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Moscow
Find cheap accommodation in Moscow
About Moscow ( 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 Dolgoruky built a wooden wall
and a moat around the city. They were not terribly successful,
however, as in 1177 the city was burned to the ground and
its population was murdered. After 1237-1238, when the Mongols
captured the city, burning the city to the ground and murdering
the inhabitants, it recovered and became the capital of an
independent principality. In 1300 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.
1888 German map of MoscowMoscow 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.
Historical population
Year Population Year Population
1785 188,700 1915 1,984,000
1811 270,200 1920 1,027,000
1825 241,500 1925 1,816,000
1851 332,900 1950 5,000,000
1871 602,000 2000 8,297,900
1900 1,175,000 2004 11,200,000
Further reading
Muscovy
History of Russia
Culture
The Red Square and Lenin's Mausoleum (center).Moscow is the
heart of the Russian ballet and the performing arts. Theatres
and Ballet studios dot Moscow. The most famous of these are
the Bolshoi (Big) and Malyj (Small) theatres. Ticket prices
used to be as low as $1 in the Soviet era, but prices had
been seriously adjusted since.
Although less than a quarter of Russians live in the countryside,
Muscovites, like other urban dwellers, are still attached
to the countryside. The Soviet government gave free country
homes, called dachas, to all official Moscow dwellers. Many
live in dachas over the weekend and over holidays. The dacha
also serves as the retirement home of the elderly. Many parks
and gardens are present in Moscow, see Sport.
The post war years saw a serious housing crisis, solved by
the invention of plattenbau. About 13,000 of these standardised
and prefabricated apartment blocks house the majority of Moscow's
population. They are built in heights of 8, 12, 16 or 21 stories.
Apartments were built and partly furnished in the factory
before being raised and stacked into tall columns. The popular
soviet-era comic film Irony of Fate parodies this soulless
construction method. A groom on his way home from his bachelor
party passes out at an airport and wakes up in a different
city. He gets a taxi to his address, which also exists in
the new city, and uses his key to open the door. All the furniture
and possessions are so standardised that he doesn't realise
that this isn't his home, until the real owner returns. The
film struck such a chord with Moscovites, watching on their
standard TVs in their standard apartments, that the film is
now shown every New Year's Eve, shortly before the President's
speech.
Education
There are numerous large universities in Moscow, including
the renowned Moscow State University housed in the 250m high
tower on Vorobyovy Gory (Sparrow Hills). The university has
over 30,000 undergraduates and 7,000 postgraduate students.
Bauman Moscow State Technical University offers a wide range
of technical degrees.
See Also: List of universities in Russia
Tourism
Moscow has always been a popular destination for more adventurous
tourists. The better known attractions include the UNESCO
World Heritage sites of the Kremlin, Red Square and the enchanting
Church of the Ascension at Kolomenskoye, all dating from between
the 14th and 17th centuries. Other popular attractions include
the newly enlarged Zoo. Moscow is also the western end of
the 9,300 km Trans-Siberian railway to Vladivostok. The city
is best visited in midwinter when the streets are cloaked
in powdery snow and the dusky twilight of the far north. In
winter the locals face the cold with the warm embrace of hospitality.
However, as temperatures can often be below -25C, early summer
or early autumn can offer a more comfortable, if less romantic,
visit.
Costs
Prices are considerably higher for the foreign visitor then
for locals. A cost of living survey by Mercer Human Resource
Consulting puts Moscow is in second place after Tokyo, making
it the most expensive city in Europe. For natives, small apartments
bought or given by the state in the Soviet era, coupled with
extremely low utility costs and easily avoidable income tax
serve to lower the cost of living greatly. A look at transport
prices offers a good illustration. A taxi from Sheremetyevo
International Airport will cost the non-Russian speaking traveler
upwards of $60; the Russian speaking foreigner will be charged
$30-$40. The native Moscow dweller will negotiate the price
to $15-20 or will avoid the taxi rank altogether and take
a shared taxi to the nearest metro station for about 50 cents.
Eating out
A huge and quickly growing range of restaurants, with a matching
range of prices. The average cost per person for a middle
to top class restaurant will be $30 to $200 (more if one goes
for vintage wines). A quick 'canteen' style meal in a 'Stolovaya'
can cost about $3. The chain restaurant 'Moo-Moo' offers adequate
quality canteen food, with English menus, for around $5 pp.
Most Moscovites do not eat in even cheap restaurants very
often. The omnipresent McDonald's have outlets near many metro
stations.
Moscow tourist attractions
False-color image of Moscow, taken by NASA satellite Landsat
7Bolshoi Theatre
Kolomenskoye
Kremlin
Kuskovo
Manege
Moscow Museum and Art Gallery of Russian Impressionism
Ostankino Tower, Moscow's tallest building
Ostankino
Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts
Red Square, including the Lenin's mausoleum
Saint Basil's Cathedral
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour (Moscow)
State Tretyakov Gallery
All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKhA, VVTs)
Moscow Zoo
This section is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding
it (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Moscow&action=edit).
Transport
Moscow has four airports, Sheremetyevo International Airport,
Domodedovo International Airport, Bykovo Airport, and Vnukovo
Airport
Local transportation includes the Moscow Metro, an excellent
metro system, filled with art, murals, and mosaics. Begun
in 1935, it has 11 lines and more than 150 stations. It is
not uncommon to see ornate chandeliers lighting the stations.
The system is the world's busiest, with 9 million passengers
every day and trains every 50 seconds at peak times.
Heavy traffic and active construction, 2003As Metro stations
are placed quite far apart in comparison to other cities,
up to 4km, an extensive bus network radiates from each station
to the surrounding residential zones. The buses are very frequent,
often more than one a minute, and very cheap at about $0.35.
Every large street in the city is served by at least one bus
route and none of the city's 13,000 apartment blocks are more
than a few minutes walk from a stop. There are also tram and
trolleybus networks. Few people use cars for commuting within
the city plagued by traffic jams, however most middle class
families own a small car for use at weekends and holidays.
Sports
Soccer football is an extremely popular spectator sport among
the young. Clubs such as Dinamo and Spartak are prominent
on the European stage. Supporter violence has become a serious
problem when international teams play in Moscow. In 2002,
dozen of Irish fans in Moscow for a Russia-Ireland game were
attacked by neo-nazi groups. One later died of his injuries.
That same year, when a Russia-Japan World Cup match, played
in Japan but broadcast live to the crowds in Red Square, went
badly for the Russians, the crowd turned violent and wrecked
havoc in the centre of the city, breaking windows, smashing
and burning cars and looting several shops. A Chinese restaurant
was incidentally attacked and five Japanese tourists were
beaten. One policeman died (other sources say two) and about
one hundred people were injured.
Winter sports have a large following. Most Russians own cross-country
skis and ice skates and there are many large parks with marked
trails for skiers and frozen ponds and canals for skaters.
Often parks will have small local businesses offering ski
and skate rental. Prices range from $1 to $5 an hour for rental.
Moscow was the host city of the 1980 Summer Olympics, although
the yachting events were held at Tallinn. Huge new statia
and sport facilities were built specially for the occasion.
The main international airport, Sheremetyevo Terminal 2, was
built at this time also.
Demographics
Although the population of the Russian Federation declines
by nearly one million every year due to low birth rates, emigration,
early deaths and AIDS, Moscow appears to be immune to these
problems in recent years. Moscow has a very high population
growth rates, largely due to immigration (despite an internal
passport system that makes it illegal for provincials to stay
in the capital for more than three days). These new Moscovites
are attracted by a local economic growth rate of up to 20%,
versus a steep rural and provincial decline.
According to a July 22, 2004 article in Forbes, Moscow became
the city with the most billionaires. It had 33 billionaires,
passing New York City by 2.
Terrorism
Terrorism is a recent threat in Moscow. The prolonged war
with Chechen separatists has led them to utilisation of terrorism
as a means to oppose the federal government. On February 6,
2004 in a wagon near the Avtozavodskaya metro station a bomb
killed at least 40 and injured many. Other prominent acts
of terror include the destruction of two apartment buildings
in September 1999 (see Russian Apartment Bombings), an explosion
in the pedestrian subway under the Pushkinskaya square in
August 2000, and the capture of the theatre at Dubrovka in
October 2002 where more than 100 people died during the sleeping
gas attack on terrorists
This article is licensed
under the GNU
Free Documentation License. It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"moscow'.
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