the ancient capital of Russia, is situated in the government of the same name, in 55° 45' 13" N. Lat., and 55° 17' 11" E. Long., 698 versts, or 466 English miles, from St Petersburg, and 1349 versts, or 902 English miles, from the frontiers of Poland. The soil in its immediate neighbourhood is sandy and argillaceous. A great part of it is under cultivation, and is highly productive. The situation of Moscow is most happily chosen.

The town is divided into two unequal parts by the River Moskva. On the left bank, on which the larger part of the city stands, the surface is broken and hilly. On the right, at the distance of about a mile, rises an amphitheatre of low hills, covered with wood, called the Sparrow Hills, from the summit of which you obtain a fine view of the city. At your feet the river winds through beautiful meadows; rising beyond, you see a mingled mass of towers, gilded and painted domes, churches, monasteries, and palaces. The whole, when seen on a sunny day and under a clear sky, possesses an almost unearthly splendour, from the dazzling whiteness of the buildings, and the glancing brilliance of the gilded domes of the churches.

The River Moskva rises in the S.E. of the government of Moscow, towards the district of Mojaisk. Its course is very winding, and hence its name, which signifies "the winding" or "serpentine." In spring it becomes navigable by the melting of the snow and ice, and then by means of the River Oka, its junction with which falls into the Volga, affords a communication between Moscow and that great river.

The length of Moscow from the Sparrow Hills on the S.W. to the Preobrazensky Barrier on the N.E., is about 14 versts, or 10 English miles. Its width from E. to W. is about 10 versts, or 7 English miles; its circumference is about 20 English miles. It covers a larger extent of ground than any other European capital, excepting London and Constantinople.

Moscow is divided into three distinct circles within the rampart or earthen walls thrown round the whole city. The first or most remote from the centre is called the Zemlianoi Gorod, or Earth City. It lies between a line of streets called the Sadovia, or Garden Street, because most of the houses have a garden or inclosure in front, and the Boulevards. The second division, the Beloi Gorod, or White City, is that part of the town which lies between the Boulevards and the Kitai Gorod. The general form of the Boulevards is that of an avenue of lime-trees for foot-passengers, on either side of which runs a carriage-road or street, the intervening space being filled up with clumps of small trees, shrubs, and flowers. The Beloi Gorod is the most aristocratic division of the town. The last circle is inclosed by an embattled wall, and covers a very extensive space of ground. It is almost entirely occupied by what is termed the Gosteeny-dvore, an immense mass of buildings divided into rows of shops, warehouses, and storehouses, each row being devoted to the sale of a particular kind of goods, and having the name of the article sold,—as, e.g., Knife Row, Linen Row, Silk Row, Plate Row, &c. This division is called the Kitai Gorod, or Chinese Town. The origin of the name is not exactly known. One hypothesis is, that it was called after a small town of Lithuania of the same name, which was the birthplace of Helen, mother of Ivan IV., who built this division of the town. The most probable account of the name is, that it was at one time the great mart for Chinese goods. When, however, it is spoken of separately from the other divisions, it is simply called "Gorod," just as in London we speak of the "City." It may be added, that in other respects it bears a striking analogy to the "City" of London, being the centre of trade and business, and having within its limits the great commercial and civic buildings.

On the S.W. of the Kitai Gorod, and separated from it by a large square called the Grassmaia, or Red Square, stands the Kremlin, the ancient fortress of the city. It is built on the brow of a hill, at the foot of which flows the Moskva River. Its form is irregular, but almost approaching a triangle. A high crenellated wall surrounds it, broken at intervals by towers of various heights, and of pyramidal or spiral form. On three sides runs a sort of boulevard; and on the fourth side, over the bed of a small stream called the Neglinna, which is now conveyed by an underground canal into the Moskva, is a large public walk called the Alexander Gardens, from having been laid out by order of the Emperor Alexander I. These gardens are the work of a Scotchman. Taken as a whole, the Kremlin is one of the most original, beautiful, and striking objects that can well be conceived. Its commanding situation on the banks of the Moskva River; its high and venerable white walls, with its variously-coloured towers and steeples; the number and size of some of its fine buildings, with their painted roofs; the cathedrals, churches, monasteries, and belfries, their domes gilt, tin-plated, or green,—the whole presents a grandeur and beauty indescribable and altogether unique.

The interior of the Kremlin contains the imperial palace, a modern erection, replacing the older one, which in former days had been occupied by the Tsars, and in which Napoleon had spent a part of his disastrous sojourn in Moscow. Though a fine and spacious building, it strikes the eye as out of character with the general style of the Kremlin. Behind the new palace is a small one of great antiquity. The rooms have vaulted ceilings, completely covered with arabesque paintings, exceedingly rich and curious.

The cathedrals are three in number,—the Church of the Assumption, built in 1472 A.D., where the Emperors of Russia are always crowned; the Church of the Archangel Michael, where, until St Petersburg was built, the Tzars were buried; and the Church of the Annunciation. Near these churches stands the Ivan Veliki tower, or Tower of John the Great. It was built by Boris Goudanoff about the year 1600. The best view of Moscow is to be obtained from it, as it commands more objects than that from any other place.

At the foot of the Kremlin stands the great bell of Moscow, said to be the largest in the world. Its circumference at the bottom is nearly 68 feet, and its height more than 21 feet. In the stoutest part it is 23 inches thick, and its weight has been computed to be 443,772 lb. It has never been hung, and was probably cast on the spot in which it now stands. When Dr Clarke visited Moscow in the year 1800 it was in a pit, the mouth of which was covered, and the entrance was by a trap-door, beneath which were ladders. Since then it has been raised, and now stands on a stone pedestal. A piece of the bell has been broken off. The fracture was occasioned, according to Dr Clarke, by water having been thrown upon it when heated by the building erected over it being on fire.

The other buildings of importance in the Kremlin are,—the Granite Palace or treasury, where the crowns, sceptres, coronation robes, &c. &c., are kept; the Senate-House; the Tchoudoff monastery; the Arsenal, along the outside of which lie a great number of cannon, most of them foreign, and taken in the campaign of 1812-14. Amongst them are two Russian cannon of immense size; the mouth of the largest is about 2 feet 6 inches in diameter; the weight of the metal is 2200 poods; the ball weighs 80 poods, or about 1 ton.

The Kremlin is approached by five gateways. One facing N.W., and opening into the Great Square, which divides the Kremlin from the Kitai Gorod, is called the Spusshoi Vorotni, or Gate of the Saviour, and sometimes the Holy Gate. Through this gate no male person is allowed to go without taking off his hat. Outside this gate stands one of the most remarkable buildings in Moscow,—the church of Vassili Blashenny, or Basilus the Blissful, erected by Ivan the Terrible after the conquest of Kasan—the work of an Italian architect. It is a strange blending of every imaginable style of architecture, thrown together in the most capricious and fanciful manner. In its principal feature, however, it is Tartar, and bears a strong resemblance to the oriental mosque. Its numerous and heavy cupolas, surmounted by gilded crosses, exhibit a striking contrast of colour and ornament.

Another gate of the Kremlin, also facing the N.W., and opening into the Great Square, is called the Nickoloski Vorotni, or Gate of St Nicholas, and was the one blown up by the French. It has been restored with considerable taste and elegance.

About the middle of the Great Square is a monument consisting of the statues of Minin, citizen of Novgorod, and Prince Pojarsky, who together delivered Moscow from the Poles; an event which was followed by the election of Michael Feodorovitch, the first of the Romanoff dynasty, to the throne.

Among the remarkable buildings of Moscow should be mentioned the Church of our Saviour, not yet quite finished, erected in commemoration of the retreat of the French after the burning of Moscow in 1812. It was begun on the edge of the Sparrow Hills, and near the spot where Napoleon took his first view of Moscow; but the ground giving way, the site was changed to the spot on which it now stands, on the opposite side of the river. The building is in the Byzantine style of architecture, and with its gilded domes is a conspicuous object, seen from every side of the city.

Another remarkable building, standing on high ground, in the Zemlianoi Gorod is the Sukareva Bashnoi, or Tower of Sukareff. It is now used as a reservoir to receive the water with which Moscow is supplied. The water, which is of excellent quality, is brought from the far-famed springs of Metischa, forty-two in number. From the Sukareva Bashnoi it is conveyed by underground pipes to fountains in various quarters of the town. The whole was done by order of Katherine II.

The Foundling Hospital, a magnificent pile of building on the banks of the Moskva, was founded by Katherine II. in 1763. Any person may bring an infant, and without giving any further information than whether it has been baptized, may leave it there. If at any future time the parents wish to have the child again, a card is given them with the number in which it is entered in the register of the establishment, the same number being hung round the child's neck. Connected with this hospital is a school for the education of orphan young ladies of noble birth; also a Lombard or loan bank, and a widow alms-house for the widows of civil officers.

Of the educational establishments of Moscow, the university is divided into 4 faculties, and had, in 1857, 40 professors and lecturers, and 1473 students. Of these last 63 belonged to the historico-philological faculty, 296 to the law, 950 to the medical, and 160 to the mathematical. The cadet corps, or military schools, are 3 in number, containing altogether 1285 cadets. The gymnasia, or public schools, are 4 in number. There is 1 commercial academy and 1 commercial school, 1 seminary for the education of the clergy, 1 academy for divinity students who desire a superior education to that given in the seminary. The Katherine Institution, founded by Katherine II., is devoted to the education of young ladies, and contains 290 pupils. The Elizabethan Institution, founded by the Empress Elizabeth, contains 173 pupils. The house of education in connection with the Foundling Hospital, already referred to, contains 700 pupils.

The number of churches is 375; of chapels, i.e., places of worship connected with public institutions, 26; of monasteries, 21.

Moscow is a great centre of internal commerce, its position being peculiarly favourable for this. Its principal foreign trade is with China, with which for the teas of that country it used to exchange manufactured goods. Owing, however, to the frauds practised by the Moscow merchants, the Chinese will now only take gold and silver. Moscow is now the seat of the principal manufactures of Russia. There are, according to the latest statistics, in the government of Moscow 484 manufactories. Of these there are 135 of cotton, 117 silk, 30 cloth, 10 of chemical drugs and instruments, 7 of hats, 29 of leather, 1 sugar refinery, 6 distilleries of brandy, 8 of vinegar, 10 tallow foundries, 14 manufactories of tobacco, and some iron foundries, &c., &c.

The climate of Moscow is more healthy than that of most of the capitals of Europe. Its elevated position, the width of its streets, and the low elevation of its houses, allow a free circulation of air; but being unprotected by mountains, the winds are often very violent, and in the early summer vegetation frequently suffers severely from them. The summer is short, and would be very fine but for the sudden changes of weather to which it is subject, so that the winter is generally preferred; the sky is then of wonderful purity, and the respiration easier. The winter generally sets in about the middle of November, and lasts, with occasional thaws of short duration, till the beginning of April; the change from winter to summer is very rapid. The mean temperature in winter is 4° below zero, Fahr. Vegetation is vigorous. The ordinary grain crops raised in the neighbourhood of Moscow are rye and wheat. The common vegetables of England thrive well in the gardens in its environs. The silver birch and pine attain the same height as in Great Britain. The commonest trees, in addition to those just mentioned, are the pine, the lilac, and a kind of acacia. The ivy cannot stand the severity of the climate, but is cultivated indoors as an exotic.

The origin of Moscow is wrapt in obscurity. The ordinary tradition is that it was founded by Youri Vladimirovitch Dolgorouki, in the middle of the twelfth century; the year given is 1147. The 700th anniversary of its foundation was kept in Moscow in the year 1847. The name of Moscow is supposed to have been taken from the River Moskva, on the banks of which it is built. The history for many centuries is little else than a record of fires, pestilences, sieges, and wars. Probably there is no other city in Europe which has suffered so frequently and so terribly from these calamities as the ancient capital of Russia. Its earliest traditions, alike with that last terrible event with which its name will be for ever associated in the mind of Europe, are of fire and sword. Moskva was for some time only an appendage of the principality of Vladimir, and shared the fate of other towns of that principality, being often sacked and burned by the Tartars. But it gradually grew into notice and importance; and about the middle of the thirteenth century history mentions a prince of Moscow, Michael, surnamed the Brave. The first prince of Moscow who obtained the title of Grand Prince was George Danilovitch, A.D. 1319. From this time the history of Moscow becomes the history of Russia. George was succeeded by his brother Ivan, surnamed Kalita, A.D. 1323. The Tartar khans were then the suzerains of Russia, and the Grand Princes received at their hands their investment to the princedom. Ivan was distinguished for the craft and ability of his dealings with his Tartar masters. He persuaded the primate to remove his residence from Vladimir to Moscow, and thus make the latter city the capital of Russia. The primate's name was Peter; he built the cathedral of the Assumption, and was the first patron saint of Moscow.

The geographical position of Moscow was peculiarly favourable to the grand design entertained by Ivan of consolidation. It formed the central point of those districts which, lying in the neighbourhood of Vladimir, might be expected to form a union of interest with the grand principality; and that union being accomplished by the appointment of a Muscovite prince to the sovereignty, the long-desired concentration of means to free the country from its oppressors was at length obtained. Ivan surrounded Moscow with wooden walls, and rebuilt the Kremlin. He was succeeded by his son Simeon Ivanovitch, surnamed the Proud, A.D. 1339. He carried on his father's policy, but with less success, owing to the dissensions among the Russian princes which disturbed his reign. His grandson Demetrius (A.D. 1359) was a man of great courage and energy, and did much to strengthen and consolidate the Russian power. He surrounded Moscow with stone walls. The most memorable event in the reign of his son and successor Vassili (A.D. 1389), was the retreat of Tamerlane from the walls of Moscow. Russian chroniclers relate that it was owing to the intervention of the Virgin of Vladimir, and that it took place at the moment when the people of Moscow met her image, which at Vassili's order had been sent for from Vladimir. The Grand Prince built a monastery on the spot where the meeting took place, and gave it the name of Stretenka, or Place of Meeting. In the course, however, of the same reign Moscow was besieged by another army of Moguls, and Vassili was com- pelled to purchase peace by the sacrifice of his independence. The earlier part of his son Vassili's reign was full of disasters (A.D. 1425), but its termination was happier. He succeeded in freeing Moscow from the Tartar yoke, and consolidated his authority by decisive victories over the Novogorodians. His son Ivan, surnamed the Great (A.D. 1462), extended by conquest the Russian frontier to the Ural Mountains, made himself master of Novgorod, Tver, and Viatka, and formed an alliance with Maximilian, Prince of Austria, against Cassimir, King of Poland, and the Grand Duke of Lithuania. He was the first Grand Prince who took the title of Prince of all the Russias, and the name of Tzar, which is either a corruption of Caesar, or more probably is of eastern origin, and signifies "king." He rebuilt the walls of the Kremlin, and in other respects greatly improved and added to the town. He was succeeded by his son Vassili (1505), who was equally great and prosperous with his father, and by the conquest of Pakoff, Seversky, and Smolensk, he made himself master of the whole of Russia. He was also successful in repelling an attack of the Crimean Tartars. Vassili received the ambassadors of Charles V. and Pope Clement who came to negotiate a treaty between Russia and Lithuania. They were accompanied by Herberstein, who has left an account of his visit to Moscow, written in Latin. The only part of Moscow at this period called the town was the Kremlin. The suburbs were occupied by mechanics. The houses were built at a distance from one another, and surrounded by gardens and corn-fields. The air was remarkably pure and healthy, and there were no endemic diseases. The number of houses was 4500, and the inhabitants 100,000; the shops were filled with the rich merchandise of Europe and Asia. Vassili died suddenly, after a short reign, leaving a son only three years old, A.D. 1543. This was Ivan the Terrible. The name was given him from the horrible crimes and deeds of blood which marked and disgraced the conduct of the latter part of his reign. In the beginning of his reign a terrible fire destroyed almost the whole of Moscow. The most memorable events of his reign were the conquest of Kazan, the taking of Astrachan, and the final destruction of the Tartar power in Russia.

His son and successor Fedor (A.D. 1581) reigned thirty years. The feebleness of his rule gave ample room for the exercise of faction and ambition; and his prime minister, Boris Goudanoff, having caused the death of the young Demetrius, the only direct heir to the throne, was, on the demise of Fedor, elected Tzar A.D. 1598. His son Fedor was dethroned by a monk who pretended to be the Demetrius whom Boris had caused to be put to death, and who obtained the aid of the Poles in support of his pretensions, A.D. 1605. The false Demetrius was driven from the throne and assassinated by Chouisk, who in his turn became Tzar. During his reign there were several pretenders to the throne, one of whom was supported by Sigismund, King of Poland, who took possession of Moscow and held it for two years. It was saved (A.D. 1610) by two Russians—Minim, a simple citizen merchant of Nishni Novgorod, and Prince Pojarsky, a nobleman who had been dangerously wounded by the Poles in a massacre of the Muscovites. They raised an army, and approaching Moscow, the town capitulated, thus relieving the inhabitants at the same time from the horrors of war and famine. Michael Fedorovitch, of the family of Romanoff, and by the female line descended from Ruric, the son of the patriarch of Russia, was then elected Tzar. His son and successor Alexis (A.D. 1645) was distinguished for his wise laws. Feodor, the son of Alexis, was succeeded by Peter the Great A.D. 1681.

The change of residence made by Peter from Moscow to St. Petersburg did the former less injury than might have been expected. At first Peter made a law prohibiting, under severe penalties, the building of houses in Moscow; but after twenty years the prohibition was withdrawn, and the sovereigns themselves vied with the great families of the empire in embellishing their ancient capital with new monuments of their munificence and power. Peter himself built a large military hospital; and other important buildings have since been erected—among others, a printing-press, a university with two colleges, a foundling hospital, and an arsenal. Katherine II., in particular, magnificently restored the principal cathedrals, and added new buildings; she also prohibited the erection of wooden houses in the Beloi Gorod. At the beginning of this century travelers described Moscow as immense, triangular, half wooden half stone, interspersed with gardens, dirty and badly paved, and in many points more resembling an overgrown village than the second capital of a great empire. The terrible catastrophe of 1812 has, however, made a vast difference in the external appearance of Moscow. On Wednesday, September 15, Napoleon took up his head-quarters in the Kremlin, and on the same day the fire broke out in the shops of the Kitai Gorod. The night of the 16th was illuminated by the fire of a general conflagration. The explosions, the balloons of flame which were seen falling from the tops of towers, showed the means which were being taken to spread the fire. A vast sea of flame illuminated the horizon for miles, and announced to the unhappy Muscovites who still lingered near the town that their homes no longer existed. The different quarters of the town took fire, burned, and disappeared all at once. Heaps of calcined and blackened stones indicated the spots where houses had stood. The silence of terror was only interrupted by a roaring like that of the waves of a stormy sea; this was produced by the wind, which, driving with violence the torrent of flame, hurried on far and wide the destroying element. From time to time whole buildings fell with a crash. Wherever the eye turned nothing could be seen but smoking ruins or devouring flames. Ever and anon was heard the mournful toll of a bell, which sounded like the signal passed between one and another agent in this work of destruction. In spite of the vigilance of the sentinels posted at the houses, the fire spread as if it had been driven by an invisible power. Although a great part of the town was built of wood, it took many days of general conflagration to consume it. At last, in most quarters of the town there were left so few traces of habitations that the streets could hardly be recognised. Human bodies half-burned, and the dead carcases of horses, cows, and dogs, lay in the midst of the ruins. 30,800 houses, besides a great number of palaces, were reduced to ashes; scarcely 6000 buildings were left standing. Among these, however, was the Kremlin, which the fire did not touch. The private loss by the destruction of houses and their contents was calculated at not less than L30,000,000 sterling, and this was probably under the mark. The question has been often asked, What hand set the torch to this great conflagration? Count Rostopchine, the then governor, to whom fame has commonly attributed it, repudiates the honour in a work entitled La Verité sur l'Incendie de Moscou, published in Paris, 1828. The hypothesis that it was the act of the French is most unlikely. Napoleon could never have designed or permitted a calamity of which himself and his army were the first victims. The more probable theory is, that it was the act of the inhabitants themselves, and that Rostopchine set the example of patriotic devotedness. The desolation did not last long; Russian patriotism soon raised from its ashes their holy city, whose destruction had saved their country from foreign oppression. Subscriptions were opened in every part of the empire, and the liberality of the sovereign seconded the enthusiasm of his subjects. Moscow rose like a Phoenix from her ashes, but in greater beauty, and under a newer form. Her original character is not, The injuries which Napoleon wantonly inflicted on the Kremlin were restored in keeping with its peculiar style of architecture. It is to be regretted that the same taste has not been shown in other erections, both within that ancient fortress and in the rest of the city. The Kitai Gorod, however, is still in its principal features the Moscow of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; and the churches and monasteries, many of which escaped the ravages of the fire, preserve their distinctive character. Indeed, the whole city, though modernized, still preserves to a great degree its oriental appearance. The whitewashed houses with their painted roofs, the frequent gardens, the quaint-looking churches, in their general appearance,—save the Christian emblem which invariably surmounts their domes and cupolas, more like the Hindu pagoda or Muslim mosque than a Christian place of worship,—strike the eye of the English traveller as rather Eastern than European. Those who have seen Moscow and Benares have been struck with the resemblance of the former to the holy city of North India. Moscow will always retain its place as the second capital of Russia. Its old associations, the sanctity which is attached to its name, the law according to which no emperor is invested with full imperial authority until he has received his crown within the ancient cathedral of the Assumption, will always secure for it the high rank it holds in this great empire. It may be added, that its importance in a commercial point of view is on the increase. The wealthier portion of the aristocracy are leaving it for the more courtly city of St Petersburg, but merchant princes are purchasing and inhabiting their palaces. It is the centre of the inland traffic of the country. Its wholesale houses supply the neighbouring governments with goods of foreign produce and manufacture; and in its own manufactories are made many of those articles for which there is the largest home demand and consumption.

The population of Moscow in 1855 was 380,000. The births were 9889; the deaths, 13,648; the marriages, 1725.

government of European Russia, lying between 54° 40' and 56° 30' N. Lat., and between 34° 45' and 38° 11' E. Long., is bounded on the N. by the government of Tver, E. by Vladimir and Riazan, S. by Kaluga and Tula, and W. by Smolensk. Length, 140 miles; greatest breadth, 110; area, 12,683 square miles. The surface is low and undulating, broken by very few eminences, and these principally on the banks of the streams. The rivers and lakes are numerous, but are mostly of small size. The Volga traverses for a short distance the northern part of the government, and receives the Oka, with its affluents the Klissma and the Moskva, all of which are navigable. The other streams, which are of smaller size, discharge their waters into one or other of these. The climate, like that of the other parts of Russia in the same latitude, is temperate, but more subject to extremes of heat and cold than in the west of Europe. The mean annual temperature is 40°, and the difference between summer and winter 47°-7. Though agriculture is the principal occupation of the people, and this government is one of the best cultivated in Russia, the fertility of the soil is not great; so that the produce of grain is not sufficient to supply the wants of the inhabitants. The quantity of cultivated land in the government of Moscow is about 3,089,600 acres; of meadow land, 1,307,000 acres; of wood, 3,592,000 acres; and of waste land, 384,151 acres. The amount of corn produced in 1849 was 22,306,729 bushels; and of potatoes, 3,473,264 bushels. Flax, hemp, and hops are also raised for home supply; and a large portion of the ground in the neighbourhood of Moscow is laid out in gardens and orchards, which supply that city with vegetables and fruits. The inhabitants are also employed to a large extent in the rearing of cattle. In 1849 the government contained 294,267 horses, 279,742 horned cattle, 353,715 sheep, 41,023 swine, and 1128 goats. No metals are worked in Moscow; but granite in the form of boulders, freestone, limestone, potter's clay, &c., are found and made use of. Manufactures of cloth, silk, hats, leather, copper, glass, earthenware, &c., are carried on here; and the population is more actively employed, as well as more dense here than in any of the other governments of the empire. The value of the woollen goods manufactured in the government of Moscow is estimated at more than L2,000,000, which is about one-half of the whole amount produced in the empire. The manufacture of silk in Russia has its chief seat in this government, and 1,260,000 lb. of raw material are consumed annually. Moscow is also one of the principal seats of the cotton manufacture. From the position of the country, its commerce is entirely internal, and is facilitated by excellent roads, and by the railway from St Petersburg to Moscow, which was completed in 1851, as well as by rivers and canals. The prevalent religion is that of the Greek Church; and the government forms the see of an archbishop. Pop. (1851) 1,348,041; estimated in 1857 at 1,526,000.