Incorporated into Moscovy in 1474, Rostov was mentioned first in chronicles in 862 Anno Domini. In the Caucasus and in the Crimea there are Byzantine and other settlements older by far, though these were neither Slavic nor Nordic-Viking-Varangian, and so not really Ukrainian or Russian or both, that is, of Kievan Rus'. It is more than possible that the year 862, as with the dating of Veliky Novgorod and Murom and the arrival by invitation of Prince – Hrørek – Hrœrekr – Рюрик – Rurik of the Varangians, Prince of Novgorod Veliky (862 to 879), is a later interpolation into the early XII century

Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ – Tale of Bygone Years – Повесть временных лет.

Even if this be the case, Rostov the Great is believed to antedate the establishment of a Slavic settlement, and even the Slavic settlement is one of the very oldest of the forests of what is now Russia. The large Churches pictured inside the Kremlin of Rostov Veliky – Ростовский кремль are, in the far court, the Соборная Площадъ – Cathedral Square, and to the viewer's right, the Dormition (or Assumption) Cathedral – Успенский собор (1508-1512, though with foundational elements from the XII century) and in the near court, the Владычий Двор – Episcopal Courtyard, the other tall church to the viewer's left is the Надвратная Церковь Воскресения – Gateway Church of the Resurrection Church (1670). Note though that the Kremlin Walls and most of the structures inside were built from 1670 to 1683, so the Kremlin was effectively built around the older Assumption Cathedral.