Moscow – the Ancient Heart of Russia

Moscow – the Ancient Heart of Russia

Let me introduce my topic, in which I going to give a talk on Moscow, its history, and most memorable places of interest.

Moscow is the capital of the Russian Federation. It is one of the biggest and most beautiful cities in the world. It was founded in 1147 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky as a fortress on the bank of the Moskva River. Within over 850 years of its history Moscow has developed into the one of the largest cities of the world with a territory of almost 1000 square kilometers and a population of about 10.5 million. It is the economic, political, educational, scientific and cultural center of Russia, the seat of the Russian government. Moscow is a leading manufacturing city, with factories producing nearly one-sixth of the entire volume of industrial production of Russia. Besides, Moscow has more than 75 institutes of higher education; about 700 scientific institutions.

Moscow is a city well known all over the world. Many tourists come to our country to visit Moscow and to see its places of interest and attractions. Moscow is famous for its beautiful streets, squares, parks and wonderful museums, etc.

Moscow is also famous for its architectural and cultural monuments of world significance: the Kremlin (15^th - 17^th centuries) - the former residence of the Russian tsars is considered to be one of the most beautiful architectural ensembles in the world, the St. Basil's Cathedral (16^th century) - the masterpiece of Russian architecture is located on the Red Square. Moscow is well-known thanks to its theatres and museums: the Bolshoy Theatre (18^th century) - one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world, the Museum of Fine Arts named after Pushkin, the Tretyakov Gallery, the Historical Museum, the ancient estate Kolomenskoye (14^th century) - one of the residences of the Russian princes and tsars, the Kuskovo estate (18^th century) are among them. 

The capital of Russia is a city with long history, but it doesn't mean that the attractions of Moscow belong only to the past age. Undoubtedly, the major world famous monuments of history, architecture, art and cultural values came to us from the past: the Kremlin, the Red Square, the St. Basil's Cathedral – these objects are known to everyone who is interested in variety of the world.

But at the same time, in our days, new architectural and historical monuments continue to appear, which firmly take their place among the rarities.

The first thing, which I would like to describe you, is the HOUSE OF PHOTOGRAPHY. It was founded in 1996. It became the first Russian museum fully and thoroughly representing the development and the present state of the photographic art in Russia. The second thing is the Square of Europe. It was created in 2002 near Kiev railway station. The architectural complex includes 48 columns with flags of European countries, the restaurant "Europe" and the sculpture "The rape of Europe".

There are also different unusual buildings in Moscow. They are House-Egg, House-Ear, and House-Elephant.

In conclusion, I want to say that Moscow is full of pleasant surprises and if you decide to visit it, you won't be disappointed.