Yaroslav the Wise Quotes

Died in 1054, Left a Continent Changed

Yaroslav died on February 20, 1054, at roughly 76 years old, one of the longest-ruling princes in the history of Kyivan Rus. Under his rule, Kyiv became one of the largest and most cultured cities in Europe, rivaling Constantinople and Paris. The Saint Sophia Cathedral still stands. The Ruska Pravda influenced legal systems across Eastern Europe for centuries. He was buried in a marble sarcophagus in Saint Sophia. His face was reconstructed by Soviet anthropologist Mikhail Gerasimov in the 1930s, revealing the lame leg, the strong jaw, and the man behind the legend.