Module 4. Russia.
Module 4
Russia
Texts for reading and comprehension
Moscow
Moscow is the largest and one of the most beautiful cities in Russia. Its population is over 10 million. Moscow plays a significant part in industrial, scientific and cultural life of modern Russia.
Some of Moscow museums are well known all over the world. Among them are the State Tretiakov Gallery that possesses the richest collection of Russian art in the world, the State Historical Museum, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts and many others. Life of many persons of art such as poet Marina Tsvetaeva, writer Mikhail Bulgakov, patron of art Pavel Tretiakov was closely connected to the Russian capital.
The Muscovites blandly call their native city "gold-domed Moscow". This definition is absolutely right, since Moscow is the place where magnificent churches and cathedrals were erected. Some of the city temples are unique. The most famous temples of Moscow are Saint Basil Cathedral and Cathedral of Christ the Savior.
The distinguishing characteristic of Moscow is a radial circular city planning that was formed at the end of the 16th century. Another feature is the landscape with its hilly relief and steep turns of the Moscow River. The Kremlin, Arbat, Novodevichy convent, Poklonnaya Mountain, and Red Square are the unique historical and architectural monuments of Moscow. The tourists from all over the world come to the Russian capital to admire its beauty.
Moscow was always important for Russian history. For the first time the city of Moscow was mentioned in chronicles in 1147. In the first half of the 13th century Moscow became the center of independent principality, and by the end of the 15th century it was turned into the capital of the Russian State. Gradually Moscow changed into one of the most significant politician and cultural centers of the country: Russian book-printing was started, the first Russian theater was founded, and the first Russian newspaper was published in Moscow.
Moscow and Muscovites had to undergo many severe trials. It was Moscow that united Russian people in their struggle against the foreign invaders, including the Tatars that seized the Russian lands for two and a half centuries, Polish-Lithuanian interventionists in 1612, and Napoleon troops in 1812. After Napoleon's intrusion into Moscow, the fire destroyed 2/3 of the city constructions.
Napoleon was the last foreign invader who managed to intrude into Moscow. In winter of 1941 when the Fascists were approaching Moscow, Russian troops did their best to keep the enemy off. In the bloody battle for Moscow the Russians won their first significant victory during World War II. The Fascists were driven away from Moscow walls; the city obtained the honorable status of the Hero.
Each year Moscow is getting more and more beautiful. It turns into the marvelous architectural ensemble where the ancient temples neighbor the modern buildings.
St. Basil Cathedral is one of the most outstanding and remarkable monuments of Old Russian architecture. The temple was to commemorate the victory of Ivan the Terrible over Kazan and Astrakhan khanate. Later Saint Basil, Moscow "God's fool" was buried in one of the chapels, hence the name of the cathedral.
According to chronicles, St. Basil Cathedral was designed by Russian architects Barma and Postnik. There is the legend saying that Ivan the Terrible admired the beauty of the cathedral and ordered to blind the architects so they could never construct such a masterpiece again.
St. Basil Cathedral is an architectural ensemble consisting of eight chapels surrounding the ninth temple, which is the highest one. It is topped with a hipped roof. Each chapel bears the name of a saint. The chapels are conjoined by the system of passages. The cupolas that top the chapels are different from each other. Until the end of the 17th century when Ivan the Great Bell-Tower was constructed on the Kremlin territory, St. Basil Cathedral was the highest construction in Moscow. The cathedral is 60 meters high.
In St. Basil Cathedral there are 9 icon-stands containing about 400 icons of the 16th-19th centuries. The walls of the cathedral are decorated with oil paintings and frescoes of the 16th-19th centuries.
The Arbat located between Arbatskie Vorota Square and Smolenskaya Square is one of the most famous streets in Moscow. The Arbat is also one of the symbols of old Moscow. Nowadays the Arbat is the name of the pedestrian street, but actually the Arbat is the whole district of Moscow. The Arbat Street ranges among the oldest in the Russian capital. Its exotic name comes from an Arabian word "arbad" that means "suburb, estate". This word was probably brought to Moscow by Crimean Tatars or Arabian merchants in the 15th century.
Moscow gradually grew in influence and by the turn of the 17th century, it had become the largest city in the world with a population of over 200,000.
Peter the Great was not as keen on the city as his forebears and decided to move Russia’s capital north to what would become known as St Petersburg. This shift prompted a lengthy decline for the old capital.
In terms of architecture, Moscow may not have the Baroque perfection of St Petersburg but it does have some extraordinary churches as well as massive edifices from the Stalinist period.
If St. Petersburg is Russia's imperial crown, Moscow is its familial heart. It is a city in which one comes face to face with all that is finest and all that is most frustrating in Russia.
blandly – ласково
gold-domed Moscow – златоглавая Москва
steep – крутой
principality – княжество
to undergo many severe trials – пройти много тяжелых испытаний
intrusion – вторжение
hence – отсюда, следовательно
hipped roof – шатер
forebear – предок
prompt – вызывать
sophisticated – отвечающий изощренному вкусу
in terms of – с точки зрения
edifice – здание, сооружение
frustrating - разочаровывающий
St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is a relatively young city, by both Russian and European standards, and was only founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. Despite its short life Petersburg has a rich and exciting history. From the early days of Peter the Great's "Venice of the North" the city has always bustled with life and intrigue, revolution and mystery.
During the course of the Northern War with Sweden, after an 8-day siege on May 1 1703, the Swedish fort on the Neva River surrendered. To protect the newly conquered lands on the Neva Peter the Great needed a fortress. For his new fortress Peter the Great chose the Island of Enisaari, which was known to the Russians as Zayachii ostrov. On May 16 1703 (May 27 by the modern calendar) St. Petersburg's fortress (the Peter and Paul Fortress) was founded and that day became the official birthday of the city.
During the reign of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, St. Petersburg developed into a fine European capital to rival those of any in the West. The Imperial splendor of St. Petersburg was best reflected in its suburban royal residences.
Peter the Great's estate Peterhof was remodeled by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Italian architect of the Winter Palace and Smolny Cathedral. The Grand Palace and Grand Cascade fountain at Peterhof were luxuriously adorned with gold, reflecting Elizabeth's decadent tastes and her disregard for Imperial funds.
The Yekaterininsky (Catherine's) Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin) was turned into a magnificent royal residence with a vast and elaborate Baroque garden.
Elizabeth commissioned the Winter Palace, though she died before it was completed. Ironically, during Elizabeth's reign the area near the palace, which was later named Palace Square, was used as a grazing land for the royal cows.
Elizabeth's nephew Peter III did not rule the country for long, but shortly after assuming power was overthrown by his wife, a German princess, who reigned the country as the famous Catherine the Great. Under her rule St. Petersburg was turned into a Grand City.
Catherine enjoyed an extremely luxurious and decadent court life and was the first monarch to move into the newly built Winter Palace. Catherine started a royal art collection which later developed into the world-famous Hermitage.
The embankments of the Neva River were reworked in elegant red granite and the Summer Gardens were adorned with an intricate wrought iron fence, designed by the craftsman Yuri Felten.
Under Catherine's patronage science, the arts and trade all flourished. New buildings for the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts and the first Public Library (now the Russian National Library) were constructed and the large trading complex Gostiny Dvor was opened in Nevsky Prospekt.
Undoubtedly the most tragic period in the history of the city, a period full of suffering and heroism, was the Blokada (the Siege) of Leningrad. The siege lasted for a total of 900 days, from September 8 1941 until January 27 1944.
By the winter of 1941-42 there was no heating, no water supply, almost no electricity and very little food. Despite the inhuman conditions the city's war industries still continued to work and the city did not surrender.
Several hundred thousand people were evacuated from the city across Lake Ladoga via the famous "Road of Life" ("Doroga Zhizni") - the only route that connected the besieged city with the mainland.
The treasures of the Hermitage and the suburban palaces of Peterhof and Pushkin were hidden in the basements of the Hermitage and St Isaac's Cathedral. Many of the city's students continued their studies and even passed their finals exams. Dmitry Shostakovich wrote his Seventh "Leningrad" Symphony and it was performed in the besieged city. In January 1943 the Siege was broken and a year later, on January 27 1944 it was fully lifted.
Unlike Moscow’s red bricks and onion domes, St Petersburg’s network of canals and baroque and neoclassical architecture give the city a European flavour, no doubt because it was built by Italian architects.
St Petersburg is legendary for its White Nights: those long summer days when the sun barely dips below the horizon. But even when the skies are grey and the ground is covered in snow, the rich culture of St Petersburg dazzles and delights.
bustle – спешить, торопиться
siege – осада
to rival those of any – чтобы соперничать с любым
adorn – украшать
disregard – пренебрежение
elaborate – тщательно. искусно сделанный
to commission – вводить в эксплуатацию
grazing land – пастбище
intricate wrought iron fence – замысловатый кованый железный забор
via – через
barely dips below the horizon – едва опускается за горизонт