The culture of Kievan Rus is closely connected with the adoption of Christianity. Baptism in 988 is considered a turning point in the history of the tribes of the East Slavs. Together with religion, East Slavic tribes adopted Byzantine writing, stone building skills, canonical foundations of icon painting, and some examples of applied art. The culture of Kievan Rus is, first of all, the culture of a democratic urban society under excellent governance.
The highest prosperity of the state occurred in the 11th century. In this century, the population of the country began to be about seven to eight million people. Smolensk, Novgorod, Kiev became the most developed urban centers. The largest and most populated state in Europe at that time was Kievan Rus.
The culture of Byzantium contributed to the familiarization of the Russian state with the culture of Hellenism and, through it, to the foundations of the culture of the Middle East, West, and Ancient Egypt. However, scholars are still debating and ambiguously characterizing the Byzantine influence on the country's development. At the same time, many insist that it was Byzantium that contributed to the understanding of Christianity as the highest religious law and worldview system. Thus, having adopted Orthodoxy, the Russian people drew moral and religious principles and principles from the original source.
Relations with Byzantium lasted a long period. For centuries, the culture of Kievan Rus, the educational system in the state were formed according to the Byzantine example. The adoption of Christianity was also carried out on its model.
It should be noted that the historical choice of Orthodoxy by Prince Vladimir, who ruled Russia, was not accidental. Various religious embassies came to the ruler with offers to accept their faith. However, after the messengers sent by Vladimir to different countries returned and spoke about the Christian worship with particular enthusiasm, the prince gave preference to Christianity. This was due not only to the beauty of the service ceremony, but also to a number of socio-political reasons.
The culture of Kievan Rus was under the cross influence of various civilizations. This was due to the location of the state between the West and the East. The ancient state was connected by diverse political and trade relations with Central and Western Europe on the one hand, and on the other with the Asian East and Byzantium. Kievan Rus from the 10th century was at the center of passing transit market routes. They connected her southern, eastern and western neighbors.
Despite the territorial proximity of Western European countries, the main exchange of people and ideas was in the southern and northern directions. That is why Christianity began to penetrate into the East Slavic lands long before its official approval.
With the adoption of Orthodoxy, education has spread. The training was conducted in monastery, city, church and secular schools.
The artistic culture of Kievan Rus is represented by mosaics and frescoes. In addition, the highest development was given to the religious genre - icon painting. This art acquired independence in the 14-15 centuries. In this era, such masters as Rublev and Greek created. Until the 18th century, icon painting and mosaic were practically the only forms of artistic expression of the Russian people.
The temple painting system dates back to the 11th century. She survived in images in St. Sophia Cathedral. In the 12th century Alimpiy (the Russian master icon painter) gained fame. He is attributed authorship over a large, strikingly beautiful icon “Yaroslavl Oranta” (“Our Lady of the Great Panagia”).
Expressing the spirit of the time of the Rurikovich style became for Kievan Rus the same first as for Western Europe, the Romanesque.