovo is very sparse and vague, with only two entries coming from the Primary Chronicle and one from the De Administrando Imperio.

Like Smolensk at a later period, Gnyozdovo flourished through trade along the Dnieper going south to Constantinople and north over portages to the Dvina and the Lovat, two rivers allowing access to the Baltic Sea.

[9] After internal tensions within Kievan Rus settled down, the site of Gnyozdovo "formed the critical exchange centre and refitting base on the route from the Baltic to the Black Sea".

After Vladimir the Great established a local principality for his son, the administrative centre of the region and the seat of princely power was moved from Gnyozdovo to Smyadyn Castle near Smolensk.

[d] The dichotomy of a Slavic veche centre and a Varangian druzhina station has parallels in other areas of Rus: compare Novgorod and Holmsgard, Chernigov and Shestovitsa, Rostov and Sarskoye Gorodishche, Yaroslavl and Timeryovo.

In later centuries, the ruling princes from the House of Rurik preferred to settle in a fortified castle at a distance from their capital: in Vyshhorod rather than Kiev, in Smyadyn rather than Smolensk, in Kideksha rather than Suzdal, in Bogolyubovo rather than Vladimir.