Moscow Moscow, taken its name by the Moskva river, is thecapital city and the most populated federal subject of Russia. These are five things you may not know about Russia’s Moscow. In 1156 the first references to construction of the wall around the growing city of Moscow began to appear in Russian documents as did descriptions of the city being attacked by Mongols. Moscow became the first capital city in 1327 when it was named capital of the Vladimir-Suzdal. Later Moscow became known as the Grand Duchy. Yuri was temporarily appointed grand duke of Vladimir by the khan of the Empire of the Golden Horde. His younger brother, Ivan 1 (Ivan Kalita; 1328–41), was not only granted the title of grand duke (1328) but was given the right to collect Tatar tributes from neighboring principalities. The unification of the Great Russian lands had been completed under the princely dynasty. The muscovite rulers now bore the title grand duke of Moscow and of all Russia, and the history of the gran duchy of Moscow became that of Russia. Second, through out much of the rest of its history, Moscow was attacked by rival empires and armies. In the 17th century a large part of the city was damaged during a citizen uprising; in 1771 much of the Moscow’s population died due to the plague. Shortly after in 1812, Moscow’s citizen, Muscovites, burned the city during Napoleon’s invasion. Thirdly after the Russian Revolution in 1917, Moscow became the capital of what would eventually become the Soviet Union in 1918 during World War II. However, a large portion of the city suffered damage from bombings. Following WWII, Moscow grew but instability continued in the city during the fall of the Soviet Union. Since then though, Moscow has become more stable and is a growing economic and political center of Russia.
Today, Moscow is a highly organized city located on the banks of the Moskva River. It has 49 bridges crossing the river and a road system that radiates in rings out from the remlin in the city's center.
Moscow has a climate with humid and warm to hot summers and cold winters. The hottest months are June, July and August while the coldest is January. The average high temperature for July is 74°F (23.2°C) and the average low for January is 13°F (-10.3°C).
The city of Moscow is governed by one