Moscow

Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous province  of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent. Moscow is the most northern city on Earth to have a population above 10,000,000, the most populous city on the continent of Europe, and the seventh largest city  in the world. Its population, according to the preliminary results of the 2010 census, is 11,514,330.

History
 The first reference to Moscow dates from 1147 when Yuri Dolgorukiy called upon the prince of the Novgorod-Severski to "come to me, brother, to Moscow."The city had suffered various asedies.During the French invasion of Russia in 1812, the Muscovites burned the city and evacuated, as Napoleon’s forces were approaching on 14 September. Napoleon’s Grande Armée, plagued by hunger, cold and poor supply lines, was forced to retreat and was nearly annihilated by the devastating Russian winter and sporadic attacks by Russian military forces. Following the Russian Revolution of 1917, on 12 March 1918 Moscow became the capital of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and of the Soviet Union less than five years later.^] During World War II (the period from June 22, 1941, to May 9, 1945 known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War), after the German invasion of the USSR, the Soviet State Defense Committee and the General Staff of the Red Army was located in Moscow.

 In the course of its history the city has served as the capital of a progression of states, from the medieval Grand Duchy of Moscow and the subsequent Tsardom of Russia to the Soviet Union. Moscow is the site of the Moscow Kremlin, an ancient fortress that is today the residence of the Russian President and of the executive branch of the Government of Russia.

Culture

The Tretyakov Gallery is one of the biggest museus in moscow. Another art museum in the city of Moscow is the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts  Moscow is also the heart of Russian performing arts, including ballet and film. There are ninety-three theatres, 132 cinemas and twenty-four concert-halls in Moscow.Moscow International Performance Arts Center, opened in 2003, also known as Moscow International House of Music, is known for its performances in classical music.Moscow possesses a large number of various sport facilities and over 500 Olympic champions lived in the city by 2005. Moscow is home to sixty-three stadiums .