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There are several version of the origin of the word “Moskva”. According to one of them this word derived from the names of Mosokha, who was a forefather of the Slavonic-Russian people, and his wife Kva - hence the name “Moskva”. According to V.Tatishchev,the word “Moskva” means a twisted river. A historian, I. Zabelin, wrote that the word “Moskva” derived from the word “brige”, as there were a lot of bridges across the Moskva River. And the last version is considered to be most evident.
Chronicles first mentioned Moscow in 1147 when Suzdalian prince Yuri Dolgoruky (or Yuri the Longarmed, so called because he wanted to join other principalities to his own principality) invited his ally and relative Svyatoslav Olgovich, a Novgorod – Seversky prince, to Moscow which was then a small settlement. The year 1147 is considered to be the official date of Moscow`s birth.
The history of Moscow is inseparable from the history of its main square, Red Square. The square has been called differently in different times. At the beginning of the 15th century it had not been formed yet and was called a great market - place. From morning till night it was crowded with busy and idle people. For a long time the square was know as Pozhar, as there were a lot of wooden constructions in it the and they caught fire very often. It was only in the second half of the 17th century that the name “red” was given to the square. In the Old Russian language the word “red” meant “beautiful”. We even had such expressions as “red girl”, “red sun” or “red corner (of the house/room)” which meant “beautiful girl”, “beautiful sun” or “beautiful corner”. So Red Square means “beautiful Square”
There are a lot of constructions and buildings in the Red Square. Here is their short description.
St. Basil`s Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Intercession, is a unique monument of Russian architecture. It was built in 1555-1561 by the order of Russian tsar Ivan the Terrible to commemorate the seizure of Kazan. This cathedral was designed by Russian architects Postnik and Barma. According to the legend, when the cathedral had been built, Ivan the Terrible asked those two craftsmen if they would be able build something more beautiful than that cathedral. They told him they would. After that the star made them blind so that they would never be able to duplicate or excel their masterpiece. And the cathedral is really wonderful. Eight chapels with differently designed and coloured domes surround the main, central, chapel topped with a picturesque roof. The variety of architectural forms, designs and colour combinations is truly fantastic. A small tenth chapel was added to the cathedral later to mark the grave of a much loved God`s fool named Vassily. Since then the Cathedral of the Intercession has been also called St. Basil`s Cathedral.
Not far from St. Basil`s Cathedral is the Saviour`s Tower. It is the main gateway to the Kremlin. The tower installed was built in 1491 under the supervision of P.Solari. Its first name was Frolov Tower (from the Church of St.Frol and St. Lauras which once stood in the street starting from the gate of the tower). Ceremonial entrances of stars or foreign ambassadors and religious processions went trough the gate, and this rule applied even to stars. In 1658 an icon of the Saviour was placed over the gate from the side of Red Square and the tower was renamed-it became the Saviour`s Tower, A clock was installed in this tower in the 16th century. The clock you can see now on the Saviour`s Tower was installed in 1851-1852 by the brothers Butenop. Architect K.Ton designed the metal parts for the clock. The clock`s diameter is 6.12 meters, its numerals measure 72 centimetres, the hour hand is 2.97 metres, and the minute hand 3.27 meters long. The border of the dial, the numerals and the hands are gilded.
In front of St. Basil`s Cathedral is a monument to Kuzma Minin and Dmitry Pozharsky. In 1612 the Russian warriors ra