One of the sights of the Kremlin is the tower of Ivan the Great. 322 feet high and crowned by a gilt dome: it contains 34 bells, weigh ing altogether about 550.000 pounds. In former times the Kremlin contained numerous monas teries and convents.of Which only a few have been retained. The most interesting of these are the Maiden Convent. for centuries the burial place of the Russian princesses, and the Tchudov Mon astery. an institution of great historical im portance and a great factor in the development of ecelesiastieal learning in Russia. Near the Tower of Ivan the Great stand two objects very fanions in Russia. One is the Czar Bell, east in 1733. and now resting OH :I stone pedestal. Part of the broken till (hiring the fire of 1737, lies near by. it is over GO feet in circumference around the rim, 19 feet high. and Weigle. nearly 199 tons. The other, near the 'Museum of Arms, is the Czar Cannon, cast in 1380, and weighing nearly 10 tons. The palaces of the Kremlin are mostly modern. and only a few portions of the old abode of the Russian numarchs have sur vived. The great palace. finished in IS19, is a vast building of white stone with a gilt cupola. and possessing numerous magnificent halls de voted to the different orders of Russia. At taehed to it are the living rooms of the old Russian rulers, known as the Terem. and dating from'the seventeenth century, 'They are of great arelii fretural value and yell preserved. Connected with the palace are the old banquet hall known as Granovitaya Palata. with its red stoop, from which Russian monarchs used to address the populace: and the Ornzheijnaya l'alata (hall of arms), containing immense treasures in the form of crowns. sceptres, thrones. unit's, ha liners, armor, gold and silver plate. carriages, etc. The palace of the patriareh, built by Nikon in B133, has one of the most valuable libraries in Russia, and a treasury of fabulous wealth. The arsenal of the Kremlin is one of the largest in the world.
The Kitai Gorod, adjoining the Kremlin, also has ninny historical associations. Especially noteworthy is the Red Square. used repeatedly as a camp by the M.sieging as a forum by the Russian monarchs, and as a place of execution. Facing the Red Square is the Cathe dral of Vasili the Beatified, which for mixture of styles, colors, and architectural lines has few rivals in the civilized world. It was built by an Italian architect at the command of Ivan the Terrible in 1551 to commemorate the conquest of Kazan, and consists of a number of separate buildings under separate cupolas, differing, from each other in form, dimension, and glaring color ings. The interior does not differ essentially from that of the other great churches of Moscow, being dark, close, and covered with paintings, gold, and gems in great profusion. Contrasting favorably with the Cathedral of Vasili the Reati fled is the modern Church of the Saviour, conse crated in 1881 in commemoration of the destruc tion of Napoleon's grand Army in 1312. It is Lombardo-11vzantine in style, cruciform, and well proporth ned. built of white marble and surmounted with five cupolas. The paintings and the marble reliefs of the interimr have been executed by the best artists of Russia.
In the centre of the Red Square stands the monument to Minis and Pozharski. who liberated
Moscow from the Poles in 1612. The Greek Mon astery of Saint Nicholas in the Kitai Gorod de serves mention for its influence on education in Russia. It was under the auspices of the monks of Saint Nicholas that the first academy for clas sical education was established in the seventeenth century. It numbered, among its pupils, Lomo nosoff and many others prominent in the literary and the political life of the country. The Kitai Gorod possesses a number of old residences of the boyars (q.v.), of which the most interesting is the family house of the Romanoffs, faithfully re stored in 1859. The Gostinoy l)vor, the centre of the retail trade of Moscow, is also very inter esting- architecturally. Other noteworthy secular buildings and 11101111111ellis are the Petrovski Palace, occupied by Napoleon during his stay at Moscow, the town hall ((lupin), the Sukha reff Tower (1692-95) with the reservoir, the triumphal ar1-h, etc. Moscow has extensive markets. of which probably the most interesting is the Tolkutchy, where old clothes are sold to the poorer classes. In the most northern quarter of the Zemlyanoi Gorod are still found many stately although onicwlnt decayed man sions of the old nobility, while Zamoskvoryet ehye, on the opposite side of the river, is the stronghold of the wealthy merchant class.
Economically, Moscow is exceedingly impor tant, both with regard to industries and com merce. The manufacturing industries date from the time when the city was the residence of the Court and attracted skilled artisans from all over Russia as well as from foreign countries. At present :Moscow is the second largest manu facturing city of the Empire and the centre of the textile industries, furnishing a considerable por tion of the cotton goods for the Asiatic trade. According to the industrial census of 1895 there were more than 800 large manufacturing estab lishments, employing over 05.000 persons and yielding an outpnt of over $67.000.000, of which textiles represented over one-third. Next to textiles are foodstuffs, metal products. paper, leather and wood products, and machinory. As early as the fourteenth century Moscow was an important commercial centre. Its trade grew up with the political power of the Principal ity of Moscow. and received a great stimulus from the settlement of the Novgorod merchants. The advantageous position of the city at the con verging of six railway lines, which connect it with every part of European Russia as well as with Siberia, has played an important part in its recent conimercial development. Manufactures, agricultural products from the southern and the central provinces of Russia. minerals from the coast, and tea from Asia, all find their way to Moscow and go partly to supply the local demand and partly to supply the trade with the interior or with foreign countries. The rise of Saint had at first a detrimental effect on the foreign trade of Moscow, but the de velopment of the Asiatic trade, of which Moscow is natural centre, has more than compensated for the loss in any other direction. The trade by water is importzint. The chief imports of Moscow are tea, iron and steel products, raw silk, indigo. cotton yarn, etc.