Oleshia

During its existence, the port settlement was controlled by Kievan Rus', and was an important center of fishing and trade due to its location on the route from the Varangians to the Greeks.

Oleshia is first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle (PVL) in 1084 as the place where the exiled prince David Igorevich pillaged traders that were heading for Greece (the Byzantine Empire).

[6] The Kievan Chronicle mentions that, in 1153, the representatives of Iziaslav II of Kiev waited for Rusudan in the vicinity of Oleshia.

In 1164, representatives of Rostislav Mstislavich that were on their way to Constantinople with the demand to consecrate Kliment Smoliatich happened to meet with the newly appointed Kievan metropolitan, John IV, in Oleshia.

The city under Kievan Rus' is last mentioned sub anno 6732 (1224) in the Novgorod First Chronicle, during its narration of the Battle of the Kalka River.

This map attempts to reconstruct the 11th century. Oleshia ( Oleshye ) is shown on the Dnieper River downstream from modern Kherson. Some researchers believe that Oleshia was located further west, at the confluence of the Dnieper–Bug estuary .