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Moscow ( Russian: Москва́, Moskva), capital of Russia, located on the river Moskva, and encompassing 878.7 km2. The city's population is rapidly increasing, with 11.2 million inhabitants counted in 2004.
The city is in the federal district called Central Russia (which is actually in the west of Russia). It was the capital of the former Soviet Union, and of Muscovite Russia, the pre-Imperial Russia. It is the site of the famous Kremlin, which serves as the center of the national government.
Moscow is also well known as the site of the Saint Basil's Cathedral, with its elegant onion domes. The Patriarch of Moscow serves as the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Moscow coat of arms
( St. George slaying the dragon)
The first reference to the town of Moscow is from 1147 when it was an obscure town in a small province, with a mostly Finno-Ugric population, the Merya. In 1156, Prince Yury DolgorukyYury Dolgoruky Dologoruky meaning of the long hands in Russian) ( 1091? May 15, 1157), Prince of Suzdal, Grand Prince of Kiev, sixth son of Vladimir Monomakh, founder of Moscow. During his father's reign, Yuri governed the Rostov-Suzdal province. After th built a wooden wall and a moat around the city. They were not terribly successful, however, as in 1177Events November 25 Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. Manuel I Comnenus recaptures some of the former Byzantine territory lost at the Battle of Myriokephalon the previous year. Benedictus Abbas bec the city was burned to the ground and its population was murdered. After 1237Events Thomas II of Savoy becomes count of Flanders. Elblag, Poland is founded. The Mongols invade Russia. Gualdo Tadino, Italy, is destroyed by fire. The County of Artois is founded in France. Baldwin II becomes Latin Emperor of Constantinople. Conrad IV- 1238Events In the Iberian peninsula, James I of Aragon captures the city of Valencia September 28 from the Moors; the Moors retreat to Granada. Mongols seize Moscow, at that time a small town. Peterborough Cathedral is consecrated. The Khmers are expelled fro, when the MongolsThe Mongols are an ethnic group that originated in what is now Mongolia, Russia, and China, particularly Inner Mongolia. They currently number about 8. 5 million and speak the Mongol language. They form one of the 56 nationalities officially recognized by captured the city, burning the city to the ground and murdering the inhabitants, it recovered and became the capital of an independent principalityPrince Albert of Monaco on the left represents a principality where he wields adminisitrative authority. Prince Charles of Wales represents a titular principality with no administrative authority. A principality is a monarchial feudatory or sovereign stat.
In 1300Events Beginning of the Renaissance. Abacus first used in China. Money from Florence, Italy becomes the first International Currency. Philip IV of France begins attempt to annex Flanders. Wenceslas II of Bohemia becomes King of Poland. Jubilee of Pope Bon it was ruled by Daniil Aleksandrovich, the son of Alexander Nevsky, and a member of the Rurik Dynasty. Its favorable position at the headwaters of the Volga river let it slowly expand. Moscow was also stable and prosperous for many years and attracted a large numbers of refugees from across Russia. By 1304 Yury of Moscow contested with Mikhail of Tver for the throne of the principality of Vladimir. Ivan I eventually defeated Tver to become the capitol of Vladimir, and the sole collector of taxes for the Mongol rulers. By paying high tribute, Ivan won an important concession from the Khan. Unlike other principalities, Moscow would not be divided up among his sons, but would be passed intact to his eldest. The Khan of the Golden Horde had long been trying to limit Moscow's power.
But, when the growth of the Lithuanian empire began to threaten all of Russia, the Khan strengthened Moscow to counterbalance Lithuania, allowing it to become one of the most powerful cities in Russia. In 1480, Ivan III is said to have finally broken the Russias free from Tatar control (see Great standing on the Ugra river) and Moscow became the capital of an empire which would eventually encompass all of Russia and Siberia, and parts of many other lands.
The tyranny of later Tsars, such as Ivan the Terrible, led to a decay of the state, even as the empire was expanding. In 1571 the Crimean Tartars from the Ottoman Empire seized and burned Moscow. From 1605 through 1612 Polish troops occupied Moscow, as Poland got involved in an attempt of the Russian gentry to establish a usurper on the throne, or to form a personal union between the two biggest Slavic states. However, the Polish army had only half-hearted support from the state, and the intervention was strongly criticized in the Polish Sejm. Thus, in 1612, a Russian gentry made an another uprising that this time was directed against the Poles, and in 1613, an assembly of the Empire elected Michael Romanov tsar, establishing the Romanov dynasty.
Moscow ceased to be Russia's capital when in 1703 Peter the Great constructed St. Petersburg on the Baltic coast. When Napoleon invaded in 1812, the Moscovites burned the city on September 14 and departed; Napoleon's troops soon left, defeated by hunger and the cold. In January of 1905, they officially introduced the institution of the City Governor, or Mayor, in Moscow, and Aleksandr Adrianov became Moscow's first official mayor (current mayor is Yuri Luzhkov). Following the success of the Russian revolution in 1917, Lenin once again made Moscow the capital (moved on March 5, 1918), and it remains so to this day.
When a large army of German troops began to invade the Soviet Union in June 1941, (see Operation Barbarossa) one of three army divisions, Army Group Center, also marched straight towards Moscow. At one point advanced forces came within 40 miles of the city center before Russian defenders drove them off in the Battle of Moscow. Ultimately a heavy winter accompanied by heavy snow and below-freezing temperatures stopped the army and kept it from seizing the city; subsequent counteroffensives drove Army Group Center from Moscow's western suburbs. For its heroism during the War, Moscow was later awarded the title Hero City.
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