The rise of Moscow as capital
By the second half of the 15th century, especially after the annexation of Novgorod in 1478, Moscow had become the undisputed centre of a unified Russian state. During the reign of the grand prince of Moscow Ivan III (the Great), the Kremlin was again enlarged and given brick walls more than a mile in length and in some places up to 60 feet (18 metres) high. From this period also date the rebuilt Cathedral of the Assumption and the equally beautiful Annunciation and (also rebuilt) Archangel cathedrals, the Palace of Facets, and the bell tower of Ivan III. In 1534–38 the Kitay-gorod, previously protected only by earth banks and palisades, was also surrounded by a brick wall, with 12 towers. The town continued to grow and spread outside the walls to form what became known as the Bely Gorod (“White City”) in a semicircle around the Kremlin and Kitay-gorod.
Despite its new fortifications, Moscow remained subject to disaster and attack. In 1547 two fires destroyed much of the town. In the mid-16th century Ivan IV (the Terrible) conquered the Mongol khanates of Kazan (1552) and Astrakhan (1556), but in 1571 the Crimean Tatars captured Moscow, burning everything but the Kremlin. The annals record that only 30,000 of 200,000 inhabitants survived. A further attack was launched by the Crimean Tatars in 1591, but they failed to overcome Moscow's stubborn resistance. The defense was helped by the new walls, some 5 miles (8 km) long, built of stone between 1584 and 1591 to protect the Bely Gorod. The walls' lines are marked today by the strip of parkland and tree-lined streets of the Boulevard Ring. In 1592 an outer earth rampart with 50 towers was erected around the city, including an area on the right bank of the Moscow River. This encompassed a further extension of Moscow that had grown up beyond the Bely Gorod; known at first as Skorodom, this outer sector came to be called the Zemlyanoy Gorod, or “Earthen City.” The Garden Ring traces the line of its fortifications. As an outermost line of defense, a chain of strongly fortified monasteries was established beyond the ramparts to the south and east, principally the Novodevichy Convent and Donskoy (Don), Danilovsky, Simonov, Novospassky, and Andronikov monasteries, most of which now house museums.
With much-improved security, the products of artisans flourished. Distinct quarters were occupied by particular trades—for example, the suburbs of Bronnaya by armour makers, Kuznetskaya by blacksmiths, and Kotelniki by kettle makers. Across the Moscow River was the weavers' suburb. These artisan sectors are commonly commemorated today by street or quarter names. State workshops cast cannon and made weapons and gunpowder. The tsar's court and its attendant nobility provided patronage for luxury crafts. Increasingly the boyars took over the Kitay-gorod, with artisans and traders moving to the outer parts; the Kremlin became solely the seat of temporal and ecclesiastical authority. The centre of commercial activity was the market in Red Square between the Kremlin and the Kitay-gorod, where there were rows of stalls, each handling a specific variety of goods. The Russian word for “red” (krasnaya), which also meant “beautiful” in Old Russian—the common East Slavic language used until the late 13th century—was the original name for the square. Trade with western Europe (especially England and Holland), as well as with Central Asia, Transcaucasia, Persia, and the Black Sea coast, was brisk, furs forming a major staple in this international commerce. Foreign merchants lived in the Nemetskaya Sloboda (a German quarter), and a flourishing cultural life was marked by the growth of the book trade and the founding in 1553 of the first printing house.
At the turn of the 17th century, Moscow, like the rest of Russia, suffered severely during the Time of Troubles (Troubles, Time of). In the reign of Boris Godunov (Godunov, Boris) there were severe famines from 1601 to 1603. After Boris's death in 1605, the first False Dmitry (Dmitry, False) seized Moscow with Polish help, and, though he was killed in 1606 and the Poles were driven out, they reoccupied Moscow with a second False Dmitry in 1608–10. In May 1611 the Muscovites attacked the Poles, and the invaders retreated into the Kremlin. Under the energetic leadership of a boyar, Prince Dmitry Mikhaylovich Pozharsky, and a merchant, Kuzma Minin, the Russians forced the Poles to surrender in October 1612.
With the establishment in 1613 of the Romanov Dynasty under Michael, relative peace returned to Moscow and with it further economic advance. Nevertheless, the conditions of the poor of the town often led to riots and uprisings; similar events had also occurred in 1382, 1445, and 1547. In 1648, as a result of an increase in the salt tax, and again in 1662 (the year of the so-called Copper Riots) there were disturbances by artisans, labourers, and tradesmen. The great revolt of Stenka Razin (Razin, Stenka) in southern Russia (1667–71) was echoed by unrest in the capital, and in 1671 Razin was executed in Moscow as a warning to the city's inhabitants. The revolts were put down by the streltsy (hereditary militia), who in 1698, early in the reign of Peter I (the Great), themselves revolted and were suppressed only by great slaughter. Despite the frequent upheavals, however, culture flourished. Russia's first higher educational institution, the Slavonic-Greek-Latin Academy attached to the Zaikonospassky Monastery in the Kitay-gorod, dates from 1687. In 1701 Peter founded a School of Mathematics and Navigation. The first newspaper in Russia began publication in Moscow in 1703.
Evolution of the modern city
The 18th and 19th centuries
In 1703 Peter I began constructing St. Petersburg (Saint Petersburg) on the Gulf of Finland (Finland, Gulf of), and in 1712 he transferred the capital to his new, “Westernized,” and outward-looking city. Members of the nobility were compelled to move to St. Petersburg; many merchants and artisans also moved. Both population growth and new building in Moscow languished for a time, but even during Peter's reign the city began to recover from the loss of capital status. Peter himself stimulated economic growth by establishing new industries, and private entrepreneurs followed suit. By 1725 there were some 32 new factories employing 5,500 workers; more than 20 of the factories were textile mills, including a crown enterprise making sailcloth. At the same period there were about 8,500 craft workers.
During the 18th century Moscow retained its major role in the cultural life of Russia. In 1755, on the initiative of the great man of letters and science Mikhail Vasilyevich Lomonosov (Lomonosov, Mikhail Vasilyevich), Moscow University (now formally M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (Moscow State University)) was founded, the first university in Russia; a medical and surgical college was opened in 1786. Although serious fires did much damage in 1737, 1748, and 1752, many splendid new buildings appeared, designed by such architects as Giacomo Quarenghi, Vasily Bazhenov, Matvei Kazakov, and Vasily Stasov. In 1741 Moscow was surrounded by a barricade 25 miles (40 km) long, the Kamer-Kollezhsky barrier, at whose 16 gates customs tolls were collected; its line is traced today by a number of streets called val (“rampart”) and by place-names such as Kaluga Zastava (Customs Gate). Industry flourished, and by the end of the 18th century there were about 300 factories in Moscow, more than half of them textile mills. The population had grown to 275,000 by 1811.
In 1812 Napoleon I invaded Russia; after a bitter 15-hour battle on August 26 (September 7, New Style) at Borodino (Borodino, Battle of) on the approaches to Moscow, the Russian commander in chief, Gen. M.I. Kutuzov (Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich, Prince), evacuated troops and civilians from the city, which was occupied by the French a week later. A fire broke out and spread rapidly, eventually destroying more than two-thirds of all the buildings. Looting was rife. The lack of supplies and shelter and the continual harassment by Russian skirmishing forces made it impossible for Napoleon to winter in Moscow, however, and on October 7 (October 19, New Style) the French troops began their catastrophic retreat.