Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 16.djvu/888

856 MOSCOW where also, as well as in the north-east, notwithstanding the immense consumption of wood in manufactures and for use in the capital, extensive forests are still found. Very large supplies of timber are also imported by rail or river, especially from the adjoin ing north-eastern provinces. The soil is somewhat unproductive, the average crops ranging from 3J to 4| returns ; agriculture is carried on everywhere, but only two districts (Ruza and Volsko- lamsk) export corn, all the others being more or less dependent on extraneous supplies. The agricultural holdings of the peasants are very small, and their condition on the whole unsatisfactory. 1 Grass crops have some importance in several districts, and kitchen- gardening is an important source of wealth in Vereya, Dmitroff, and Zvenigorod. Cattle are not extensively reared, but the horse- breeding industry is somewhat important. The population, 1,581,700 in 1864, numbered 1,913,700 in 1873, one-third being urban. They are nearly all Great-Russians, and belong to the Greek Church, or are nonconformists. Many are employed in factories, the number of which in 1879 was 1546, occupying 162,700 hands, and having an annual production of about 20,000,000 sterling. These figures show the manufactur ing activity of Moscow to be greater than that of any other Russian government, while the value produced is upwards of one-fifth of the total for all Russia in Europe, including Poland. Cotton, woollen, and silk goods are the chief products. The sanitary condition of the factories is very bad ; the number of children below fifteen years employed is as high as 16 per cent., the hours of daily work are often 13 to 16, and the mortality is very great. The total income obtained by the population of the government from their manufacturing industry is estimated at 485,600. The chief income of the people is derived, however, from a variety of petty in dustries, carried on in their villages by the peasants, who continue at the same time to cultivate the soil. Taxation during the last twenty years has been increasing rapidly, and in some parts of the government has reached an average of 12 roubles per house. The chief centres of trade are Moscow, Kolomna, Serpukhoff, Bogorodsk, Serghievsk, and Pavlovsk. There are 1 25 fairs. Transport is much facilitated by railways, and by good highroads radiating from the capital. Moscow is divided into thirteen districts, the chief towns with their respective populations being Moscow (670,000), Bogorodsk (6600), Bronnitsy (3500), Ruza (4000), Kolomna (18,800), Serpukhoff (16,800), Podolsk (11,000), Zvenigorod (7800), Mojaisk (4200),Volokolamsk (3000), Klin (6700), Dmitroff (7600), and Vereya (5500). In addition to these administrative centres may be men tioned Voskresensk (6000), Serghievski Posad (27,500), in the neighbourhood of the monastery of Troitsa, a rich commercial and industrial town, and Pavlovski Posad (4500). Many of the villages are far more important from their industries and trade than the district towns. MOSCOW (Russian, Moskva], the second capital of the Russian empire and chief town of the government and district of the same name, is situated in 55 45 N. lat. and 37 37 E. long., on both banks of the river Moskva, a tributary of the Oka, at its confluence with the rivulet Yauza. The popiilar idea is that Moscow is built on seven hills, and in fact the city covers several eminences, the altitudes of its different parts varying from 500 to 850 feet above the level of the sea. It is 400 miles from St Petersburg, 813 from Archangel, 900 from Ufa, 938 from Astrakhan, 933 from Odessa, and 811 from Warsaw. It lies to the north of the most densely-peopled parts of Russia (the "black-earth region"), whilst the country to the north of it is rather thinly peopled as far as the Volga, and very sparsely beyond that. The space between the middle Oka and the Volga, however, was the very cradle of the Great-Russian nationality (Novgorod and Pskov excluded) ; and four or five centuries ago Mos cow had a quite central position with regard to this. The present city measures 7 miles from north to south, and 9 miles from west-south-west to east-north-east, and covers an area of 32 square miles (about 40 when the suburbs are included). In the centre, on the left bank of the Moskva, stands the "Kreml"or Kremlin, occupying the Borovitsky hill, which in the 1 2th century was covered by a dense forest. To the east of the Kremlin is the Kitay-Gorod, formerly the Great Posad, the chief centre 1 According to recent investigations instituted by the Moscow pro vincial assembly, 10 per cent, of the agricultural population (about 20,000 households) have no land at all ; 15 per cent., while holding Land, are bankrupt ; and 13 per cent, are without cattle or implements. for trade. The Byelyi-Gorod, which was formerly enclosed by a stone wall (whence the name), surrounds the Kremlin and the Kitay-Gorod on the Avest, north, and north-east. A line of boulevards now occupies the place of its wall (destroyed in the 18th century), and forms a first circle of streets around the centre of Moscow. The Zemlanoy- Gorod (earthen enclosure) surrounds the Byelyi-Gorod, including the " Zamoskvoryechie " on the right bank of the Moskva. The earthen Avail and palisade that formerly enclosed it no longer exist, their place being taken by a series of broad streets with gardens on both sides, the Sadovaya, or Gardens Street. The fourth enclosure (the "Kamer-College earthen Avail") Avas made during the reign of Catherine II. ; it is of irregular shape, and encloses the outer parts of MOSCOAV, whilst the suburbs and the villages which have sprung up on the highAvays extend 4, 5, and 6 miles beyond. The general view obtained from the Avest or south is very picturesque, especially on account of the numerous churches, monasteries, and tOAvers with characteristic architecture, and the many gardens and ponds scattered among clusters of houses. The Kremlin is an old fort of pentagonal (nearly triangular) shape, 98 acres in extent, occupying a hill about 100 feet above the level of the Moskva. It is enclosed by a high stone Avail 2430 yards in length, restored during the present century, and having eighteen tOAvers. Its five gates are surmounted by high tOAvers. The Spasskiya (Saviour s Gate) Avas erected in 1491 by a Milanese architect, the Gothic toAver that surmounts it having been added in 1626 by the English architect Hollovay. A sacred picture of the Saviour Avas placed upon it in 1685, and all who pass through the gate must uncover. The tOAvers surmount ing the four other gates Avere erected by order of Ivan III. Of the sacred buildings of the Kremlin the most venerated is the Uspensky cathedral. The former church of this name Avas erected in 1326 by Ivan Kalita, but, on its falling into disrepair, a neAv one Avas built on the same place in 1475-1479, by Fioraventi, in the Lombardo- Byzantine style, with Indian cupolas. It Avas restored in the 18th century and in 1813. It contains the oldest and most venerated holy pictures in Russia, one of Avhich is attributed to the metropolitan Peter, another to St Luke. This last was brought from Kieff to Vladimir in 1155, and thence to Moscow in 1395; its jeAvelled metallic cover is A^alued at ,20,000. The cathedral pos sesses also a gate brought from Korsun, the throne of Vladimir I., and numerous relics of saints, some of Avhich date from the 14th century. The Russian metro politans and patriarchs Avere consecrated in this cathedral, as well as the czars after Ivan IV. The Arkhangelsk cathedral Avas originally built in 1333, and a neAv one Avas erected in its place in 1505. It has suffered very much from subsequent restorations and decorations. It contains the tombs of the czars from Simeon (1353) to Ivan Alexeevitch (1696), and possesses vast wealth. The Bla- govyeschensk cathedral, recalling the churches of Athos, AA-as built in 1489; the remarkable pictures of Rubleff (1405), contained in the original structure of 1397-1416, have been preserved. It Avas the private chapel of the czars. Vestiges of a very old church, that of the Saviour in the Wood (Spas na bonT), contemporaneous with the foundation of MOSCOAV, still exist in the yard of the palace. A stone church took the place of the old Avooden structure in 1330, andAA r as rebuilt in 1527. Several other churches of the 15th century, Avith valuable archaeological remains, are found Avithin the walls of the Kremlin. The Vozne- sensky convent, erected in 1393, and recently restored with great judgment, is the burial-place of wives and sisters of the czars. The Chudoff monastery, erected in

1365, AA r as the seat of theological instruction and a state