MOSCOW 137 



most ancient part of Moscow, the place where the city origi- 

 nated ; it is situated in the very center of the present city, some 

 140 feet above the level of the River Moska. The Kitaigorod, 

 or Chinese town, is situated to the north-east and outside of 

 the Kremlin, and is in turn surrounded by a wall with several 

 gates. It is irregularly built up, contains the Stock Exchange, 

 the Gostinny Dvor (bazaars), the Riady (great glass enclosed 

 arcades), and the printing office of the Holy Synod. Just 

 why it was called the Chinese town is not known, for no Chi- 

 nese have ever settled there. The allusion may be to the Ta- 

 tars, who besieged and took Moscow several times, camping 

 outside the Kremlin. 



The Kremlin and Kitaigorod are considered together and 

 known as the "City" {gorod), much as the same word is ap- 

 plied to a part of London, The enormous walls surrounding 

 them were originally whitewashed and of white stone, and are 

 even yet white in places, thus giving rise to the poetic name. 

 Just outside of it lies the Bielygorod, or white town, extend- 

 ing in a semicircle from the Moskva on the one side until it 

 reaches the Moskva again. The Bielygorod is now the most 

 elegant and fashionable part of the city of Moscow. Con- 

 taining as it does beautiful and imposing palaces, many fine 

 public monuments and magnificent shops, theaters, and public 

 buildings, it presents a splendid appearance worthy of its 

 ancient history. Around this, in a still wider semicircle, is the 

 Zemlianoigorod, or earthwork town, so called because of the 

 earthen ramparts which were constructed there by Tsar Mi- 

 chael Feodorovich in 1620 to protect the growing city in the 

 Polish wars. They have been levelled and replaced by the 

 magnificent boulevards known as the Sadovaya (Garden Ave- 

 nues). 



The wealthy merchants and well-to-do inhabitants dwell 

 here, and fine buildings are seen on every side. The remainder 

 of the city is given over to the industrial and poor classes, 

 railway stations, and factories of all kinds. In addition, there 

 is that part of the city which lies on the south side of the 

 Moskva, the so-called Zamoskvarechie (quarter beyond the 

 Moskva), where the Tatars dwelt for a long time after they 

 had been driven from Moscow proper. Now it is the Old 

 Russian quarter, where old-fashioned merchants dwell in state 

 and keep up the manners and customs of their fathers. The 



