In the mid-10th century, the eastern area of Crimea was conquered by Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev and became part of the Kievan Rus' principality of Tmutarakan. The peninsula was wrested from the Byzantines by the Kievan Rus' in the 10th century; a major Byzantine outpost, Chersonesus was taken in 988 CE. A year later, Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev accepted the hand of Emperor Basil II's sister Anna in marriage, and was baptized by the local Byzantine priest at Chersonesus, thus marking the entry of Rus' (later Russia) into the Christian world.[17] Chersonesus Cathedral marks the location of this historic event.


