Москва (Moskva)

Москва (Moskva)¹ is Россия (Rossija)'s² capital, the capital of the Central Federal District and a federal city. It has nearly 15.1 million people in its metropolitan area (2012),³ with more than 11.5 million of them in the city proper (2010).⁴ The city is on the river that bears its name, with its old walled bounds, the Kremlin, on the river's north. Adjoining the Kremlin is Red Square, and looking over that from the heights is Spasskaya Tower, topped by a red star. The most famous Christian church is the 16th century St. Basil the Beatified cathedral with its colorful onion domes. Other famous buildings include the 1772 foot Ostankino (telecommunications) Tower (1967), which was the world's tallest self-supporting structure for a few years; the Lomonosov Moskva State University Main Building (1949), which was the city's tallest for about a half century and is topped by a 12 ton sculpture of a star surrounded by wheat; the Radisson Royal Hotel (1949), Europe's tallest hotel if one includes the surmounting decoration; the Government of Russia Building (1980), which for a time was much photographed with burn markings from the attempted coup of the early 1990s; the Space Obelisk (1964) above a museum about cosmonauts; and the Bolshoi Theatre (1825). The tallest building in the city (and in Europe) as of mid-2014 is Mercury City (2013, 75 stories).⁵

The city came into prominence as the center of a principality that was initially vassal to the Ulus of Jochi (Golden Horde), and later became the anchor piece for the Russian Empire. In 1571 it was mostly burned by the Tatars of Krym (Crimea) and was burned again in 1812 as a defense against the French.

The city is the traditional starting point for taking the Trans-Siberian Railway, which, along with the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral, are among the nation's primary tourist attractions.⁶

UNESCO honors three local World Heritage Sites: the Church of the Ascension with its three to four meter thick walls, located in the old royal estate of Kolomenskoye; the Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent, with its 12 towers and its dedication to the Icon of the Mother God of Смоленск (Smolensk) 'Hodigitria'; and the Kremlin together with the Red Square. Besides the fortified walls this last includes the Nativity of the Virgin church (1393), incorporated into the Great Palace; the palace of the Patriarchs and Church of the Twelve Apostles; the Arsenal of Peter the Great; the Senate (now housing the Council of Ministers); the Cathedral of St. Basil's the Blessed in Red Square; the Church of the Annunciation; the Cathedral of the Dormition; the Church of the Archangel; the bell tower of Ivan Veliki; and the Teremnoi Palace.⁷

Three of the nation's busiest airports are local: Domodedovo International; Sheremetyevo International; and Vnukovo International.⁸

External references

St. Basil's Cathedral of Moskva (Moscow), Central Federal District of Rossija (Russia)

Historical maps

Footnotes

1. Moskow in English.
2. Russia in English. Also transliterated as Rossiya.
3. Calculation found in world-gazetteer.com, accessed 2/6/2013.
4. Side banner of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscow, accessed 6/23/2014.
5. Information about buildings is from emporis.com, accessed 8/2/2014.
6. http://www.touropia.com/tourist-attractions-in-russia/, accessed 6/23/2014.
7. UNESCO, World Heritage Sites (Firefly Books, 2010).
8. More than ten million passengers in 2010 according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_Russia, accessed 6/23/2014.
9. Including vassals.
10. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Cities of Europe." Москва (Moskva) has been the largest city in what is now the Central Federal District of Россия (Rossija or Russia) and for some time the largest in the nation.
11. Ibid., "Tables of the World's Largest Cities."
12. Metropolitan figure from the U.N. Department of Social Affairs, World Urbanization Prospects (2009 revision) (UN, 2010), Table A.12, citied in en.wikipedia.org.wiki/List_of_metropolitan_areas_in_Europe, accessed 6/23/2014.