Moscow

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style Copy Citation Share to social media Give Feedback External Websites Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. print Print Please select which sections you would like to print: verifiedCite

While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions.

Select Citation Style Copy Citation Share to social media External Websites Thank you for your feedback

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

External Websites Britannica Websites Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students. Also known as: Moskva Written by Richard Antony French

Senior Lecturer in Geography, University College, 1972–94, and School of Slavonic and East European Studies, 1972–91, University of London. Author of The U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe.

Richard Antony French , Kathleen Berton Murrell

Researcher on the history of Moscow. Author of Moscow: An Architectural History; Moscow Revealed; and others.

Kathleen Berton Murrell • All Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Sep 10, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents Russian: Moskva (Show more)

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Ask the Chatbot a Question

Recent News

Sep. 10, 2024, 3:43 PM ET (AP) Sep. 10, 2024, 11:36 AM ET (AP) Sep. 8, 2024, 9:03 AM ET (AP) Sep. 7, 2024, 10:02 PM ET (AP) Sep. 7, 2024, 5:30 PM ET (AP)

Moscow, city, capital of Russia, located in the far western part of the country. Since it was first mentioned in the chronicles of 1147, Moscow has played a vital role in Russian history. It became the capital of Muscovy (the Grand Principality of Moscow) in the late 13th century; hence, the people of Moscow are known as Muscovites. Today Moscow is not only the political centre of Russia but also the country’s most populous city and its industrial, cultural, scientific, and educational capital. For more than 600 years Moscow also has been the spiritual centre of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The capital of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) until the union dissolved in 1991, Moscow attracted world attention as a centre of communist power; indeed, the name of the seat of the former Soviet government and the successor Russian government, the Kremlin (Russian: Kreml), was a synonym for Soviet authority. The dissolution of the U.S.S.R. brought tremendous economic and political change, along with a significant concentration of Russia’s wealth, into Moscow. Area 414 square miles (1,035 square km). Pop. (2010) city, 11,738,547; (2020 est.) city, 12,678,079.

Character of the city

If St. Petersburg is Russia’s “window on Europe,” Moscow is Russia’s heart. It is an upbeat, vibrant, and sometimes wearisome city. Much of Moscow was reconstructed after it was occupied by the French under Napoleon I in 1812 and almost entirely destroyed by fire. Moscow has not stopped being refurbished and modernized and continues to experience rapid social change. Russia’s Soviet past collides with its capitalist present everywhere in the country, but nowhere is this contrast more visible than in Moscow. Vladimir Ilich Lenin’s Mausoleum remains intact, as do many dreary five-story apartment buildings from the era of Nikita Khrushchev’s rule (the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s), yet glitzy automobiles and Western-style supermarkets, casinos, and nightclubs are equally visible. Many Orthodox churches, as well as some synagogues and mosques, have been restored, Moscow’s novel theatres have reclaimed leadership in the dramatic arts, and traditional markets have been revived and expanded. These markets, which under the Soviets were known as kolkhoz (collective-farm) markets and sold mainly crafts and produce, are now more sophisticated retail establishments.

It has become habitual to compare Moscow with St. Petersburg, its rival and the former (1712–1918) capital of Russia. While St. Petersburg has absorbed western European influences, Moscow is viewed as a traditional Russian city. Unlike its rival, Moscow has a well-defined city centre marked by the Kremlin. Other characteristics of Moscow are its physical layout in radial spokes and rings that have been extended over time, its hodgepodge of architectural styles, and its historical buildings that were mainly built by Russian architects. Moscow’s buildings were predominantly wooden until the 1920s, when brick and stone came into use.