b o o k filled of the landfe now oc-cupied by the city of Mofcow, and
i— ^ t h e adjacent territory. Pleafed with the fituation of the
ground lying at the conflux of the Mofkva and Neglina, he
laid the foundation of a new town, which he called Moikva
from the river of that name. Upon the demife of George,
the new town was not neglected by his fon Andrew, who
transferred the feat of empire from Kiof to Volodimir; but
it fell into fuch decay under his immediate fucceflbrs, that
when Daniel, fon of Alexander Neviki, received, in the divi-
fion of the empire, the duchy of Mufcovy as his portion,
and fixed his refidence upon the conflux of the Moikva and
Neglina, he may be faid to have new founded the town. The
fpot now occupied by the Kremlin, was at that time over-
fpread with a thick wood and a morafs ; in the midft whereof
was a fmall ifland, containing a fingle wooden hut. Upon
this part Daniel conftrudted churches and monafteries, and
various buildings, and enclofed it with wooden fortifications;
he firll affirmed the title of duke of Mofcow ; and was fo
attached to this fituation, that when, in 1304, he fucceeded
his brother Andrew Alexandrovitch in the great duchy of
Volodimir, he did not remove his court to Volodimir, but
continued his refidence at Mofcow, which then became the
capital of the Ruffian dominions. His fuccefiors followed
his example; among whom his fon Ivan confiderably enlarged
the new metropolis ; and in 1367 his grandfon Demetrius
Ivanovitch Donlki furrounded the Kremlin with a
brick-wall. Thefe new fortifications, however, were not
ftrong enough to prevent Tamerlane, in r 3 8 2, from taking
the town after a ihott fiege Being foon evacuated by that
defultory conqueror, it came into the pofleffian of the Ruf-
* S. R . G . v» I I . p. 53»
fians ;
fians; but was frequently invaded and occupied by the Tar- c^ap.
tars, who in the 14th and 1 5 th centuries over-ran the greateft'— v— >
part o f Ruffia ; and who even maintained a garrifon in Mofcow,
until they were finally expelled by Ivan Vaffilievitch I.
To him Mofcow is indebted for its principal fplendour ; and
under him it became the principal and moft confiderable city
of the Ruffian empire.
The Baron o f Herberftein, who in the beginning of the
fixteenth century was embaflador from the emperor Maximilian
to the great-duke Vaffili, fon of the above-mentioned
Ivan Vaffilievitch, is the firft foreign writer who has given a
defcription of Mofcow, which he accompanied with a coarfe '
engraving of the town in wood «. In this curious, but rude
plan, we may diftinguiih the walls of the Kremlin, or citadel,
in their prefent ftate, and we may recognize feveral of the
public buildings, which even now contribute to its ornament.
From this period we are able to trace its fubfequent progrefs
and gradual increafe under the fucceeding fovereigns in the
accounts of feveral Engliiht and foreign % writers, who, fince
Herberftein, have publiihed their travels into thefe parts.
Mofcow continued the metropolis of Ruffia until the beginning
of the prefent century ; when, to the great diifa-
tisfaction of the nobility, but with great advantage, probably,
to the ftate, the feat of empire was transferred to Peterf-
burgh.
Notwithftanding the prediledtion which Peter conceived
for Peteriburgh, in which all the fucceeding fovereigns, excepting
Peter II. have fixed their refidence, Mofcow is ftill
the moft populous city of the Ruffian empire. Here the chief
* SeeRer. Mof. Com. inRer. M o f . Autt. Pfcrry, Bruce, &c.
t Chiefly Chancellor Fletcher, Smith, $ PoiTeyintis, Margaret, Petreius, Olea-
*he author o f Lord Carlifle’s Embafly, rius, Mayerberg, Le Bruyn, 8cc.
nobles