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Priidi brat'e ko mne na Moskov, l'udi,
brat'ya ko mne na Moskvu," (come brothers to me on the Moskov, come one
come all to me, to Moscow), thus the chronicle mentions Moscow for the first
time in 1147; the message sent by the first builder of the ancient Suzdal land,
first because heretofore, the Suzdal land was as it were without a ruler. And
thus prince of Suzdal, Rostov and Vladimir and son of Vladimir Monomakh, Yurii
(Georghi) Vladimirovich Dolgoruky, invited his ally, prince Svyatoslav
Ol'govich Seversky of Chernigov, "Posyval zvat' na sebya nachisnye
pev," ( come and join me in a celebration at Moscow ) to a meeting there.
He was taken by the natural beauty of the hills and the village which dominates
the confluence of the two rivers, Moskva and Neglinaya, and found it suitable
for his new town of Moscow. Please refer to Yurii's
biography. The town is named for the river
Moskva, which in turn got its name from the old Slavic (Mordavian) root
"mosk" which means "moisture," or "marches." The
legend says that the entire area was a domain (several settlements) of a
wealthy boyar, Stepan Ivanovich Kuchko, who obviously resented the visit of the
powerful prince. The potent Yuri on the other hand was displeased with Kuchko
for not showing him the proper respect, and ordered that the refractory
(village tavern) owner be executed and all his property confiscated and annexed
to the Suzdal principality. Another account says that the main reason for the
elimination of Kuchko was a brief love affair between his wife and Yurii. The
historical fact, however, is that Kuchko died, and that his sons and beautiful
but evil daughter Ulita were sent to Vladimir. There Yurii's son Andrei fell in
love with Ulita and married her in 1156. Irked by the unresponsiveness of her
husband and vengeful for the loss of her father, Ulita plotted with her
brothers a conspiracy that ended in the assassination of Prince Andrei, one of
Vladimir's most prominent rulers.
In acknowledgment of his founding of the future Russian capital, Moscow erected
an impressive equestrian monument to Prince Yurii Dolgoruky. It is located just
opposite the city Hall on Tverskaya street. (To see the statue please check the
following pages in our Moscow website:
yuri2sw, yuri1s,
yuri2s,
yuri3s. )The legacy of Boyar
Kuchko if anyone cares to remember is that before Yurii, he established the
first settlement, which was named Kuchkovo, a name that was used for centuries
to refer to the "Pasage" of a great meadow across the river, where
large cow herds grazed, and mustangs roamed. The surrounding meadows, fields,
and clearings, this blessed land where farmers tilled the soil, where gardens
grew plenty, and fruit groves flourished is how the name Kuchkova polya,
meaning huge bales of hay, came to be irrevocably tied to the land; that field
that ran from the Kremlin hill, that is now Lyubyanka square. In all
probability the area was populated before Kuchko. The spot was indeed
beautiful. When in 1847, the Kremlin' Armory was being built, close to the
first in antiquity church of Ioan the Precursor, several artifacts of the pagan
era where found. These were two large silver plated bronze hoops, heavy and
tightly wound garlands, with pendants, ear-rings, and rings. These are
generally present in ancient burial mounds. In another village of the same era
in the place where in the last century the cathedral of Christ Our Savior was
built, at the source of the river Chertoryiya, when the foundation for the
enormous cathedral was excavated, amongst other items were two silver Arabian
coins. It was determined that these were dirgem, one of which was stamped in
862 in the city of Merve (on the territory of present Turkestan), the other in
866 in the city of Armenge (Armenia). We know that at that time and before,
Viatichi, one of the Slavic tribes, populated the Moscow region. To the north
of the Viatichi lived the Krivichi, another Slavic tribe. Both tribes
established themselves in the area of the rivers Oka, Moskva and where the
Volga begins, before history records their existence. Obviously the presence of
rivers has always been important detail in the life of any people, and Moscow
itself owes to a large extent its prosperity to its three rivers: Moskva,
Neglinaya and Yauza. Later it was discovered that Moscow has not only three
rivers but rises on seven hills, exactly the same as Rome and Constantinople;
destiny was thought to have decreed it the tsar's capital city after the
successful unification of all the people and their lands. The names of the
seven hills are: Borovitski, Sretenski, Tverskoi, Trekhgorye (on presna),
Vorobyevy Gori, Vagankievsky and Lefortovo. Moscow was considered to be a
"Third Rome." During Stalin's time Moscow was often called "the
Capital of the World," a term that has not been forgotten in communist
times. Moscow's importance has considerably risen after the second World War,
mainly due to the ever-increasing role that the Soviet Union continues to play
in international policy and trade. Its face is rapidly changing and so is the
composition of its population. It is acquiring cosmopolitan traits as have most
other metropolises, though not so rapidly as New York, Paris, London and
others. With the exception of the Kremlin and a few other spots, old Muscovy is
gone and Karamzin's words: "He who wants to know Russia, should visit
Moscow," are hardly valid any longer.
*
Please visit our section on Moscow for the history of the city,
kremlin and surrounding locations
and don't miss Moscow photography
for many photos with extensive historical text.
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