|
|
MOSCOW - RUSSIA
Moscow, 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.
History
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.
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.
Culture
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.
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
Bolshoi 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
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.
As 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 .
|
|
