Moscow

Throughout the history this city has had a lot of epithets: Whitestone, Golden-domed, the First Throne, the Port of five seas, the Third Rome and others. All these names symbolize Moscow, the capital of the largest state in the world. As well as the country it is very huge and has already exceeded its prior borders and continues to grow constantly. Probably, in the nearest future it will become the largest city in the world.

Officially the city was founded in 1147: according to the Hypatian Chronicle the Prince Yuriy Dolgorukiy accepted his friends and allies in the tiny town Moskov on 4th April,1147. Though, there is no doubt that some settlement have already existed before it. The city was named after the Moskva River, on the bank of which the settlement had appeared. At the beginning the fortress Kremlin was built out of wood. In 1367-1368 after a fire, burning to the ground the former fortress, new Kremlin was erected of stone. In 1812, during the Napoleon’s invasion of Russia, Moscow was burned to ashes, mainly through Russians’ fault. Later it was reconstructed and enlarged.

The huge growth of the Russian capital started in the early 20th century and had been lasting over the century. Over this period various architectural styles were used at the construction of the city: retro, modernism, postmodernism, Socialistic monumental architecture, etc. Due to these architectural approaches Moscow is so various today. Today official area of the city is 1081 square kilometers.

Moscow is the most populous city in Russia as well as in Europe with a population above 10 millions, plus nearly 2 millions of registered migrants, students and others and over million of unregistered and illegal migrants. In total, Moscow agglomeration including suburbs numbers over 15 millions people. 85% of population is Russian, the rest is representatives of neighboring countries – Ukrainians, Byelorussians, Tatars, Armenians, Georgians, Jews and others.

Rich history and interweaved national features of nations residing in Moscow became the base for culture and art in the city. The city numbers over 100 theatres, 60 museums, some film studios and nearly 100 large cinema theatres. In addition, Moscow is famous for rich, beautiful and various architecture as well as monuments to famous figures and fictional characters.

Moscow abounds in sights and landmarks. Each year, new colossal buildings with unique architecture appear in the capital of Russia. Sculptors produce new bronze masterpieces. Even common houses, being earlier unremarkable, become historical monuments. Some sights became the symbols of the capital, such as the Kremlin and Red Square with various churches, cathedrals and monuments. Significant places and streets include Arbat, Vorobievi Gory (Sparrow Hills), Tverskoy Boulevard, Stalin’s skyscrapers and many others.

It is also worth to say about transportation system. The city became the largest traffic centre of Russia. It is the center of railway and highway network. There are five large airports in different parts of Moscow. Suburban trains connect satellite towns with Moscow, getting thousands of people to their works every day.

Moscow has well developed public transport facilities. Moscow metro is the second largest metro in the world after Tokio’s underground and has 182 stations and serves over nine million people daily. Highways are often overtrafficked. Even numerous road interchanges and three transport circular roads (rings) do not decrease accumulation of transport. To improve the transport situation the radio, internet and GPS-navigation inform car owners about traffic jams.

Moscow has humid continental climate, with warm summer and cold winter. The highest precipitation level is during autumn and winter. It is connected with the geographical location of the city: Moscow is located in Eastern Europe, on the plain and is situated 156 meters above the sea level. In addition, in spite of the dense construction of the city, one third of its area is a green zone.

Moscow is the largest economical and financial center of Russia. It is the concentration of the major part of the state economy. There are a great number of banks, representatives of huge companies of the world, enormous trade centers and etc. It is known that Moscow GDP and budget exceed rates of entire states. Also Moscow is the most expensive city in the world for housing prices.

We can talk run on for hours about Moscow, enumerating what it had, has and will have. Because Moscow is also a large scientific and educational center of Russia. It has various infrastructures – education, medicine, ecology, business. Moscow is the city of great worth, and since it is the capital of the largest country in the world, it should be as well as the great country.