Activities in Rostov and Suzdal
Yuri, or rather George in
English, was the sixth son of
Vladimir Monomakh. Although his birthdate is uncertain, some chronicles report that Yuri's elder brother,
Viacheslav, said to him: "I am much older than you; I was already bearded when you were born." Since Viacheslav was born in 1083, this pushes Yuri's birth to c. 1099/1100.
In 1108, Yuri was sent by his father to govern in his name the vast
Rostov-Suzdal province in the north-east of
Kievan Rus'. In 1121, he quarrelled with the boyars of
Rostov and moved the capital of his lands from that city to
Suzdal. As the area was sparsely populated, Yuriy founded many fortresses there. He established the towns of
Ksniatin in 1134,
Pereslavl-Zalesski and
Yuriev-Polski in 1152, and
Dmitrov in 1154. The establishment of
Tver, Kostroma, and
Vologda is also popularly assigned to Yuri.
In 1147, Yuri Dolgoruki had a meeting with
Sviatoslav Olgovich in a place called
Moscow. This first mention of Moscow is considered the traditional date of the city's founding. In 1156, Yuri
fortified Moscow with wooden walls and a
moat.