Text 1
The route began in Scandinavian trading center Birka, continued across the Baltic Sea, entered the Gulf of Finland and followed the Neva River into Lake Ladoga.
From the Western Dvina, the ships went upstream along the Kasplya River (the first 116 kilometers are in Russia and the rest 20km in Belarus) and were portaged. Along the Dnieper, the route continued across several major rapids and passed through Kiev. After entering the Black Sea, it followed its west coast to Constantinople.
Text 2
The Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks was used to transport different kinds of merchandise. Wine, spices, jewelry, glass, expensive fabrics, icons, and books came from the Byzantine Empire. Certain kinds of weapons and handicrafts came from Scandinavia. Northern Rus' offered timber, fur, honey, and wax, while the Baltic tribes traded amber.
Text 3
The route was first used in the 9th century. It played a major role in the development of trade in the Kyivan Rus’. Among the cities founded along the Varangian route were Ladoga, Novgorod the Great, Smolensk, Vyshhorod, Kyiv etc.
(the territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.)
The route from the Varangians to the Greeks lost its significance in the second half of the eleventh century.
