Metropolis. Z zagadnień mitu genezy stolic w Europie słowiańskiej

The paper is about the idea of a principal town under formation, about the capital of a state and country in medieval Slavic Europe. The author traces back to the moment when that idea appeared, above all in the myths pertaining to the genesis of a dynasty, monarchy and nations, as well as the genesis of relationships between the nation and the land; the relationships which appeared in the chronicles of Russia, Czech and Poland in the twelfth century. He shows a broader historical background of the phenomenon and perspectives to study it in the sources of the later period.