Arkhipova E.I., Tolochko A.P.

Key words: early Rus state, St. Sophia cathedral, Kiev, Yaroslav the Wise, Vladimir Sviatoslavich the Great, date of foundation, prince’s portrait.
The article covers the key assumptions of N.N. Nikitenko’s hypothesis that St. Sophia cathedral in Kiev was founded on November 4, 1011. The hypothesis was not accepted by the scientific community and had no influence on the reconstruction of cultural and historical processes of the first half of the 11th c. However, now that the millenary celebrations are scheduled to take place in 2011 and N.N. Nikitenko’s concept becomes more widely known to the general public, there is need for a critical overview of the conclusions reached by the scholar and of her method in general.