According to archaeological excavations, the first people settled in what is now the Ryazan region in the Upper Paleolithic (15 - 25 thousand years ago). The first known inhabitants of this area were the tribes of Finno-Ugric group: Mer, Ves, Muroma, Meshchera, Mordvinians and others, who gave a lot of preserved to this day geographical names.The Slavic tribes moved to the east at the end of the 1st millennium AD. The tribes of Vyatichi and Radimichi settled in the upper and middle reaches of the Oka River. Over time, these lands came under the control of the Kiev principality. Further expansion of the Slavs to the east was stopped by the Kama Bulgars.According to the latest archaeological data, the town of Staraya (Old) Ryazan was founded in the 10th century (about 50 km south-east of the present Ryazan). The town of Pereyaslavl-Ryazansky was first mentioned in 1095.Despite the vast territory of the region and mixed composition of the population, it was gradually exposed to the Christianization, a lot of churches and monasteries were built. In the 12th century, Olgovsky Assumption Monastery was founded (the present village of Lgovo) - one of the oldest monasteries in the North-Eastern Russia.
