MOSCOW. 
in some parts richness, and even elegance : in 
others, barbarism and decay. Taken altogether, 
it is a mixed scene of magnificence and ruin : 
old buildings repaired, and modern structures 
not completed ; half-open vaults, and mouldering 
walls, and empty caves, amidst white-washed 
brick buildings, and towers, and churches, with 
glittering, gilded, or painted domes. In the 
midst of these crowded structures, some devo- 
tees are daily seen entering a little mean sanc- 
tuary, more like a stable than a church. This, 
they tell you, is the first place of Christian wor- 
ship erected in Moscow. It was -originally con- 
structed of the trunks of trees, felled upon the 
spot, at the foundation of the city ; but now it 
consists of brick-work which has been put to- 
gether in imitation of the original wooden church. 
Its antiquity cannot be great. According to ac- 
counts published in our own country 1 , the whole 
city of Moscow was burned by the Tahtcirs of 
the Crimea, on the 24th of May 1571 ; and the 
old wooden church was probably then de- 
stroyed. We entered this building during the 
celebration of divine service: a priest, with 
true Stentorian lungs, was reading from a selec- 
tion of the Gospels to the people. There is 
nothing within the structure worth notice. 
(l) Letter of Richard Uscombc to Henry Lane. Hakluyt , vol. I. 
