Burtseva Gora in Roslavl
The Burtseva Gora (Burtsev’s Upland, The Earth Bank) is situated in the centre of modern Roslavl on the right bank of the river Stanovka. The height above the river achieves 15-18 metres in the north and it decreases till 10 metres high in the south. The area on the hill is oval; it occupies 160 metres long from north to south and 110-120 metres from east to west. An 8-metre ditch surrounds the upland in the north, west and south. The hill is fortified by a bank of earth which is 6,5 metres high. In the year of 1137 Knyaz Rostislav Mstislavich Smolensky founded Roslavl (the original name was Rostislavl), the upland served to be the best place for a future fortification where the knyaz had a residence. As a result, the place became one of the centres of power and money. The Town Earth Bank of XII-XVI centuries represented a boundary fortress of Smolensk princedom; later on it was already a fortress of the R...