Have you ever wondered how old Moscow is? But is it true that when our capital was founded, was there really once such a time when Moscow simply did not exist?
It turns out that yes ...
How old is Moscow? The name of our capital
Scientists believe that the name of the city arose long before it appeared. However, from the point of view of history, this is not surprising, because the settlements are often called by the names of geographical objects located in this area.
It is known that Moscow received its name in honor of the river of the same name. However, who invented what it originally meant, could not be finally determined.
To date, three main versions are considered: Finno-Ugric, Slavic and Baltic.
If you arm yourself with the last two and delve into the etymology of the word, taking into account the ancient languages, then literally immediately we can conclude that the name of the current capital is quite consonant with the words "swamp" or "swamp".
According to linguists, the root “mosk” was once used as the basis for the words “viscous”, “sticky” and “marshy”, and the derivative noun, although it had several meanings, mainly meant “liquid”, “damp”, “moisture”, “ swamp. " This name of the area, as historians believe, could be given either by representatives of the olyad tribe, or by the Vyatichi who inhabited these territories.
According to the Finno-Ugric version, the word "Moscow" could well have come from a certain Volga-Finnish language. There was a similar word in it, which can be translated into modern language as “Medveditsa River” or “Cow River”.
Of course, there are other versions, but they look less convincing.
How old is Moscow? Why was it built in this place?
Moscow ... How old is the great city? Oddly enough, but a definite answer to this question is unlikely to be found. The fact is that the exact age of the capital still remains unknown.
Some legends tell that it was laid down in ancient times. For example, the chief Moscow archaeologist Alexander Veksler believes that she may well be more than a thousand years old, because This is precisely what the coins and personal belongings of local residents found during archaeological excavations testify to.
Today, the generally accepted story is that the Russian capital was originally founded just above Yauza, in the place where two rivers merge - Moscow and Neglinnaya.
Archaeological evidence suggests that the first settlements in the area were noted as early as the second millennium BC. And this area was not chosen by chance at all: it is very favorable for life in terms of hunting and fishing, and therefore it was here that both hunters and fishermen settled from ancient times.
How old is the city of Moscow, you can roughly calculate, if you start from the annals. Some historians insist that the capital was laid back in the time of Prince Oleg, which means in the 9th century.
However, according to the preserved material documents, the first mention of the city was found in chronicles only in the 12th century, i.e. then, when the period of Kievan Rus was coming to an end, and the whole state was on the verge of disintegration into small specific principalities.
How old is Moscow? The oldest buildings in the city
Once again, enjoying walks in my beloved capital, I suddenly caught myself thinking that, for example, I still don’t know which building is considered to be the oldest in the city.
- Turning to historians, I learned that the Spassky Cathedral of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery can be safely considered the oldest. Its five-year construction was completed in 1425. Now this temple is a fortification fortress, founded in 1357 and almost completely restored after a fire in 1368. However, the building, familiar to us, takes on a white-stone appearance closer to the middle of the 15th century.
- The Faceted Chamber, located in the Kremlin, takes over the palm. It took the masters four years, starting in 1487, to build the building, and to this day attracting huge crowds of tourists from all over the world.
- And in third place is the English courtyard in Zaryadye. This important historical monument was miraculously saved. The thing is that, constantly changing from one hand to another, the building gradually changed beyond recognition. It can be said that by the middle of the 20th century, all the chambers of the Old English Courtyard, located on Varvarka, had completely lost their original appearance. In the 1960s, Zaryadye was demolished. And they would have forgotten about its existence if it were not for the restorer Pyotr Baranovsky. Behind the later stratifications, he managed to find majestic chambers, and he insisted on preserving the monument, although a decision had already been made to build a car ramp in this place.