﻿873 



MOSELLE. 



MOSELLE. 



874 



wings. It posaeases a very respectable anatomical museum, and a fine 

 collection of specimens from the three kingdoms of nature. The 

 Zatchateisko Monastery is a great ornament to this part of the city. 

 This monastery derives its name from the church dedicated to the 

 Zatcbatiy^, or Conception of St Ann, a handsome building in the 

 gothic style, the interior of which is very elegant and splendid. 



5. The Slobodi, or Suburbs, 35 in number, form an irregular polygon, 

 completely surrounding the Zemlianoi-Qorod. Part of the suburbs, 

 like the Zemlianoi-Gorod, coa.?ista of a mixture of stone and wooden 

 houses, intermixed with superb mansions and mean hovels ; but many 

 of them are like villages, with much uninclosed pasture and waste 

 land. Many of the monasteries and churches in the suburbs are 

 worthy the attention of visitors. A Russian monastery occupies a 

 large piece of ground, surrounded with high walls, which inclose 

 besides the monastery, a principal central church, and three, four, 

 five, six, or even more churches. Galitzin Hospital, to the east of the 

 Empress's villa and gardens, is a very fine buildiug, and a noble insti- 

 tution, founded at the end of the 18th century by Prince Qalitziu. 

 Sheremetof 's Hospital is an extensive, noble, and magnificent edifice, 

 reaembliog a fine Grecian temple. The estabUshment is not merely 

 for the relief of the sick — a Urge annual sum is a-ssigned for other 

 charitable purposes, such as giving portions to 25 female orphans, 

 allowing pensions to 50 indigent females, &c. In the northern suburbs 

 are the Alexander Hospital, the St. Catharine's Hospital and Institu- 

 tion, the Botanical Garden, and the Sokolniki Field, a va-it inclosed 

 space behind the palace of the empress Elizabeth. In the eastern 

 suburbs are the Hospital of St. Catharine, the Imperial Palace, and 

 other buildings mentioned before as lying along the banks of the 

 Jousa and the southern bend of the Hoakm. In the southem 

 suburbs, between the right bank of the Uoakwa and the Empress's 

 villa, are the hospital of St. Paul, the great provision stores, the 

 race-course, and the convent of the Donskoi. This convent, like some 

 others in Moscow, is of vast extent, surrounded by walls, which are 

 painted white and red, and surmoun^ by battlements resembling 

 those of the Kremlin. Within the walls are six churches and chapels, 

 nuuiirous biiildiugs for the monks, gardens, cloisters, court-i, groves, 

 and the whole crowned by numerous towers, looks like a little fortress. 

 The Seminoff Monastery, opposite to that of the Donskoi, also resem- 

 bles a fortress, and its ramparts are really mounted with small guns. 

 From the principal tower of this convent, or from the terrace of its 

 principal church, a very fine view of the Kremlin is obtained. The 

 Devitcbei Convent, near the south-east angle of the rampart of the 

 city, is another of thei^e vast structures ; its walls are streogtbened by 

 16 towers. The principal church has five smaller ones near it, besides 

 chapels ; the churchyard in the inner court of the cloisters is laid out 

 with shrubs and flowers. In the principal church are the tombs of 

 many czarinas and princesses. Some of these monasteries contain 

 good libraries. The Devitchei-FoU, or Maiden's Field, a vast meadow 

 between the convent and the outer boulevard, is the spot on which 

 the czars of Russia entertain their subjects on their coronation : no 

 less than 50,000 persons dined in this field at the coronation of the 

 emperor Nichobu in 1826, In the western suburbs are the Widows' 

 Hojiiital, in front of which is the Presnenskia Lake, a fine sheet of 

 water; and the great prison, not fnr from the St Petersburg 

 Gate. At some short distance outside this gate, on the north-east 

 side of the road to St Petersburs, are the Petrofskoi Palace and 

 gardens, the great resort of the fashionable world of Moscow in 

 summer. To this palace Napoleon I. retired when Moscow was in 

 a blaze ; and here he dictated the bulletin that announced that 

 terrible catastrophe to France. The gardens and grounds of the 

 palace are beautifully laid out, and open to all the public ; even the 

 trades-people come here on their holidays, and under the thick shade 

 of trees imbibe vast quantities of tea, the favourite beverage of all 

 true Moscovians. On the Sparrow Hills a large building has been 

 erected as a depAt for prisoners sentenced to Siberia. 



Moscow is the residence of two archbishops, and contains, besides 

 the several government offices and public institutions specified in this 

 article, the most important manufactories in the empire. It is the 

 centre of the whole internal trade, and is the depository of immense 



Soantities of merchandise of every description. The industrial pro- 

 _ ucta, comprise woollen cloths, cotton manufactures, silks, carpets, 

 jewellery, paper, &c. Steam-engines are used in the factories. Its 

 vast trade is facilitated by water communication along rivers and 

 canals with all the ports and cities of the empire, and by the railway 

 to St Petersburg. Moscow is also the residence of the great Russian 

 nobles, who live here, especially in the winter. On the whole, Moscow 

 is one of the richest and most magnificent cities in the world, and that 

 in which the national manners and the character of the people have 

 been least changed. The population in winkr amounU to 400,000, 

 including about 25,000 soldiers; in summer the number is diminished 

 to about 360,000. 



(Lyall, J/iMlnri/ nf Motcoiv ; Haasel ; Horschelmann ; Humboldt, 

 Ehrenberg, and Rose; JIandbook for Northern Europe.) 

 MOSELLE, UIVEK. [Mobellk, Department of.] 

 MOSELLE, a department of France, on the north-iastern frontier, 

 lying between 48° 54' and 46' 84' K. lat., 5° 26' and 7" 40' E. long., 

 is bounded N. by Belgium, the grand-duchy of Luxembourg and the 

 Rhenish prorince of I'russiii, E. by Bavaria and the department of 



Bas-Rhin, S. by the department of Meurthe, and W. by that of Meuse. 

 Its greatest length from west to east is 102 miles. Its breadth is 

 very irregular, not more than 5 miles a little east of Sarreguemines, 

 41 miles near the meridian of Sierck; the average is about 25 miles. 

 The area is 2073"3 square miles ; the population in 1841 was 440,312 ; 

 in 1851 it amounted to 459,684, giving 22171 inhabitants to a square 

 mile, or 47'13 above the avei'age per square mile for the whole of 

 France. The department is formed out of the old district of Mesain, 

 French Luxembourg, and a part of Lorraine. It is named from its 

 principal river the Moselle, which crosses it from south to north. 



The surface is in general uneven. The hills, which iu the east of 

 the department are offshoots fi-om the Vos^es Mountains, and in the 

 west from the Ardeunes, are of gentle slope, and nowhere exceed 650 

 feet in height Their summits are covered with forests containing 

 good shij>timber, and their aides are planted with fruit trees, or laid 

 out in vineyards. There are no plains properly so called in the 

 department, unless that term be applied to the plateaus formed by 

 the upper surface of some of the highlands. The river valleys are 

 all narrow ; the finest of them is that watered by the Moselle, which 

 for beauty of scenery and richness of soil is seldom paralleled, especi- 

 ally that part of it that extends from Metz, where the iuclosiug hills 

 take a wider sweep from the river bank, to Sierck, where they again 

 mutually approach. 



The principal river is the Motdle, which rises in the south-eastern 

 angle of the department of Voagea, and ruuuing nearly northwest, 

 passes Remiremont, Epinal, and Cbarmus. A few miles below this 

 last town it enters the department of Meurthe, which it traverses ia 

 the same direction as far as Toul, whence it flows north-east to its 

 junction with the Meurthe, about 8 miles north of Nancy ; fi-om this 

 point its course is nearly due north past Pout-^-Mousson, below which 

 it enters the department of Moselle, where it passes Metz, Thionville, 

 and Sierck, near the Prussian frontier. The Moselle, on passing out 

 of France, forma for above 20 miles the boundary between Rhenish 

 Prussia and Dutch-Luxembourg, then taking a decided north-eaatem 

 course through Rhenish Pru.'sia, it passes Treves, and after many 

 windings through vine-clad hills enters the Rhine at Coblenz. The 

 Moselle has a length of 320 miles, of which 182 are in France ; it ia 

 available for floating timber almost from its source to its junction 

 with the Meurthe, whence to its mouth, a distance of 210 miles, it is 

 navigable ; 72 miles of this navigation are iu France. Steamers ply 

 up and down the stream between Metz and Trdves, Treves and 

 Coblenz : the up-navigation ia very tedious, owing to the rapidity of 

 the current The basin of this river is, with the exception mentioned 

 in the last paragraph, very narrow ; and the scenery is very beautiful. 

 The river is subject to inundations, which sometimes cause great 

 ravages. Timber, building-stone, iron, firewood, coal, slates, corn, 

 wine, oak-stavee, planks, charcoal, &c., are the articles chiefly carried 

 on its waters. The principal feeders of the Moselle on the right bank 

 are — the Valogne, the Meurthe, the Seille, and the Sarre ; on the left 

 bank the Madon, the Math, the Ome, the Sure, the Kill, and the Elz. 

 The north-west of the department ia drained by the Chiers, a feeder 

 of the Mecsk. The eastern districts are drained by the Sarre (which 

 crosses the narrowest portion of the department) and by the Nied, a 

 feeder of the Sarre, which is formed by the junction near Boulay of 

 the Nied-Fran9aise and the Nied- Alio mande. All these rivers 

 occasionally overflow their banks. 



The valleys and hill-sides of the department are covered in general 

 with a rich soil, and are carefully cultivated so as to yield great 

 quantities of wheat, rye, and oats, of which a considerable surplus 

 over the home consumption is sold for exportation in the great corn- 

 market of Metz. Other crops raised are vetches, millet, peaa, beans, 

 and lentils. Improved methods and implements of agriculture are 

 being adopted, but slowly. The vine is cultivated; but, with the 

 exception of the white wines made near Metz, which are of good 

 quality, the wiues of the department are not so good as they might 

 be. Wine merchants, settled at Metz, purchase Moselle wine, and 

 manufacture from it what they call champagne wine for the German 

 and Russian markets. Gardening is carried on extensively, and 

 brought to considerable perfection ; melons are abundant ; pears, 

 peaches, and other fruits are grown in largo quantities, and exported 

 in the form of dry, liquid, and crystallised conserves from Metz, where 

 preserved fruits form an important article of commerce. Flax is 

 extensively grown both for the sake of the fibre and of the seed, 

 which is pressed for oil; rape and turnips are also grown. The 

 forests consist of oak, beech, hazel, &c. ; they abound in game, includ- 

 ing in this term, roebucks, wild boars, wolves, foxes, and wild cats. 

 Bees are very numerous, and much honey is gathered. Horsea are of 

 inferior breed ; oxen and cows are lean ; butter is scarce ; cheese bad ; 

 sheep are small in size and coarse of fleece. The common fresh-water 

 fish abound in the Moselle and the Sarre. 



A portion of the department which projects eastward of Sarregue- 

 mines to the Bavarian frontier, forms an exception to the general 

 fertility of the soil. Here the potato is almost the only plant that 

 succeeds ; the natural pastures are good, but these are frequently 

 covered with sand and stones, swept down by torrents from the 

 mountain sides. 



The department is traversed by 12 state, 12 departmental, and 45 

 parish roads. A railway, which leaves the Paris-Strasbourg line at 



