thumb|Na mape sú zobrazené dve základné cesty [[Varjagovia|Varjagov: Cesta zo Škandinávie do Grécka (fialová) a Cesta zo Škandinávie do Perzie (červená). Ostatné obchodné cesty sú vyznačené oranžovou farbou.]]

'''Cesta zo Škandinávie do Grécka''' bola stredoveká riečna cesta, ktorá viedla zo Škandinávie naprieč východnou Európou do Byzantskej ríše. Prvýkrát sa názov tejto cesty objavil v kronike letopisca Silvestra. Vo 8. - 9. storočí bola jednou z expanzívnych ciest Vikingov (Varjagov, ktorí žili v oblasti úmoria Baltského mora) vedúcich na juh do juhovýchodnej Európy a Malej Ázie. Túto istú cestu využívali aj ruskí kupci, ktorí obchodvali s Škandinávie.

K tejto ceste existovala aj paralelná cesta - tzv. Volgu a Stredozemného mora.

Známa je aj oveľa staršia verzia tejto cesty vedúca priamo z Baltského mora k Západnej Dvine a odtiaľ cez Čierneho mora.

== Význam ==
Zo začiatku tak ako táto cesta aj jej podobné využívali Európy a Byzantskej ríše. Neskôr sa táto cesta stala dôležitou obchodnou cestou, ktorá spájala Škandináviu (severnú Európu) a bohatú Byzantskú ríšu. Popri ceste Rurikovcov v Novgorode (Rurikovo mesto<ref>[http://www.archeo.ru/rus/projects/rg.htm Inštitút dejín materiálnej kultúry - Rurikovo mesto] </ref>, Stará Ladoga<ref>[http://www.archeo.ru/rus/projects/ladoga.htm Inštitút dejín materiálnej kultúry - Stará Ladoga] </ref>) a neskôr aj v Smolensku a Kyjeve.

thumbnail|300px|''Ships on the Dnieper'', by [[Nicholas Roerich.]]
The '''trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks''' () was a trade route, which connected Scandinavia, Kievan Rus' and the Byzantine Empire. The route allowed traders along the route to establish a direct prosperous trade with Byzantium, and prompted some of them to settle in the territories of present-day Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.

The route began in Scandinavian trading centres such as Lovat River. From there, ships had to be portaged to the Dnieper River near Gnezdovo. A second route from the Baltic to the Dnieper was along the Western Dvina (Daugava) between the Lovat and the Dnieper in the Smolensk region, and along the Kasplya River to Gnezdovo.  Along the Dnieper, the route crossed several major rapids and passed through Kiev, and after entering the Black Sea followed its west coast to Constantinople.

==History==
thumb|left|350px|Map showing the major Varangian trade routes: the [[Volga trade route (in red) and the 8th-11th centuries shown in orange.]]
The route from the Varangians to the Greeks was first mentioned in the Primary Chronicle, but its effects were reported much earlier, in the early ninth century when the Byzantines noted newcomers in their regions, the ''Varangians''.   Though this has come to mean "Vikings" to many, the term for the Byzantines meant all Scandinavians and their kindred living in what is now Russia.

The route was probably established in the late eighth and early ninth centuries, when Varangian explorers searched for plunder but also for slaves and lucrative goods. The route gained significant importance from the tenth until the first third of the eleventh century, concurrently with the Volga trade route and the trade route from the Khazars to the Germans.

According to runestone N 62 preserves the name Vitaholmr ("demarcation islet") for Vitichev.) Then, these sailboats were transported along the Dnieper to Kiev. There, they were sold to the Varangians who re-equipped them and loaded them with merchandise.<ref>[http://faculty.washington.edu/dwaugh/rus/texts/constp.html An English translation] of ''De Administrando Imperio''.</ref>

On the Dnieper the Varangians had to portage their ships round seven rapids, where they had to be on guard for Pecheneg nomads. The rapids began below Dnipropetrovsk where the river turns south and fell 50 meters in 66 kilometers.

{| cellspacing="4" border=0 style="border:0 none transparent; border-top:3px double #999; border-bottom:3px double #999; border-collapse:collapse;"
|+ Names of the Dnieper rapids, with translations<ref>pp 172-174, "Russian and the Slavonic Languages", by W.J.Entwistle and A.Morison, publ. Faber & Faber, 1949 & 1969.</ref>, and Constantine’s Greek spelling:
|- style="border-bottom:3px double #999;"
! style="text-align:left; width:33%;" | Modern
! style="text-align:left; width:33%;" | Slavonic
! style="text-align:left;" | Norse
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| 
| ''Ne sǔpi'', ‘Don't Sleep’, Εσσουπη
| ''Sof eigi'', ‘Don't Sleep’
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| ''Surskij'', ‘Severe One’; ''Lochanskij''
| ''Ostrovǐnyj pragǔ'', ‘Island-waterfall’, Οστροβουνιπραχ
| ''Holmfors'', ‘Island-Waterfall’, Ουλβορσι
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| ''Zvonets(kij)'', ‘Clanger’
| 
| ''Gellandi'', ‘Roaring’, Γελανδρι
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| ''Nenasytets(kij)'', ‘Insatiable’
| ''Nejasytǐ'', ‘pelican’ (which nested there), Νεασητ
| ''Eyforr'', ‘ever violent’, Αειφορ
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| ''Volnyj, Volninskij'', ‘[place] of waves’
| ''Vlǔnǐnyj pragǔ'', ‘wave-waterfall’, Βουλνηπραχ
| ''Bárufors'', ‘wave-waterfall’, Βαρουφορος
|- style="vertical-align:top; border-bottom:1px solid #999;"
| ''Tavolzhanskij''
| ''Vǐruchi'', ‘laughing’, Βερουτζη
| ''Hlæjandi'', ‘laughing (ref. noise of water)’, Λεαντι
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
| ''Lishnij'', ‘superfluous’
| ''Naprjazi?'', ‘bend, strain?’, Ναπρεζη; ''Na bǔrzǔ?'', ‘quick?’
| ''Strukum'', ‘[at the] rapids’, Στρουκουν
|} 
thumb|right|A coloured copy of [[Varangian Runestones#G 280|runestone G 280 which talks of death in the Dniepr rapids.]]
Below the rapids, they had to pass a narrow rocky spot called the ''Ford of Vrar'' (Russian: ''Krariyskaya'' crossing), where the Varangians were often attacked by the St. George Island. Then they equipped their ships with sails in the Dnieper estuary and continued to navigate along the western shore of the Slavic: Mikligarðr).

The Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks was connected to other waterways of Eastern Europe, such as the Pripyat-Bug waterway leading to Western Europe, and the Volga trade route, which went down the Volga waterway to the Caspian Sea. Another offshoot was along the Dnieper and the Usyazh-Buk River towards Lukoml and Polotsk. The Trade Route from the Varangians to the Greeks was used to transport different kinds of merchandise. Wine, spices, jewelry, glass, expensive fabrics, icons, and books came from the Byzantine Empire. Kiev used to trade bread, handmade goods, silver coins, etc. Volhyn traded spinning wheels and other items. Certain kinds of weapon and handicrafts came from Scandinavia. Northern Rus' offered timber, fur, honey and wax, while the Baltic tribes traded amber.